#37: Doc & Duke

We toured Ocala, FL. This area is also called the "Horse Capital of the World" as there are more horses, per capita, than anywhere else. The area has a huge Thoroughbred breeding and training presence, but there are other breeds represented as well. While there, we took a carriage ride past some of the farms. Doc and Duke, sweet black Percherons, provided the horsepower.

I decided to make notecards for fellow travelers, I decided to try the black gouache and white charcoal pencil technique I had learned in an online class with Val Webb. 

What I liked about this drawing:

It always amazes me how much can be done with black and white. I love how the character of the horses seems to come through. I like that the dots, bits, buckles and hames look like silver. 

What I might do differently:

I needed to take more time smudging the white, and blending it into the black. I didn't have any paper stumps or tortillons, but I'm sure I could have improvised with something - or I could have put the piece aside until I had the chance to visit a shop. Well, heck, I could still do that! I should have used more of a dry brush technique for the hairs sticking up between the ears. 

What I learned:

I forgot to leave the eye white. I think had I been able to use charcoal to make the eye black, instead of using the white charcoal to make the white areas of the eye, the effect might have been different. 

I've Been Framed!

Inspiration:
The picture below is another of my friend's pups. I have used the gouache "ink" technique on dogs with black and white before, could I pull it off on a totally black dog?
I sent my friends the drawings of her dogs, Brae and Shasta (#30). She loved them so much, she had two of them framed as a gift for her husband.

I like how she included the original pictures, and notes I sent her about the drawings on the back of the frame. She plans to get the last picture framed at some point in the future. 

#31: Brae

Reference Photo

What I like about the drawing:
Not much! Yeah, it looks like a black dog, but I don't think I captured Brae's personality very well. I am fairly pleased with the white charcoal highlights, however. 

What I might do differently:
I made Brae a bit too fat! Oops, sorry about that, girl! My gouache was not thin enough. It isn't visible at first glance, but if you had the picture in front of you, and held it a bit sideways, you would see areas that were quite thick and a even a few bubbles. 

What I learned:
It would be helpful to test the gouache on a scrap before beginning to paint. In a previous gouache drawing I lost sight of the lines of the drawing. This time I made a copy of my sketch before I covered the original with gouache and I found that helpful to use as a reference.

#27: Have Faith

Inspiration: A blog friend's husband is in the hospital following a liver transplant. He is in guarded condition. But, had he not had the transplant it is likely he wouldn't have survived. Last year he acquired a darling puppy and named her Faith.  My blog friend posted a picture of Faith looking very sorry. I thought it would be a great exercise to try to capture the puppy's expression. As her husband improves, I'd like to incorporate the picture in a card for him.

#27: Faith

Gouache and charcoal pencil

6" x  9" vellum paper

Faith posted on

Desert Canyon Living

I was pleased with the puppy's expression. I enjoy painting with gouache, and then highlighting it with the charcoal pencils. My pup's face is a bit short. I think my original sketch was better proportioned, but then I covered the sketch with the gouache. My error came when I began to use the white charcoal pencil to define the features. 

The next time I use this technique it would probably be helpful to make a copy of the original sketch before covering it with gouache, especially if he subject has little or no white marks left unpainted. The black gouache totally obliterates the pencil marks.

#26: How Gouache

My fifth online lesson with Val Webb incorporated brush and ink with the black and white charcoal pencils I used last week. However, Val prefers the use of black gouache, thinned with water, to that of ink, as the texture of the dry gouache has more "tooth".

#26A

#26B

Inspiration:

I used black and white pictures that Val provided through her online class.

What I like about the drawings:
I especially like the cat. I liked the way the white charcoal makes the flecked fur look very realistic. I liked the nose and the eyes of the Pug. In her instruction Val mentions that she likes to complete the eyes fairly soon in making a picture as they immediately bring character to the piece. I love how the cat's eyes looks very surprised, and the Pug's eyes are so very sad.

What I might do differently:
The Pug reminds me of a poster I had years ago that said, "Plan Ahea", with no room for the "d". I sketched my Pug with pencil, only to discover his foot ended up right on the edge of the paper. The cat didn't have as much light reflecting off of its coat, and that was so much easier to draw than the Pug.

What I learned:

I really liked working with the gouache. I love the way it flows, using just a small, round brush. It was also satisfying to have a basic image of the animal so quickly.