Watercolors Moth on Mango Flowers and Monarch Butterfly on Dry Palm Leaf
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Today, I got around to posting my two new watercolor paintings. I try to practice with my watercolors on the weekend. It is a nice change of pace from my regular work.
So far, I have been making butterfly paintings. I am trying to paint different butterflies. I do not know what type of moth I painted. I took a photograph of it in my garden. You can see above the photographic reference for my paintings.
Taking a photograph saves me the trouble of painting outdoors. Painting outdoors in Florida is a bit of a hassle. It is too hot, so you overheat easily. There are also blood sucking mosquitoes to worry about.
Plus, a bunch of other little critters that nip and bite. Anyhow, all the butterflies and moths I have painted, I have seen in South Florida. This is where I live after all. So, you can expect to see them if you ever visit Miami.
The watercolor paintings are first done with pencil. Afterwards, I trace over the pencil with a black, waterproof pen. I erased the pencil lines before adding the watercolor on top of it.
By making the line art first, it helps me keep control of the watercolor flow. In the moth painting, I added a few Mango leaf elements in the background. They were added pretty late in the planning stages of this painting.
I didn’t add pen lines over them in order to make these leaves sink into the background. The Moth painting is the one that took the longest. The monarch butterfly was a simpler venture.
This butterfly was sitting on top of a dry palm leaf. Most folks prefer to draw butterfly on live flowers. Still, butterflies do hang out on dry plants from time to time.
I suppose it must help them camouflage with the background elements. In my Youtube and Tiktok, there are two videos that show you how I made these watercolor paintings. I use a very limited palette. I haven’t cleaned out my watercolor palette in ages.
I just use the same hues from painting to painting. With watercolors, I just add a bit of water to reactivate the dry paints. Once they are wet enough, I can transfer the paints into the watercolor paper.
I have been getting a lot of millages out of my watercolor paints. They are not like acrylics. Once acrylics dry, it is game over for them. All you can do is scrape off the leftovers, before adding new paint.
This is why I have developed a preference for watercolors. I make nice paintings without wasting a lot of paint. As far as technique, I mostly use glazing. I first add the light colors before glazing the darker colors on top of it.
I test the paints on top of a paper towel before applying it to the watercolor paper. If the paint comes out a little too strong, I just dilute it with water until it is light enough to apply.
To keep the paper from warping too much, just tie the edges down with tape. This works somewhat.
Once everything dries, just remove the tapes to paint the rest of the painting. I think I ranted enough about my work for one day. This is the Artsy Sister. Bye, bye and God bless.