Category: art

Vieux Nice (opus 2)

I complemented Vieux Nice (opus 1) with a particular scene I had in mind.

Pencil sketch on a thick watercolor pad, having delimited the same size as the opus 1 painting:
Masking tape and pencil sketch on a large watercolor pad: street lamp and its shadow on the wall it is mounted on, clothesline and clothes, window blinds.

I mixed orange and crimson for the façade that I applied with a large synthetic brush, and wiped paint with less than more success where the lamp and some clothes needed to be white. I applied some yellow around the window:

For the window blinds I used a mix of turquoise and ultramarine:

While the light blue was drying, I worked with burnt sienna and black on the lamp, and then painted details on the blinds with ultramarine:

I used burnt sienna for the shadows, included that of the clothesline, and black for the clothes in the back and shadow of the window blinds. I added an extra layer of blue for shadows and contrast on the blinds and let that dry:

With more black I finished the shadows between the blinds, corrected the shape of the lamp and added details around it. Then I grabbed a white Posca pen and traced the clotheslines, added white to the top of the lamp, and marked the window sill. I then used white watercolor to paint the white clothes:

Having painted white the glass of the lamp, the painting was finished. Here is it, in a 40×30 cm frame, ready to be given to the same friend to whom I gave opus 1:

Hiroshige’s ‘Cherry trees at Goten-Yama’

This is Cherry Trees at Goten Hill, from the series Twelve Views of Edo, done around 1835 by Hiroshige:
Reference illustration: Various people in grassy meadows slopping down toward the sea with sailboats. There are a few pink blossom trees.

After sketching in pencil, I used a 0.05 mm and 0.2 mm (for the closest sailboats) Uni-ball pin pen to create the outline:
Rough pencil sketch on watercolour paper
Outline in black ink. My pencil, a tiny rubber and the black pen I used are visible on the table.

Then I used watercolor. Light grey for the sky, green for the grassy hill:
Light grey watercolour applied loosely in the sky, pale green in the meadows.
I added the roofs of wooden shacks right behind the hill, as I decided I wanted them. Then I continued painting, adding burnt sienna to my grey mix for the roofs, and using a wash of Prussian blue for the sea:
Blue gradient, still wet, for the water.
I darkened the sienna and grey mix to add contrast to the roofs, started to paint the figures in grey and light ochre. For the cherry blossom, I used alizarin crimson:
Wet pink watercolour in the trees.
I ended up applying too much dark sienna to the roofs, that I couldn’t fix and darkened the figures as well. More alizarin crimson for contrast in the blossoms, and I was done:
People painted in some shades of grey, more pink added to the trees for contrast.
Finally I cut it and taped it to a metallic blue card, and was ready to write the birthday card for a friend:
Finished piece now neatly cut in the shape and size of a metallic grey blue card and matching envelope.

Art: Two cranes on a pine tree branch

A quick go at two cranes on a pine tree, based on a mural I photographed in China in April 2016:
Reference photo of a painted wall showing two Japanese cranes on a pine tree branch
I chose a sheet of beige Canson paper, used a Pentel black brushpen for the outline and the black feathers of the cranes, and watercolor for the rest. I added white watercolor for highlights on the branch, and a white Posca pen for the cranes’ neck line and beak:

Here is the resulting painting, framed (30×20 cm) and ready to give to Isabelle as a present:
Finished piece framed in white

I made a simpler version in 2019 using ink and gold on a postcard.

Reproduction of Hokusai’s ‘Sparrow & Magnolia’

On the second board I had, I set to reproduce Hokusai’s ‘Sparrow & Magnolia’.

I sketched it rather precisely, a somewhat tedious endeavour given the texture of the layer of white paint:
Side by side are the open book with reference image and the white board on which I drew a precise pencil outline. My pencil and rubber are visible above the book on the table.

Then I started to paint with gouache. Here, the sky and the wood of the magnolia branch:
Board on a wooden table next to a gouache paint tube and brush, an open book. I painted with gouache the sky and the wood of the magnolia branch.

Then, the sparrow in shades of orange and light milky orange:
Wet paint on the sparrow in shades of orange and light milky orange

Purple and red for the dark petals of the magnolia blossoms:
Purple and red gouache paint for the dark petals of the magnolia blossoms. Next to the board is the palette with the paint and the brush I'm using is resting on it.

I added white to my burgundy mix and enhanced the magnolia blossoms. Then used dark and light green for the leaves:
I added white to my burgundy mix to enhanced the magnolia blossoms. Then used dark and light green for the leaves. Paint tubes are visible on the table next to the wooden board I'm painting on.

Then I focused on the sparrow, using blue and white, and black:
The sparrow is now almost fully painted using blue and white, and black

With a Pentel black brushpen, I outlined everything and creating details on the tail of the sparrow, the branch and leaves.
Detail of the painting showing the bird and flowers around it. With a Pentel black brushpen, I outlined everything and created details on the tail of the sparrow, the branch and leaves.

Here is the resulting 20×50 cm framed painting:
Final piece signed and framed