30" x 18", watercolour, 2002
I'm gearing up for a new painting project I intend to have ready for this year's Prince Edward County Studio Tour, and, although most of them will likely be still lifes, I may do one or two figurative pieces. With that in mind, I thought it'd be fun to post a few of my older figurative watercolours until I'm ready to reveal the new works.
Here, Ashley's in the same outfit as in this painting, but I wanted to try something a little different, so I changed her black skirt to white (I did a similar inversion in this painting) and, since I decided to leave the background blank white (it looks grey in these photos, but it is the white of the paper...as in the first, watercolour version of Fuel), I outlined the skirt area --as well as the bright highlighted area around her left shoulder-- in yellow, creating a luminous glow. Thus, her tube top is now the anchor of the painting with Ashley's head and hands balancing it out.
Velouria.
I am exceedingly happy (and somewhat surprised!) with the way the velour texture of her tube top came out so convincingly in this and the other paintings in which she's wearing it.
I normally try to have any white areas of my watercolour paintings be the bare unpainted paper, but sometimes I need an assist from some white ink. Look closely at the detail below and you can see the white ink I used for the highlights in her eyes, glasses, and lower lip.
Visible ink.
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