Saturday, August 01, 2009

Capelin study

Capelin study I
watercolour and ink

I have been playing around with thumbnails of capelin to get a feel for a larger piece that I want to do in watercolour. With these little fish, a very enlarged view of them should be interesting. I like the shapes and colours as well as the ability to work on detail in addition to broader washes of colour that this will provide.

This sketch is done in my earthbound sketchbook and in watercolour with a touch of white ink (more on why I have that tomorrow). This sketchbook isn't made for watercolour, and the paper shows it by rippling. However, I had it at hand and it was a sketch to work out colours and lines, so I am not worried about it. I may do another sketch onwhite watercolour paper to see how it shows there and start drawing the image onto a half sheet of Arches paper tomorrow.

I'm still waiting for some art supplies to arrive, but delays in ferry services at the moment have everything delayed and is causing some frustration. I can get some inks locally, but not the pen nibs that I want and the local inks aren't the type I can use in my Rapidograph.

I will just have to be patient.

7 comments:

Rose Welty said...

Sorry about the delays - that must be so frustrating!

I love these fish of yours...such a fun series!

vivien said...

the wet sheen on this is beautifully done :>)

Unknown said...

I love this little fish - simple but Oh so effective!!! :)

Jeanette Jobson said...

Waiting is the norm when living on an island Rose. You just get used to it - sort of.

Thanks Vivien. Getting that reflection of light really makes or breaks the painting.

Thank you Karen. Painting fish is always so interesting and completing a study with a simple composition helps a lot to prepare for a large piece.

Billie Crain said...

You know I love this one, Jeanette! Btw, if you aren't happy with your fish on the white w/c paper you can always tone your paper prior to painting your fish with a light wash.

Jeanette Jobson said...

Thanks for the tip Billie. I'm just trying to finish the drawing for a large piece. Now on to some masking fluid...

Cathy Gatland said...

This is just beautiful - the rippling actually makes it look 3 dimensional - the little fish is weighted on the paper