January Dog watercolors

This is some of the custom work i've done this past month, a couple dog watercolor portraits. I like how this little white dog below turned out. He looks a lot like Snowy from the Tintin comics.

It's been bitter cold recently, and it's been nice to stay inside and work on these. Both of these were fun paintings. Dog eyes are fun to paint, and both of these little dogs have very expressive eyes.

I've uploaded a good amount of new pet portraits from the last couple months to my dswatercolors.com gallery. Lots of new cats and dogs. You can check them out here: Pet commission gallery

Elephant Seals - Animal Illustration

Been busy with commissions and illustration work. Here is a recent animal commission of Elephants Seals. It's a larger 11x14" illustration.

Make sure to click for the larger size, I think it makes all the difference on this one.

Also a new illustration for my 100 owls project. 3 owlets in a tree. You can read about it on the 100 owls website.

Underwater Amazon illustration

My newest commission. Manatees and mangrove trees in the Amazon. The over/under scenes are very fun to imagine and design.

Pitbull paintings

 Two fun and cute pitbull commissions. 8x10" watercolors.

African animal series

I've finished the last of a little series of African plains animals. Elephants, zebras, and giraffes. It was a fun challenge drawing a completely new set of animals and habitat.

Zebras illustration

This is a 5x7" illustration commission I finished up about a week ago.

The zebras were tough to figure out how to transform into my style, although it looks obvious after seeing it. The baobab trees in the background were much easier to draw - and fun. They are an odd looking tree, but suit this minimal style well i think.

Below is a pre-watercolored scan of it. 

Still lifes and new landscape watercolor

Some recent watercolors. Little objects are very fun to paint.

 Also finished this miniature landscape this weekend. Measures 7 x 2½". This is Pemaquid Point Lighthouse in Maine.

 

Dog portrait watercolor

Several of the dog commissions I've done for Christmas.

New Illustration

Recently finished a new 11x14" illustration, one of the few larger ones I've done. The lighthouse and stone wall is loosely based off Goose Island Lighthouse which is North of Tasmania (Australia).
I kind of like how the shrubs mimic the fan corals

 Click for Full View

Details below

Dog watercolor

I just finished this dog commission. It is part Boston Terrier, part Pug, aka a Bug.

Click to view full size.

Lab watercolor

Been busy the past couple of weeks painting and finishing up commissions. Happy with how this lab commission turned out.

I managed to get out for a little hike today. I've never seen so many mushrooms at one time. Here are a few of my favorite shots. I especially liked these orange ones.

Also saw a lot of Jewelweed along the creeks and streams, another pretty orange. It is my favorite wildflower.

Dog Portrait Commission

This is a detail from a commission I painted over the weekend. A cute pup named Diego. Pretty happy with how this one turned out.

Below is the painting in it's first stages of watercolor.

Puffin Colony and Ocean illustrations

A new puffin illustration. Watercolor and ink. Drawn after my visit to Maine and the Puffin colonies. This one in particular was inspired by my trip out to Matinicus Rock, one of the Puffin nesting islands.


We spent about 10 hours out on boats this day. First on a ferry to Vinalhaven, an island populated by mostly fishermen, and then on a lobster boat, which dropped off supplies and researchers at two of the Puffin islands. I was lucky enough to go ashore on Matinicus Rock and view the Puffins and Terns nesting there (and climb the lighthouse). The illustration was inspired by how the Puffins would gather together in little groups. I never knew they huddled so close together.



Also, here are two commissions that were a lot of fun to draw. Deep and Shallow Ocean Scenes.

Deep Ocean: Vampire Squid, Angler Fish, Eel, Plankton, and various Jellyfish


Shallow Sea: Octopus, Nautilus, Seahorses, Coral, Crabs, Anemones, Jellyfish, Starfish, Seaweed, and Fish

New commissioned work

Busy with commissions and getting ready for my show in Maine! Here are a couple of commissioned feather watercolors I painted the other week.

6 Owl Feathers. Really happy with all the detail in this one.

Detail of 6 Owl feathers. Click for larger view.

Great Horned Owl Feather. Painted life size - roughly 11.5"

Detail

Process of a custom watercolor illustration

This is a recent 11x14" watercolor commission I finished. The client wanted a night scene, with a lighthouse, whale, moon, and other fun sea creatures.

Preliminary sketch of idea. Sea creatures include octopus, fish, anemones, and starfish.

After feedback from client, some fun improvements include a baby whale and the light beam from lighthouse.



Illustration is started. Design is lightly drawn in pencil and then inked.
Drawn on 300lb., hot press watercolor paper, which is a heavy weight paper with a relatively smooth surface. India ink is used because it is waterproof, doesn't smudge, and doesn't fade.


First inking completed.

The first layers of watercolor.

First layer of sky painted. Additional layers added on waves.

Sky almost complete after 4 layers of watercolor.

Animals, seaweed and other details painted (my favorite part). Water painted with 3-4 more thin layers. Large rock added on coast to address a slightly awkward empty area.

Many lines are reinked at this point to sharpen and darken after the watercolor, additional bubbles and other details added. Some lines are thickened as well to give a sense of depth.
Sent to client for feedback.

Finished painting. Give the full view a look!

Clients only wish was to change the stripes in the lighthouse to red. This can be tricky and involves scrubbing out the watercolor and repainting. But I think it was a big improvement and added some needed color in the top half.
Final touches include more texture in the water, detail in the house, and some more small stars.