Today I wanted to play with water colors again. I also wanted to get back to doing Artist Trading Cards. I combined the two, doing ATC cards for two Sketchdaily themes: “Plein Air” and “Repoussoir”.
For the Plein Air I decided on one of my old digital photos from Auckland skyline. My husband and I had gone for an evening trip to the viewpoint at Mnt. Victoria at Devonport. The city looked almost magic as its reflections stretched over the water.
It was a beautiful evening and it was fun to paint it now, even though it was difficult to fit Auckland into a piece of paper the size of 6.4 x 8.9 cm!
I also had a photo from when we went to Rotoroa. It was another beautiful evening. Framed by a giant willow tree the sun was setting over Rotoroa lake after a chilly, but calm Winter day.
Again I went for the ATC format, so I did not have much room to try capture the atmosphere from the old photograph. I find it tricky using masking fluid with water color for such a small format. But a white gel pen helps with adding the last crucial details to turn such a tiny painting interesting.
“Formal Wear” is an old drawing I now found a good opportunity to finish. I had done a lot of research for it, but had initially only finished the woman. Getting the man fitted into the movement fluently was challenging. But it was also great fun completing my initial idea of having a couple dancing Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers style.
