Koi Painting

I think it's finished! I'm cropping about 4" off the bottom of the painting. I found that the big white fish at the bottom was too large and was attracting too much attention. Now he's yellow and smaller. I worked on this at a demonstration for the Sunnyvale Art Club last week, but finished it at home on Saturday.

Now I have to decide what to paint next!

Koi Painting

I have a few problem areas to address. The orange section on the left side of the painting, the large white fish at the bottom, and the large white blob (fish!) on the right side all need work.  I am considering cropping the painting about 3-4 inches at the bottom to reduce the size of the large white fish and focus more attention on the orange-faced fish at the bottom. I would like to create more water movement on the right side above the orange tail fin. My reference photos have taken me as far as they can, now I have to use imagination to complete the painting. Agh!!!

Koi Painting

Koi Painting

I've finished most of the light/wet values, so I can start with the deep oranges & reds. If you paint the oranges/reds too soon they could bleed into the light/wet values.

Koi Painting

I've been using  a gray mixture made of aureolin, cobalt blue, and permanent rose for the fish. 



Here's the latest progress on the koi:

Koi Painting

Here are some close-ups:

Koi Painting

I'm giving a workshop on painting koi at the end of January, so I've started a new koi painting. I cut and pasted (literally) two photos together, so my reference photo is very long. I like the long format of the piece. I started by blocking out the darkest parts of the painting with indigo.

I'm using Fabriano Artistico 300lb cold press, 41 x 30" paper.

 

Finished Painting: Lawai Plumeria II

Here's the finished painting:

New Plumeria Painting, step 2

file:///Users/kalexart/Desktop/IMG_1407.JPG

file:///Users/kalexart/Desktop/IMG_1407.JPG

The next steps show the addition of new gamboge, permanent rose & quinacridone gold layers.

New Plumeria Painting

I started this painting to use as a demonstration for a group of painters in San Jose. I use dioxazine violet and cobalt blue underpainting where the flowers are going to be in shadow.