becky kelly artist blog: Joy of Art

Tutorials

Recently, I was asked to post more about painting and my artwork.

I've chosen to write about

Fairy Reading in Greens

This image is of a tiny fairy reading, surrounded by white star flowers.

A fairy sits quietly reading, lost in a good book. Sunlight reflects on her diaphanous wings.

Ladybug friends read as they relax on leaves in the morning sun.

This scene allows us to steal a glimpse of a fairy reading a book.

Imagine... quietly parting branches to observe this tiny Fairy

engrossed in reading

(one of those rare moments

of spotting a fairy without her knowledge.)

Gossamer Wings

In this image I wanted to paint gossamer wings. Not only because I love the sound of the word "gossamer" but because the meaning of this word captures the delicate nature of fairy wings. Lace-like wings similar to those of a dragonfly. Fairies have glistening wings painted to look delicate, reflecting light, with an iridescent, opalescent quality. Her wings reflect all that surrounds. I've added dots of white with a bleed proof paint (with a tiny brush) to give the appearance of sparkles.

Her wings reflect leaves of green and white star flowers against the hazy morning sky. Originally, I wanted to paint her dress with the same iridescent quality as her wings. Instead, to create a fresh look, I used a clean simple cotton dress to contrast with her iridescent wings. This simple dress creates the image of a fairy enjoying the sweet, simple pleasures of reading. She is dressed in white (I make most of my fairy's and children's clothing white...someday, I will tell you why) I've added a warm glow to her dress, using a thin water based glaze of color, to show the sun's reflection on her clothing.

Her blonde bob reflects the coloration of her wings and dress. I like how the nape of a child's neck looks when a child is reading, chin down. The back of her hair is slightly higher while the front of her hair falls toward the face, to show the movement in the hair.

I chose to make the sky a misty light chartreuse, can you can feel the cool morning air? A hazy sky creates a glowing backdrop against darker foliage, so the eye is directed to where the child is sitting. Purposely, the hazy sky dips to where the fairy sits. ( to the act of reading.) The pages of the book are light.

The light of the child's wings contrast with surrounding darker foliage,

to create a chiaroscuro effect, to draw the eye in to the main focal point.

I use the darker foliage to contrast with the lighter peach color of awkward toes turned inward.

The line quality isn't perfect, but creates a feel of simpler times.

Red Ladybugs are a compliment to

a green background.

The painting color is a split complementary triad,

with yellow greens, chartruse, greens and blue greens -

colors opposite of the red in the ladybugs.

The complementary color (red in this case) was added to greens to give the green a fresh zing.

I used cool blues and purples in the shadows of the leaves.

(**watercolor tip** consider color like flavor in cooking - much like adding sugar to make the salt/flavor pop)

red ladybugs in the green leaves pop, stand out.

Note the red of the bug reflects in the shadows of the green leaves- see Ladybug above.

(** watercolor tip** using red in the green or next to green can enliven your green. Green looks better if other colors-(red in this case) are added to make the color less of a "bright crayon green" primary color, to a more subtle shade. This will make the green stand out. This is how I think of it...A example is in the way most people dress. Many women wouldn't want to wear all the same shade of green (example-green top, green jacket, green scarf and belt, green pants, green stockings, green shoes and green hat - you'd look like a leprechaun!). But, you can pair your greens with another more subtle color to help it look richer )

**watercolor tips**

Allow parts of your water color paper to show to add shimmer and sparkles of dew on a leaf.

I paint from light to dark, starting with light glazes of watercolor,

then building layers until the effect is what I want.

Once the image has the look I want, I take more liberties with the background.

adding in pools of larger areas of color and adding drops of warmth to edges to create interest.