The completed painting. Though not everyone likes the amount of detail that I put in my work, I am personally content with this painting in that it has the 'feel' of the rainforest that I was aiming for.
Next I shall continue to prepare for my oil still life and the next painting in my 'Tea Garden' series of watercolours.

The right hand side of the composition is now taking shape and will add more dimension to the work, I think.
I have also added a soft shadow to the base of the tree on the left foreground as I wanted to enhance the direction of the main light source.
I am contemplating adding a few large dark leaves at the extreme top left to 'throw back' the background even further. This is by no means a final decision, as I will decide right at the end if it will enhance the painting.

  Most of the right hand side of the painting will be dark, as the rainforest is more dense there, but I shall superimpose some very dark, larger leaves, over the top on the right hand side to 'throw back' the path section that is furthest away. The darker distance leaves will also be given a deeper perspective when this is done.

This photo does not show the edges of the painting as I didn't want to show the distortions due to the curve of the paper.
My method, when using Arches 640gsm paper, is to do the painting without first wetting the paper. This results in the effect that, whilst I work, the area that I am painting on shrinks a little, and the outside area does not. Once I have completed the work, I wet the reverse side of the paper with demineralised water, which causes an even shrinkage over the entire piece correcting the curves in the paper.
I have worked in this session just in the upper middle of the work.

The forest is still growing denser. Much work still to do.

The painting is beginning to get the denseness of the rainforest, but it will need more contrast in some areas yet, before I am satisfied.
I am disappointed with the lighter palm leaves that are intermingled with the ficus leaves, as they do not have the lit quality that I had intended.
I suppose  there will always be some aspects of my work that will not completely satisfy me. Such is the life of an artist who sees 'too much' detail!!

A distance is now beginning to be more enhanced on the pathway. More leaf texture has been added to the left section. This will be a lighter area with the thin saplings dark against the more sunlit background.
A rainforest is more like an 'enchanted wood' to me and this is the feel that I want to ultimately convey.
As I am painting on a dull rainy day, I have the LED lights on, and this gives the photo a more 'yellow' tone than the last one which was taken in a brighter daylight, which has a blue bias.

With more form and leaf texture, it is beginning to get a rainforest 'feel'. The background to the right will be quite dark with highlighted 'lit' areas to the left and top with some sky.
Whilst my last rainforest painting was quite large and had imposing trees also it didn't give the dark, dank, feel of the environment.
I do want a filtered light to be across the well trodden path, and I'm not sure yet if I am going to leave the 'pink' earth colour of warm it up to be more brown earth. I shall decide just before I finish the work.

I have suspended my personal goal to paint a still life in oils, to work on a watercolour of the  neighbourhood rainforest. A client expressed an interest in seeing one, which may result in a sale of the work.
I have completed a very large similar painting in the past, but it is too large for the average home even though it is greatly admired by most who see it. This one is smaller and, of course a different composition.
The trees in the foreground are quite dark in contrast to the background, but this is intentional so as to create the atmosphere that I seek in the work.

 
I am still preparing for a still life painting, but I am unsure of what I shall include. This is a sketch of a glass and a detail of the jug that I am considering. The storyboard type sketches are to give me a feel for a composition, and whether or not to have perspective, or a more traditional horizontal plane.
I am also considering a smaller glass than this one to be more in proportion to the jug along with the possible inclusion of fruit. I have tried strawberries but am leaning towards the more traditional grapes.
It is also a possibility that I shall abandon these ideas and use bottles as a subject. My inexperience with this subject and genre is showing!

I thought that I had posted the completed 'Tea Garden 2' watercolour but realised, after posting my sketches that I hadn't, so here it is!

My next painting will be an oil, and I am planning my first still life! These are sketches of two of the objects that I am considering including in the composition. One is a wire basket and the other a small jug with 'biblical' figures in the 'arched relief windows'. I like the contrast between the porcelain of the jug and the metal of the lid and the 'line' quality of the basket.
I had considered a cup and saucer but felt that I wanted something a little more 'antique'.

 

The floral background is mostly complete. I expect that painting the cup will present an even greater challenge.

Flowers almost complete and the 'light' quality is more closely at the level that I wanted to achieve.
The whole painting should be completed over the next few days though, at this stage, I am not quite decided on the flower pattern for the cup and saucer.

Progress is being made, albeit a little slower than I would like. This photo was taken using my mini ipad instead of the phone and I think that it gives a more accurate rendition of the work. the group of flowers at the bottom right will have a few rendered as in full sunlight which I am hoping will improve the 'sun-lit' feel that I like. All in all, I am feeling a little more content with it.

For most of this painting, I used Cobalt blue to make the different shades of violet, but have changed now to using more of the ultramarine blue, which does not make it as 'grainy'.
My usual compositional technique of having a stable triangle embedded in the painting is not as obvious with this work. At the moment, it has a strong diagonal emphasis with the band of flowers from the bottom right to the top left. I expect that this will be counterbalanced once the cup and saucer are painted in, as it will 'draw the eye' of the viewer.

What I am finding about some of the colours that I am using in this painting, is that they become 'grainy' when dry on the textured paper. I like the texture of the paper, but the 'graininess' makes it less 'crisp', which I think is why I am not as happy with the light effect in the work.  I have darkened a few shadows, which increases the contrast, and I think that this helps. I shall continue tomorrow.

I have continued with the flower areas today but I'm a little frustrated with the contrast in colour. Paint can never replace light, but it is possible to create the effect that light has on colour. This is my struggle with this section of the composition. I cannot seem to create the light effect that I want. Using blue with the warm shades of magenta, seems to 'dull' the effect.
I shall not give up, but suspect that, when I need less blue, I will find creating a sun-lit sensation will be a little easier. The flowers in the right of the composition  are more pure magenta than the ones in deep shadow. The palette that I am using for the flowers is Rose Madder Genuine, Quinacridone Magenta, Ultramarine Violet, Cobalt blue and French Ultramarine, all from the W&N Artists' Water Colour range. I might experiment with other colours if I can find suitable ones in my supplies!

I have started to add the colour to the flowers. This specimen has flowers in deep shadow where they are almost blue to ones in full sun where the colour is 'bleached' to almost pink. The 'lit' flower her is almost ready for dropping off and so has already lost some of its colour.
This is the darkest section of the composition, which is why I chose to place the cup and saucer there.
I am always a little disappointed in the colour outcome, as paint can never have the real quality of light and, of course, I never use white paint. The problem with watercolour, especially this palette, is that it cannot be taken off once applied. This means that if it is too dark or intense, it has to, more or less, stay that way!

Almost at the end of the background the flowers of the composition are now very obvious and, once they are added the painting will take on a dimensional quality.

Just a little more added. This week, this painting has been neglected. School holidays and family duties had to come first. I hope to catch up over the next week.
Whilst I am working on this, I am also mind planning my next couple of projects. One is a watercolour of the rainforest as a client has expressed an interest in a smaller version of the large rainforest painting that I have on my wall and the other is a still life in oils using different techniques to my previous oil paintings. The problems for artists is having too many ideas and not enough time to express them. At least life can never be monotonous!

Not a lot of progress, as I have been busy entertaining client guests, but enough to begin to show the balance of flower areas in the composition.
I shall include the flowers that are in shadow first and the sun lit ones after. The flowers in shadow will have a darker, but more intense colour saturation and the others will show some sun bleaching of the colour. In this way it should enhance the lit quality of the work.
The composition is also beginning to indicate the 'triangle' impression that I like to use, which gives it 'stability'.

The leaves in this painting are mostly dark and silhouetted against a light background. The background areas will be quite small so that they do not compete with the flowers which will be in sunlight dimensionally in front of the leaves.
I chose to do this so that the cup and saucer will not be too camouflaged against the 'busy' background. I want to emphasise the dimension so that the cup will also have the effect of being in amongst the foliage, and not just 'floating' in front or superimposed on top. We shall see when it is complete if I have been successful or not!

The composition has been outlined and I have begun to add the darkest areas. These areas are the leaves that will be silhouetted against a lighter background.
I fluctuate when painting between starting with the darkest areas or finishing with them!
I finally decided to add the cup to the bottom left as opposed to being in the centre as with the first of the series, 'Tea Garden'.

Not the best photo but the beginnings of the composition. I have decided to place the cup to the left in this painting, though there is more to be added above what is seen here.
I will add the flower design on the cup once I have sketched in the rest of the composition.

My next watercolour project is a companion to 'Tea Garden' which features a cup and saucer with a poppy design, in a field of poppies. This one will feature the tibouchina shrub with its violet flowers and a representative cup which I have yet to decide on. I have found a cup with violet flowers on but I don't think that I will ever find one depicting the tibouchina so I will use artistic licence and adapt! The actual shrub can be seen on Saiala Road in East Killara, a suburb of Sydney, where I spent the Easter week with my wife, seen in the photo, and our son and his family.

The completed painting. I wanted the grassy background to be quite loose in contrast to the subject, so that it would not dominate. Straight on to planning my next watercolour which will be a companion to the 'Tea Garden' painting and another in my series of cups in a natural setting. It will be based on the tibouchina  shrub with beautiful purple or pink blooms. Very prevalent in the northern suburbs in Sydney.

A background wash of the sunlit meadow has been added to the rest of the painting with progressive textures to be overlaid on top of this to match the background already completed.
This wash is quite loose, but  texture will be added in layers, using masking fluid, in much the same way as a batik is produced.
I do not want the background to be dominant, but it has to 'ring' true to nature, with its slightly understated tones providing contrast to the strongly focussed tones of the subject.

With the background 'meadow' started the composition is more apparent. There will be little detail in the background as I like the contrast between that and the subject. I shall continue on the right hand side in a similar vein to the top but will border the edge just to the left of the ear edge so that it will feel like it is on the outside of the frame.

The body of the subject is now more apparent with the addition of some background colour. There is more to be added to the body in the way of small dark brown areas, and the bottom brown areas need to have the details added and made darker. The background will have more texture which is applied as a more traditional watercolour wash. I shall mask off some texture before adding slightly darker tones. The darker tones to be added to the background just above the subject will accentuate the sun lit quality of the top of the back.

This update just gives a suggestion of the texture on the rest of the body. A lot of the tones are subtle as it is a majority of white skin, even though there is actually very little white!

The folds of skin are formed because the subject is turned to face me leaving its body in profile. They are more prominent just behind the head. A long process but worth the time!

The body takes form with just the addition of a few strategically placed 'patches'. This is only the background colour, as much of this side of the animal is in shade and is quite dark. Much of the rest of the body will be white, but as it is in shade also, there will be many different tones added to give the hide texture.
My strategy for painting is not the usual 'fill in the background with a wash' technique', but to add small areas at a time, and bring them almost to a conclusion before moving on. Some of these areas are quite tricky with watercolour paints, as it cannot be removed once applied, and painting over is almost impossible so I like to know that I am achieving the effect that I am trying for. In my earlier days of painting using the former method, I made errors that I felt spoiled the painting and so I destroyed them. This doesn't happen so often today as I spend longer thinking about it before I apply the paint to the paper. This technique is not for everyone, but it suits my personality!

I added a little more to the snout 'blaze' and have started the fleshy nose. There is more contrast to be added, and some softening of edges yet to be done which should give a more 'natural' look I have added a few spots of masking fluid, which, once removed, should give the nose a slightly 'wet' look. We shall see if I am successful.

Continuing on the same area as yesterday I have added just a little more of the subtle texture.

The subtle shading is taking shape on the white 'blaze'. I have added some masking fluid to the right hand side of the face on the painting, as I want that to appear almost pure white, with only the faintest wash-hairs showing. This is in order to emphasise the light quality from the sun on that side of the head.

I have worked some more on the hair in the ears, and started to add hair texture to the top of the head. Whilst the cow has a white blaze down its head, there are many different subtle colours which are not white, plus shadows to be added. This will be quite a long process, as I am using a very fine brush, not to paint each hair as in hyper-realism, but hair texture.

I have added dark tones to the ear and begun to add hair texture. In this photo, the colour is not as warm as it is in the actual painting, but I shall warm it further by adding the reddish coloured hair as an overlay.
The right ear now has its undertones, with a suggestion of shadow where it meats the head.
When I add the background, which will be pale so as to 'silhouette' the left ear, it will fall short of the ear's extremity. The ear will appear to come out of the frame, which will add to the dimension of the work. I will take a break from the painting over the Easter season, and come back to it with 'new eyes'.

The texture on the left side of the head has now been added. There may be one or two more brushstrokes before I finish the area, but I will decide that at the end. I have darkened the background to the ear and added some subtle tonal changes in the left eye.
The background will be a 'fuzzy' range of greens to suggest a field or meadow. It will have enough interest in the variety of colours but, like in photography, shortening the focal range helps to concentrate the focus on the subject, and too much background detail will detract from it.

Underpainting on some of the lit side of the head has given it more form, which makes the composition clearer. The inside of the ear will be much darker, as it is in shadow, and this should highlight that side of the face giving it more dimension.
Using tone, colour, intensity, contrast and perspective are elements that I try to combine with the aim of giving my work a dimensional quality. When the work is complete I will see if I have been successful.

I have put a background wash on the left side of the cow which is in sunlight. The yellow under-colour will provide a background for the red/brown of the skin hair. The white 'blaze' down the face will need may subtle tones with some 'bleeding' of the white into the surrounding colour.

This is the darker side of the face, and there is still more texture to add, but it should provide a contrast to the sun-lit side as I progress. There is a similar 'eye patch' of colour around the left eye of the 'beast', but the sun will naturally change the colour. It is this change that I am hoping will give the 'lit' quality to the finished composition that I am trying to achieve.
The ears will be coloured also, but the rest of the face is white.

                         

There is a lot of white on this cow with the traditional dark patches. This is the underpainting on one of the patches. There will need to be much detail overpainted to give the texture of the skin and the light quality that I am trying to achieve. The white areas will need lots of subtle colour changes but yet still look 'white'. This side of the face is mostly in shadow with the light coming from the right of the painting.

My new commission started. When I am painting an animal or a human portrait, I like to start with the eyes. I feel that the character and personality of the subject is revealed through the eyes, in essence they are the 'window to the soul"! Lots of fine detail to go.