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Ria Sharon

pondering creativity, process, and making art

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Watercolor: setting a baseline

September 6, 2020 by riasharon

Ria Unson bird study

Here’s a study I did in 2016. It’s fine. I watered down gouache to make this illustration. It’s fine. But whyyyyyy?

Filed Under: DIY art school, watercolor

Back to school

September 5, 2020 by riasharon

It’s been a minute.

I’ve continued with my daily at practice, although a lot hasn’t happened in a sketchbook. I designed a garden, renovated a house, learned how to bake sourdough (like the rest of North America). My house is in a constant state of being painted. Finally, I got the itch to get back to making personal art. And when I did, I found myself butting up against my abilities.

What does that mean? For a long, long time I felt at a loss for subject matter — what I wanted to address or focus on through my art. Finally, I have a lot to “say” but can’t capture it the way I want because I don’t have enough mastery of my tools. So I’m putting myself through DIY art school.

I’ve been painting forever but mostly in oils. In actual art school, I focused on printmaking. But for many reasons, watercolor feels like the best medium for me right now. Problem is, I’ve taking exactly ONE watercolor workshop in my whole life.

It’s fun being a beginner. Anything is possible! It’s that whole new-backpack-fresh-new-notebook-back-to-school feeling. 🙂 I’m just going to post here along the way, (really) to document this journey for myself. I could keep an actual notebook but I’m “traveling light” these days.

Ria Unson palette

12-color split primary palette from the Van Gogh pan set

What I learned:

  • what colors I have ready-to-go, along with their specifications (gradients, transparency, granulation, etc.)
  • the essential 12-color palette

 

Filed Under: color theory, DIY art school, watercolor

Portrait study: Quaranteam

August 29, 2020 by riasharon

watercolor study, second attempt

Oct. 5: I’m going to set this aside and perhaps come back to it later

I liked it better at the glowy stage. Not sure what happened between then and now.

Ria Unson watercolor

Happy with the sleeves and dark areas but struggled with the middle. Not sure if it’s salvageable.

  • Fixed the eye and neck
  • Need to fix the slices of couch behind the figure
  • And the paws
  • Still lots of work to do on the shirt
  • Still need to do the eyebrows

Reflections:

I really like the idea of stylizing the work overall. It’s not photorealism like Rance Jones. There are aspects of my style that have been consistent for 30 years (see Siesta drawing from 1993).

But there’s a more graphic quality to it now. I can see the design influence for sure. The more formal qualities, the shapes on the face are the same as on the fabric. I like that. It’s almost like… yes, it’s all paint. And the rendering is so much more controlled after taking Louise de Masi’s one class. I’m going to do more because there’s no pressure there. I can keep focusing on technique.

I’m very pleased with this composition. That is also a style thing. All my paintings have really strong angles. I like using the angles to create focal points. I like the limited color palette. And the values that lighten as you go up but then the contrast in and around the face.

When I’m happy with the painting part, I want to scan it in and see what I can do with the background — what if I put it on a solid yellow background or what if I render the background in illustrator as flat shapes?

 

Ria Unson watercolor study

Darkening the face, the glasses, the hair

 

Ria Unson watercolor study

figure: 227; shadows 408, 366+662, 567; hair: 708; pants 533; outside window: 675 plus spots of 227; shadow of window frame: 408; couch: glaze of 756 with spots of 227

I kind of love the colors in this stage – so glowy!

  • the spot above the right eye and shape of the lips
  • fill in the couch color in between dog’s legs
Ria Unson watercolor study

study #2:  shirt wash: 708; background wash: 227, 234

 

Ria Unson Watercolor Study

dog: 408, 411, 708, 568, 339

 

Ria Unson Watercolor Study

first study

Assessment: Good start. Love the color choices — the limited palette, the hues in the shirt and the greens in the background. The composition rocks — the strong angles, the weirdness of having the dog upside down with her eye right on the edge, the strong lines on the shirt, thelines in the windows. Love the splashes in the background

Water control sucks. Used the wrong brushes, especially in the shirt. The dog’s face is all messed up — couldn’t figure out the actual drawing.

Consider “melting” the curtain more into the background

Ria Unson Drawing

inked line drawing

 

Ria Unson Sketch

initial sketch

 

Ria Unson Inspiration Image

Reference photo

Filed Under: Documentation, portrait, watercolor

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A little about me

I have an undergraduate degree in art. By day, I work in higher ed and in my free time I'm currently putting myself through DIY grad school.

I teach classes on creativity and inspiration on Skillshare. I occasionally share my original paintings on Etsy and fine art prints on Minted. I've also been known to make puppy portraits.

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