Category: People

Maya Angelou Watercolor Portrait

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date August 6, 2022
1 Comment on Maya Angelou Watercolor Portrait

Maya Angelou, from photo reference circa 1972, watercolor, 8×6′

I saw Maya Angelou at the Rainbow Sign, a former Berkeley mortuary on Grove Street, a year after the publication of her book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” (Link to event announcement).

We sat around her on the funky carpet in the former chapel, and listened raptly as she read and spoke about her life’s journey so far. At that time she was the first ever African-American best-selling author and like me, was living in Berkeley.

Maya Angelou, reference photo circa 1972

I used the photo reference above from around that same time for my preparatory sketch below.

I painted her twice, using a limited three-color palette of DS Quinacridone Gold, WN Perylene Maroon, and DS Indanthrone Blue. Below is the first (failed) painting attempt.

In the painting (above, Yuck!) I made her skin too dark and too orange, plus when I added Rose of Ultramarine for her dress and Winsor Blue to a gold background, I made a green that clashed with the purple dress.

Color testing before painting and scratch sheet for testing strokes as I painted

For some reason this snippet of her talk 50 years ago has always stayed with me. She said:

My grandmother always told me,
“You don’t always get what you pay for,
but you always pay for what you get.”
Maya Angelou

Tags Berkeley, Maya Angelou, Rainbow Sign, watercolor portrait

Art Drawing Faces Painting People Portrait Watercolor

Quilt Lady in Watercolor

While I drew and painted her I thought of her as one of the Quilters of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, women who were direct descendants of the enslaved people who worked the cotton plantation there. I saw a traveling show of their quilts at a local museum years ago.

I painted this after watching master Korean watercolor artist J Hunsung paint her on YouTube here where you can also see his finished version. He doesn’t credit the photographer or model for this reference photo, which I also used for my painting.

It took three attempts to get the sketch right. I’m learning to take my time and get everything sketched in. And if things don’t quite fit together, fix it, don’t pretend it will be ok as is. Looking at my sketch compared to the reference photo below, I can see I still didn’t get it perfectly, but it felt close enough to go for it.

How I checked my sketch against the reference photo, side by side.

I was so pleased with these perfect flat washes in my initial block in that I had to share them. In watercolor, getting a flawless flat wash is not easy.

Uncropped painting with limited palette colors in the margin

With each watercolor painting, I’m experimenting with a different limited palette and then adding strokes of the colors used at the bottom of the painting. For this one I used Daniel Smith Quinacridone Gold, Winsor Newton Perylene Magenta, Daniel Smith Indanthrone Blue and a guest appearance in the jewelry only of Daniel Smith Perylene Scarlet. (I know it says DS Perylene on the painting but that’s a mistake.)

I’m enjoying using fresh from the tube paint in a little porcelain palette instead of the ancient dried up old palette I had been using.

Tags Limited Palette, Portrait, Watercolor, watercolor painting, watercolor portrait

Art Faces People Portrait Sktchy Watercolor

Blue Sky and Dreadlocks

Black man with dreadlocks against a blue sky painted in watercolor. — Blue Sky and Dreadlocks, Watercolor 10×8″

Continuing my watercolor relearning journey I’m making progress with each drawing and painting. I watched master watercolor artist Eudes Correia paint this gentleman in a Sktchy class from a photo he provided. You can see his version on Instagram here. I actually like my version better, which is a great feeling.

Limited Palette (from bottom of painting)

I used a limited palette: Raw Sienna, Permanent Alizarin, Cobalt and for the sky, Holbein Peacock.

Sketch for Blue Sky and Dreadlocks, 10×8″

I was happy when I checked my drawing to find that I had almost nailed it. Just had to make a few minor adjustments for his shirt and neck width.

L-R: My sketch with corrections, my painting, reference photo
(click to enlarge)

Tags African American Man Portrait, Portrait, Watercolor, watercolor portrait

Art Drawing Faces Painting People Portrait Watercolor

In the Light, In the Dark

After watching a Sktchy watercolor demo by Alison Pinto, I tried my hand at drawing (see below) and painting this sweet face. I want to assemble a good palette for watercolor portraits, so tried Alison’s interesting palette (see bottom of post for pigments and reference photos). So far I know I do not like Burnt Sienna in portraits.

Sketch for Lady in Light watercolor portrait — Sketch for Lady in Light

Lady in Dark, watercolor, 8x6.5" — Lady in the Dark, watercolor, 8×6.5″

I was a little happy with this painting until I realized I’d given her googly eyes and started trying to “fix” the painting, which with watercolor translates to “wreck” the painting. Oh well. This is a scan I made before I started “fixing.”

Lady in Dark,sketch — Lady in Dark, sketch

Pigments: : Winsor Lemon, Indian yellow, Permanent Rose, Holbein Opera, Burnt Sienna, Winsor Violet and Winsor Green Blue Shad

Tags Portrait drawing, portrait painting, Watercolor, watercolor portrait

Art Drawing Faces Painting People Portrait Watercolor

Sweet Mime, Sad Mime, Not Really

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date June 22, 2022

Sweet Mime Watercolor Painting — Sweet French Mime, Watercolor Painting, 10x7.5"

In the reference photo (see bottom of post) he was just a skinny, shirtless guy photographed too close-up, which made his already big nose even bigger. I thought he looked like a French mime so I put him in a mime costume.

Below is my first attempt at painting him. I had so many problems with the drawing being off and the paint handling. His shirt, scarf and suspenders were so pretty and fresh before I muddied them up.

I’m still working on portrait drawing skills. It took four drawings before I had one that was close enough to paint.

Below are the various drawings and attempts at correcting them (tracing of photo superimposed on my drawing in Procreate) and the original reference photos.

Tags French Mime, Portrait, Watercolor, watercolor portrait

Art Drawing Faces Painting People Portrait Watercolor

Relearning Watercolor: Juni and Ginger Guy

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date June 4, 2022
2 Comments on Relearning Watercolor: Juni and Ginger Guy

After nearly a decade away from watercolor, I should have painted a pear or apple to practice. Instead I chose a difficult subject: little Juni, after a swim, with the cool, aqua colors of the pool and the reds of her beach towel reflected in her face (the latter overemphasized and unable to be lightened in my painting unfortunately).

I tried four times to draw and paint her and I may try this one again when I feel more competent.

Watercolor painting of redhead man — Boring Guy, Watercolor 10×7″

After I gave up on painting Juni, I tried painting this ginger-haired guy from a photo (below) from an online drawing demo. I found it a little easier to draw and paint him, since I don’t know him. It’s both exciting and frustrating to be relearning watercolor.

Below are the sketches and reference photo. As you can see, my first sketch was missing a huge chunk of the back of his head, a common rookie error. To check my drawing I layered a tracing of the photo over my sketch in Procreate. When I saw how far off I was, I started over with a second drawing that was more accurate.

From left, clockwise:
Final Sketch, Corrected First Sketch, First Sketch, Reference Photo

Tags Portrait, Portrait drawing, Watercolor, watercolor portrait

Art Drawing Faces Gouache Painting People Portrait

Big Forehead Guy and Erupting Volcanoes

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date June 1, 2022
3 Comments on Big Forehead Guy and Erupting Volcanoes

I used a limited palette to paint this guy twice. I based the one above on the colors I’d seen in a run around erupting volcanoes on Zwift. I also painted him using the original blue colors of the reference photo below.

Zwift is a virtual world/video game that you move through based on your speed and effort on a spinning bike or treadmill (see screenshot below). My limited palette was Indigo, Napthol Red and Cadmium Yellow Pale.

A scene from my run in Zwift’s Whole Lotta Lava route

I thought he’d be fun to draw, with that prominent forehead and strong jawline and he was. I also painted him using a limited primary palette of yellow, red and blue, trying to get colors close to the reference photo (below).

About volcanoes…when I was a kid I had a reoccurring nightmare about being on an erupting volcano with Little Lulu and Tubby, characters from my favorite childhood comic books.