Watercolor of Mulan the Ninja Girl

This is a little illustration I did to show the possibilities of watercolor illustration to my art students. It was inspired by a printable drawing worksheet I did last year of Mulan from the story of the Chinese girl who took her father's place in the army. I combined the Japanese ninja into the project to make it unique.

Mulan the Ninja Girl Watercolor Fantasy

I mostly use small brushes and get a lot of texture in my work. Since it is more of an illustration rather than a piece of art I did not add black to my color but keep the color brilliant and used black sparingly as a feature to define the lines and add drama. After laying down the color in the landscape I washed over it with clear water to blend and muddy the hue a little to give contrast to the portraiture of the warrior and the dragon.

The paper I used was not quality and the wash for the sky went badly, the paper began to warp and the color took on a speckled look- not what you want in a sky. So after it dried I gave it a "Glaze" with watered down gesso. It looked better in real life than in the scan I took.

I have this as a printable line drawing that can be printed out and colored. To see it CLICK HERE.

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I hope you enjoy my art. 

If you want to see more just choose from the labels, or use the search box, or to visit my online art store CLICK HERE.
Adron


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(C)Adron Dozat

Esmeralda The Gypsy Dancing, Watercolor

This project started out as a little drawing lesson for young artist, but I got overly involved with it and did this watercolor picture. It is the Gypsy Girl, Esmeralda, from Victor Hugo's classic story, the Hunchback of Notra Dame.

Since I had already composed and drew the picture for a lesson I used a light box and traced the earlier project onto watercolor paper. This was a real time saver, but when I do a project I will often spend days composing it and sketching it over and over until I get it right.

In this case I had already looked at hundreds of pictures of gypsy women and portrayals of Esmeralda.  I tried to combine the popular notion from today's media with historical photos to get a blend that was different yet recognizable as the character.

Esmeralda The Gypsy Girl, Watercolor Print by Adron 

Once I had it sketched I started to layer in the colors beginning with the lighter washes first and then after they dry I went over with the darker values.  I sort-of mix a little of the color on the paper lifting the lights into the top darker ones. I did a lot of dabbing technique in the background but it looked to splotchy and distracting so I did a clear wash over it to smooth the background out.  I had to do a lot of lifting with clear water and tissue to bring up the lights in the clothing.

I have added this project to my online store if you want to purchase a print click here.

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Thank you for taking the time to look at my art. 
I hope you enjoy it.
If you want to see more just chose from the labels or the favorites in the sidebar. 
Adron


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(c) Adron

Wind Nymph And The Life Preserver, Watercolor

Wind Nymph and the Life Preserver is a watercolor fantasy I painted last week, (12/20-12/25). It is of a Nymph, a mythical creature. It is completely different from anything else I do.

Wind Nymph and the Life Preserver, 11x15 Watercolor by Adron. 

I composed it to create interest and questions by the viewer.
     * Who is she?
     * Is it an illustration from a little known ancient myth?
     * Is it about death?
     * Is the life preserver from someone who perished or was it all that is left of a doomed ship?
     * Is it a shroud she is holding, is it to cover the dead?
     * Is she looking away from the life preserver in remorse, willful denial, or sorrow?
     * Why the dark sky?
I hope this picture engages the imagination of the audience.

I did this watercolor over a few days. The norm is to do large areas of wash laying down broad sweeps of lighter colors and building up details in darker colors. I only halfway followed the standard practice. I used a nervous dabbing brush stroke over and over to build up the sky, sometimes allowing the color to blend together and sometimes letting it dry before adding the next hue. I do not believe in using black paint but this time I made an exception and dabbed it in for drama in the sky immediately overhead; hopefully it gives closeness to the near sky and a sense of distance far away by the horizon.

The sea was dabbed in short horizontal strokes allowing layers to dry before adding a deeper hue. I had problems with the sea being two dimensional so I used clear water at the horizon and a paper towel to lift out some of the hue. The foam was added with acrylic to make it opaque.

I might have done more with the nymph but I wanted her lines clean and the uncluttered areas to be a contrast to the style of the other areas of my painting. I was afraid that I was overworking the project so I left her a little underdone.

I hope you enjoy my painting. Email me if you are interested in it.
Thank You

Adron

____________________________

Thank you for visiting my blog. 
I hope you enjoy my art. 
If you want to see more just choose from the labels or the favorites in the sidebar. 
Adron


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(c) Adron

Wind Nymph In Charcoal

This is a charcoal study I did to work out the composition and design of a watercolor project. I am contemplating.  In my resource material the pose was so simple yet dramatic, I could not resist doing a sketch of it. I changed the hair and clothing. I liked the lights and the darks caused by the light from the right. I toned down the paper a half shade to bring out the light against the front of the figure. The area behind the figure is so much dead space I felt it needed something so I added the smudging of the wind.

Wind Nymph Study in Charcoal.

Someone looking at it may say I did a bad job on the face, and they would be right, but this is just a study that I hope will lead to a bigger more satisfying project. This has no commercial value, it is just for my own amusement.

(c) Adron

____________________________

Thank you for visiting my blog. 
I hope you enjoy my art. 
If you want to see more just choose from the labels or the favorites in the sidebar. 
Adron


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