Were you looking for the Haworthias Jupiter Succulent in my Portfolio?
I enjoyed the last succulent project that I painted. It gave me a great opportunity to practice painting a variety of green hues and tones, and provided a fulfilling finished product. So it makes sense to paint more of the same (or similar) subject. With a bit of research I found this gorgeous Haworthias Jupiter succulent.
The gorgeous patterning on the succulent’s leaves really appealed to me; it made me think of something out of a science-fiction movie with it’s almost computer motherboard patterns. Perhaps its the link to being an IT major in university… A reflection on my personal sense of identity…
I don’t often put too much information on the painting process on the blog. Usually it’s just a few snap shots of work in progress and some sketches as I practice various new techniques. I thought I might go a bit more in depth…
I would also like to give credit to where credit is due. I found this awesome photo uploaded by salchuiwt on Flickr. The photo is shared with a commercial copyright, though salchuiwt has requested attribution – I hope you like the painting I made from your photo! Thanks for sharing it.
The Tracing
The first step (after sourcing a suitable reference image) is to make a tracing of the subject. Sometimes I will manipulate the reference photo to suit my needs. I will almost always make a “tracing” on a seperate piece of paper, before transferring it to watercolor paper. Depending upon the complexity of the subject, I will either
- sketch the photo using a grid method,
- Trace in a program such as Adobe Illustrator using the pen tool.
I start out by defining the major shapes. Getting these in the correct places almost always makes adding details go much easier, and faster. The second step is to “block in” the next largest shapes. Often this is the cast shadows, and sometimes specifically bright highlights. The last step is to add any necessary other details that are needed to aid painting steps.
The Lightest Lights and Darkest Darks
Following the technique taught by Anna Mason I began by layering in the lightest of colors and the darken colors.
The Mid-Tones
The last stage of the Haworthias Jupiter painting is to work on the mid-tones. This involved layering paint upon paint to build up the colors and depth of each succulent leaf.
