MossyRockDesigns by Katie Bradley

I got a little obscessive and did a few more hours of detailing on this portrait of my sister. I softened some edges, lifted a few highlights, and darkened some shadows.
Once I start adding color, I can't make any changes to the underpainting, so it's worth the time to get it just right. This is a larger than life piece, 22"x30" - scaling up adds a whole new set of challenges!

I'm moving my studio, so I sorted through all my paintings and am having a studio clean-out sale.
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Always an honor and a pleasure!

Work-in-progress: this is the underpainting for the full sheet (30" x24") I'm working on right now. I took the photo I'm painting from 12 years ago, took me a while to get around to this!

Today's sketchbook practice in my quest to activate a more loosey-goosey-juicy style. You kind of have to squint a little. 20 mins and then STOP. Nothing completely dried before adding the next layer. No8 and no12 round paintbrushes.

10 min watercolor practice. I forced myself to only use BIG brushes, a 1" flat and a #8 round, no drying time, and only one mixed neutral color. After 10 mins, I had to STOP, even if it didn't feel done.
What do you think?

Done! What should I call it?

Remind me that if I want to paint hundreds of veggies to make them larger... this is a 9"x12" painting, so I had to use a tiny brush for 90% of the painting. Not how I normally work! I'll have prints available in my Etsy shop soon!

"Tortoise Spa" is done! I should have painted this twice the size - it's only 9"x12" so all those tiny details were so tricky! I used a limited pallette of Hansa yellow, pyrrol scarlet, phthalo blue, magenta, sap green and burnt umber. I could have mixed the light green, but I chose to be lazy.

This kid was my date tonight for the Arkansas League of Artists Member's Show reception. My painting, "Chick Magnet," won the Bronze award.

Thank you to the judge, Leslie Macklin Rice, for her kind words about my painting!

And thank you to this amazing kid who endured the comments and questions about whether he was still a chick magnet.

I finished prepping the underpainting for the Paint-in I'm leading for Mid-Southern Watercolorists on June 15.

I'm honored to announce that my watercolor portrait, "Chick Magnet" won Best in Show in the ALA Winner's Show.

Thank you, Dr. Bryan Massey, Sr. for choosing my painting.

"Chick Magnet" is framed and ready for the Mid-Southern Watercolorists 54th Annual Juried Exhibition next month in the Laman library gallery.

Here is today's watercolor sketchbook practice.

When people comment that they wish they had artistic talent, I tell them: 80% of the craft is practice. Painting and drawing can be learned. Composition can be learned. You have to invest time (hundreds or even thousands of hours), and you have to invest in good materials: good paint, good paper, good brushes.

Just like a musician or an athlete, an artist has to practice and train. That's how to get better. Having a good art mentor helps, but it can also be learned via books and YouTube, and.... yes, practice.

In my sketchbook, I give myself permission to experiment, to make mistakes, and not to have to complete a piece I'm frustrated with. I look forward to seeing the growth that will happen. The paper is not as good as the 100% cotton Arches cold press I prefer, but not having the pressure of making every piece 'worth it' gives me a lot of creative freedom.

What skill do you want to hone these next weeks or months?

All done!
What do you think of this ?

All done! Sometimes, painting with a deadline is exactly what I need to rev up the creative juices. I'm pleased with how this portrait of my son turned out!
Please wish me luck as I enter this in the MSW juried show next week.

I made lots of progress in my underpainting today. This one is larger than life, it's 20" tall.

I can't wait to start adding color!

*underpainting: phthalo blue, vermillion, lemon yellow mixed together.

Today, I started the underpainting of my competition piece.
First, I make a purplish brown mixture of phthalo blue, lemon yellow, and vermillion. This mixture stains the cotton fibers in the watercolor paper. This stain stays visible underneath all the wet color washes I add later on.

I don't usually work with masking fluid, but decided to in this painting. It's the shiny yellow stuff you see. It saves the white of the paper in the brightest highlights.

It's almost done!! Just a few more details...

Today, I poured and painted in some magenta and burnt orange. It's fun to play with . And since this is just the practice piece for the much larger version I'm starting this week, it's not a big deal if the paint doesn't behave!

Today I did something scary: I oozled paint drips all over my current painting and created intentional blooms.
Imchallenging myself to work more loosely and "play" with watercolor.

Facebook isn't letting me upload the time lapse, but I posted it in my Instagram as a reel. I'll put the link in the comments below.

All done!
I don't have much time for custom pieces lately, but I was honored to paint this little sweetheart for a returning customer who, over the years, has gotten a painting done of each of their grandchildren!

Work-in-progress: I still need to finish her hair and eyes, but she's almost done!

Work-in-progress: I started a custom watercolor portrait of this little sweetheart today.
I still have a long way to go - eyes, hair, headband, shirt.

I played around in Procreate yesterday. First, I drew a detailed version of my daughter. Then I turned her into a book character drawing.

Another day, another page finished. This is SO fun!

I decided to change the illustration style to a more dynamic watercolor look. Took about 2 hrs to do in Procreate, using the original sketch from when I experimented with the papercut look.
This is page 1 of a new book I'm illustrating for Open Hearts Big Dreams Fund

Yesterday, my painting 'When Life Gives you Lemons... You Take them to Market'won a blue ribbon (1st place) in the Arkansas League of Artists monthly meeting.
This is also my entry for the art show that will be on display in August and September.
Thank you for the honor, and thank you, Ms. Glenda, for cheering me on!

Here is the digital portrait I painted for my digital illustration class.
The exercise was to sketch from a photo (NOT trace), then to add shading, and then color.
Blending the shadows and highlights means it looks a bit more airbrushed than I prefer, but it was stull a good exercise.

If you haven't tried digital painting, it's fun. Working in layers means that I can erase or redo along the way if I don't like it.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers and also the aunties and grandmas and other women who love on our children! ❤️