Watercolor Wednesday - Sheepishly

Watercolor sheep grazing
5" x 5"

Definitely a practice piece, these two sheep were the best of the herd.  I sheared off the rest.

We were practicing tracing and re-arranging our composition from photocopies.  However,  I think the photocopies were too dark and we couldn't see all the details.  Our "sheep" looked like bulls, pigs of the bovine and guinea, grizzly bear, jelly beans ("What are those?"  "Sheep in the distance!"), and perhaps even an Australian sheep dog.  The photos actually were taken in Australia.

Best take-away lessons here were learning to save the sunlight atop of the sheep, dropping in and using casein Ivory Black wet in wet letting the paint give them definition and shadow, working with values -- one did the entire picture in Windsor & Newton "Indigo" - just gorgeous and prompted me to run out and grab a tube for my palette! -- and using better photocopies!  Our class was just cracking up and the teacher laughing right along with us.   

You learn by painting...and laughing!

Update 3-14-15-

Framed!  I found a frame at Hobby Lobby, originally for a 4" x 4" photo, I trimmed and placed the watercolor atop the opening, keeping the deckled edge and getting a pretty "linen" border.   The brushed metallic frame was the perfect complement.  (50% off $17.99)