Watercolour Surgery, a hare 10 years in the making !

 So, I told you the picture I posted today told a story. And here it is.

 

The hare I posted today on Facebook was originally painted over 10 years ago.

I was so thrilled with him then, in fact, some even people wanted to buy him. However, I couldn't part with him I thought I’d done such a good job. So, I put him away in my folder and looked at him from time to time. Over the years my style has changed and hopefully I've got a bit better at this watercolour stuff. The little hare that that I was so proud of languished in a drawer.

 

Then this week, as I was going through many, many rejects, I came across my hare, I looked at him and thought, wow, the background and the brush strokes. In fact, there's a lot to like about him. But also, there's a lot to not like. Could I? Should I? I decided. To get out my surgeon 's knife, do a bit of watercolour surgery on my hare.

I started with a magic sponge.

Which I wet. And then I rubbed off the bits that I thought needed some improvement. The eye especially was annoying me.

You must be very careful that you don't obliterate everything. And you don't want to rub the paper too hard or else you can't paint on it again.

Then I got out my brushes and I started to give my hare a makeover. I worked on the eye I used oranges and raw Sienna. I also made his pupil a bit bigger. I concentrated more on the outline of the eye as well. Making it look much more realistic.

I then added some warmer tones into the head and body.

In fact just went around him and touched up the bits I thought needed touching up. Finally, I covered his face.

And then I splatted on some white acrylic.

And some gold paint. To reinstate the grasses. A few dabs here and there and he's finished. And you have for a new era. He's grown out of my old work and is now very much loved again.

I can now let things go much more easily, it gives me great pleasure to think of them on walls all over the country and the world.

I think it's always good to look back. See where you've come from. See how you’ve improved. And perhaps see things that you don't do anymore that were really good. We are our own harshest critics. But perhaps you've got an old painting? That you could breathe new life into.

 

Good Luck x