Prague 3
Posted by Judy Moore Mudd | Filed under Cityscapes, Prague
About the Painting:
Name: Prague 3
Medium: Watercolor on Fabriano 140# professional paper
Size: 7×5″
I have painted this scene a few times with minor variations. I just love the way the street looks and draws you into the painting, seeing people and buildings in the distance. Makes me curious as to what is around the corner.
My process: I started with the blue building in the background, using Thalo Blue and Cobalt. Moved forward to the roof tops, then proceeded down, adding people last. It was a pretty straight forward painting process, hitting the areas with direct paint and getting the strong color down the first time. After it dried, I went back in only in the smallest areas that needed an extra dark for dimension. I darkened the front sides of the buildings, in essence creating a “door” to look through into the back of the painting, glazing with Thalo Blue with touches of dropped in colors here and there. Colors used were, Quin. Burnt Scarlet, Raw Sienna, Cobalt Blue, Thalo Blue, Alizarin Crimson and Cadmium Red Light.
Price: $40.00, plus shipping.
Baby Girl
Posted by Judy Moore Mudd | Filed under Baby, People
Name: Baby Girl
Medium: Watercolor on Arches 140# paper
Size: 5×7″
This is a small study of ”Lauren” from a photograph taken last Fall by her father, Jason. Gina and Jason Morrison are my cousins in Atlanta and Jason is my very creative web and blog designer. A link to his website, Creation Cafe, is located in my Blogroll on the right.
My painting process: After a quick sketch, I started with the background, wanting to give the effect of a glowing backlight. I wet the paper all the way down to and surrounding Lauren. I then laid in a very strong yellow (New Gamboge) making sure it was strongest just to the right of Lauren’s head and along the fence line. After this dried, I mixed a dark with Thalo Blue and Alizarin Crimson, leaning more toward blue. I used this dark for the background fence, trees and house–varying the values and color shades and strengths to show slight differences between the objects. I lifted lighter areas within the darks, such as the roof line and the fence lines. I highlighted the evergreen edge with some yellow to give it a backlit appearance.
Painting Lauren, I began with her face, laying in an initial flesh toned mixture, but varying the colors throughout the face-cheeks pinker, forehead warmer, shadowed areas under her hood bluer, etc. After this layer dried, I went in and strengthen the areas that needed to be stronger–her cheeks, mouth, inside her ear, neck–all the while keeping things pretty soft since her baby face is soft and rounded. I moved to her eyes, trying not to define too much, leaving white hightlights and layering the irises to give depth. Her eyebrows were just wisps of color, barely visible.
Lauren’s jacket was painted with Thalo Blue, Cerulean, Cobalt Blue, and Perm. Rose, leaving hightlights on the upper edges for backlighting and darkening where needed under her hood and in the folds. I finished her hand using the same colors as her face and just used a dark to indicate the leaf she was holding.
Price: SOLD, Collection Jason and Gina Morrison, Atlanta
Colby’s Eyes
Posted by Judy Moore Mudd | Filed under Animals, Dogs
About the Painting:
Name: Colby’s Eyes
Size: 5×7″
Medium: Watercolor on 140# Arches paper
This painting is of my daughter, Sara’s service dog, Colby. He is a 5 year old, 85lb, Golden-Lab mix lapdog. Colby was acquired through Canine Companions for Independence in Columbus, Ohio, which is a wonderful organization helping disabled individuals live more independently. Here, I painted him without his working vest. He is watching the crowd milling about at Churchill Downs. He has expressive eyes and so that was my focus in the painting.
My process: I started with a light Cerulean blue delineating all of his shadowed areas in his fur. I then started with his ears and worked my way around his body using Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, and Permanent Rose, darkening and lightening as I went and leaving white paper where he had white fur. I then moved to the darker areas- nose, eyes, etc. using a mixture of Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna and Alizarin Crimson to make a strong dark, leaving small white specks in his eyes and lower eyelids. When I painted the nose, I softened the upper part of his nose into his fur, blending it. I added a little darkening to his eyebrow areas and painted his toenails. The background I did last, with a mixture of Thalo Blue and Alizarin Crimson. Instead of painting around the bricks, I lifted the color inside the bricks, giving them shape. As a final step, I darkened the bricks a little under Colby’s body to make him blend with the surface instead of looking pasted on.
Price: SOLD! If you would like a commissioned painting of your pet, please email me a quality photo with good lighting in .jpg format. A 5×7″ is $40.00 plus shipping. Larger size paintings are available. Please email me for a quote.
Long Run Park Winter
Posted by Judy Moore Mudd | Filed under Landscapes, Winter
About the Painting:
Name: Long Run Park Winter
Medium: Watercolor on 140# Arches cold press paper
Size: 5×7″
My Process: This is from a photograph I took after a snowfall this winter. After a quick sketch, I put in a strong yellow (New Gamboge) glaze for the sky and water, let dry. Came back in the sky with a Permanent Rose glaze, let that dry. Then finally a glaze with Cobalt Blue and Thalo Blue and let that dry. I rewet, with clear water, a 2-3 inch span on the horizon line, dropping in those darker colors as distant trees using Ultramarine Blue, Perm Rose and Quin. Burnt Scarlet. Once dry, I dry brushed the trees on the back hillside. Then made a rich dark from Thalo Blue, Aliz. Crimson and Burnt Scarlet and painted the trees up front. I painted the snowbanks with a light mixture of Thalo Blue and Cobalt in the back and used richer color in the front. A few dry brushed twigs and leaves in the trees and it was finished.
Price: $40.00 plus shipping
Fushia Splash
Posted by Judy Moore Mudd | Filed under Floral, Still Life, Uncategorized
About the Painting:
Name: Fushia Splash
Medium: Watercolor on 140# Fabriano Aquarelle, professional grade paper
Size: 9×9″
This was a painting project I taught in my Beginner’s Watercolor Class last week. The goal was to use frisket to preserve whites when no other option was available. In this project, the tiny lines in the center of the flower would be almost impossible to retain any other way. This week we are again using frisket on our projects, but as a creative element to the paintings.
My Process:
I used Pebeo frisket to preserve the whites in the center of the flower and also the inside lines and along the edges of the petals. I used a wood skewer with a sharp point to “draw” the lines and dots in the center with frisket. Once the frisket dried, I painted the outer green areas first, softening the inner edges since I knew I would be coming back over them with fushia color later. Then I moved to the center of the flower, making a very dark color w/ Alizarin Crimson and Thalo Blue. I kept working along the perimeter changes from alizarin crimson to magenta and opera, softening some edges while keeping other hard. Once this dried, I removed the frisket, added muted yellows in the center and topping them with bright yellow. I softened the lines in the petals just using clear water, letting the existing color melt into the lines. I finished with some additional darks in the center for some form.
Price: $50.00 plus shipping.
Champ the Boxer
Posted by Judy Moore Mudd | Filed under Animals, Dogs
Name: Champ
Medium: Watercolor on 140# Fabriano Aquarelle, professional grade paper
Size: 5×7″
I loved the face on this dog. Very expressive.
My Process: I started wet-in-wet glazes on his ears using raw sienna, new gamboge and burnt sienna, moving down to the colorful parts of his face, dropping in ultramarine blue for the darks around his eyes and down around his mouth. I added pinks to his mouth area and let dry, then worked his nose and darks on his lips, lifting out the lighter areas and adding darks inside his nostrils. I finished his body color before ending with the eye area. In his eyes, I first painted raw sienna, then added burnt sienna, and finally added ultramarine blue for the very darkest color. I painted around the specks of light in his eyes and on his lids. After the eyes dried, I carefully lifted the circular areas around the pupil, bringing back some of the underlayers of the raw sienna and burnt sienna to show the depth in his eyes. Inside his right ear, I lifted to show the subtle shapes and then dropped in some soft pinks. I finished with the background using a loose wash of cobalt blue, leaving a few white areas.
For Purchase Information, Click Here!
(If you would like a commissioned painting of your pet, please email me a quality photo with good lighting in .jpg format. A 5×7″ is $50.00 plus shipping. Larger size paintings are available. Please email me for a quote.
Helen Windmill
Posted by Judy Moore Mudd | Filed under Buildings, Landscapes, Windmill
About the Painting:
Name: Helen Windmill -Mini Painting
Medium: Watercolor on 140# Arches
Size: 5×7′
I have visited Helen, GA a few of times. It is a wonderful Alpine village-style art and craft community in the northern Georgia mountains. This windmill sits nestled on the mountainside. It is actually a motel in Helen (Heidi Motel). It looks as if it has been there for years. If anyone knows about this motel, I’d love to learn more about it.
My Painting Process: When I designed the painting, I removed a lot of what was visible in the photograph. I wanted the windmill to be the focus, so eliminated most of the surrounding structures. Other than that, it is pretty much how it sits in the mountains. It was fall when I last visited and took this photo. I wanted to capture some of the fall folliage in the painting because I thought they would go with the colors in the windmill.
I started with the background and wet the paper with clear water from the sloping hillside up. I dropped in greens, blues, yellows and oranges for the trees; cerulean blue, cobalt blue and touches of alizarin crimson for the clouds and sky. Once that was dry, I painted the folliage colors between the windmill slats, added the roof tops and painted those colors in the windmill slats where appropriate. I didn’t paint all of the slats equally or solidly, not wanting a “pasted on” look. I added the shadows in the windows and under the eaves, using the same blue-purple mixes I used in the sky. I loosely painted, dabbed, and splattered the rocky slope in the foreground. Once I was satisfied generally with the way things looked, I put in the darker evergreens around the windmill to make it pop, finishing off the painting with the blue-purple shadows under the brush.
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Number 8 in the 5th
Posted by Judy Moore Mudd | Filed under Animals, Horseracing, Horses, Jockeys, People
Name: Number 8 in the 5th
Medium: Watercolor on 140# Arches
Size: 5×7″
Here in Louisville, KY it’s Derby time! The kick-off for the Derby Festival was last weekend with Thunder Over Louisville, the day-long aerial show along the Ohio River waterfront culminating with the world’s largest fireworks show at 9:30pm. Even though the weather this year was less than ideal (chilly and overcast), it always draws a crowd. Great fun for locals and visitors alike.
I thought it would be appropriate to have a Derby themed painting. This was actually painted similarly to a much larger painting (approx 22 x 28″) I finished a few weeks ago. The subject was from a photo I took at Churchill Downs during Derby week two years ago. Here is the larger original:
It can be viewed, along with details, on my website at www.watercolordesigns.com
My process: I started painting the background first, to get the white lines running through the painting. I then started glazing yellows and reds on the jockey, making sure I left light rim lighting along the upper edge. I kept developing the red, going with brighter and darker reds to get depth. I used Winsor Red, Scarlet Lake, Quinacridone Rose, Aliz. Crimson and added touches of blue in the shadow areas. I painted around the white straps of the jockey’s cap and the horses reins. The horse was painted with New Gamboge, Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet and Ultramarine blue–I finished the lighter areas on the horse with Quinacridone Gold.
To purchase, click here!
Red Amaryllis
Posted by Judy Moore Mudd | Filed under Amaryllis, Floral, Still Life
About the Painting:
Name: Red Amaryllis
Medium: Watercolor on 140# Arches
Size: 5×7″
My family received amaryllis bulbs as a holiday gift, They grew tall and bloomed after only a few weeks. They grew so fast, it seemed as if they were growing while you watched them, changing from morning to night.
My Process: This painting was produced on 140# Arches paper with Winsor Newton, Holbein and Daniel Smith paints. I started with the petals, stems and leaves. Most of painting involved dropping colors into an initial glaze. The petals were painted multiple times with various shades of transparent yellows, oranges and reds with a final Daniel Smith Quinacridone Magenta added for depth. Opaque yellow was added in the center. The white stems were painted around, leaving the white of the paper. The background was painted last. It was painted with a very dark combination of thalo blue, permanent rose and Quin. Burnt Scarlet. It had to be painted twice to get the final dark that I wanted.
The photo of this painting doesn’t do it justice, as is the case much of the time. An artist friend saw it and thought it was a photo, not a painting. It looks good with a black mat. It would also look good with either matting it larger and leaving 1/2″ white paper around the image or adding a white inner mat with a black top mat.
Thanks for viewing!
For Purchase Information: Click Here!
Elephant Hug
Posted by Judy Moore Mudd | Filed under Animals, Elephants, For Sale, Zoo
About the Painting:
Name: Elephant Hug
Medium: Watercolor and Casein on 300# Arches
Size: 14 1/2x 22″
Welcome to my blog! This will be the first of many posts. I plan to show a new watercolor painting every other day so please visit me often.
Today, I’m posting “Elephant Hug”. I chose this painting because a friend called me after seeing it exhibited at our local Library. I had not heard from her in awhile, so it was a nice surprise.
“Elephant Hug” was inspired by a photo I took several years ago of elephants at the Louisville Zoo. I loved the way they looked with each other and studied the photo for quite awhile before getting down to painting it. My friend loved it and I hope you do, too.
To view this and other paintings, please visit my website at http://www.watercolordesigns.com/.
