I had a couple of things to decide in this second stage. 1. I had to decide how to make sure the fish are a part of the background. I usually will soften or lose some of the edges in many areas so the fish do not look pasted on. I picked several areas and panted across the fish with glazes.2. I had to decide the focal area, and not make all the fish have the same importance. By the way… before I ever started I had to make some design decisions. When I was designing the painting I drew out a rough value scale with the fish and the water just as blocks of light, medium and dark values. This is done very loose as once the water hits the paper it has a life of its own and I usually go with anything that happens outside of the main focal area. Before I started I had decided to make it a variation of a cruciform (cross) pattern. Thus I was always reminding myself to keep that very important element. I would darkening areas where it would strengthen the cross shape or pulling out paint where the cross needed to come forward. Of course the cross is in the fish, so when I say cross it means the cross shape of the piece. I hope this make sense, its a little after 6 am and I’ve been painting since 4:30 am.
An area, I feel is not working as well as it should is the red and black fish on the left…he is sort of stealing the show, he may get push back into the painting by reducing his chroma or brightness. I may glaze over him some green to not only reduce his brightness, but this may also push him back into the water a little more… we’ll see. The reason he is stealing the show is rather simple, he has lots of color, bright color and his pattern of color is placed in such a direct manner with many small brush strokes. All this movement combined with the contrast of his colors and values makes him really get noticed. also he is a bit animated… I may have to make him less cute.
Any comments are welcome , I understand critique and will not have my feelings hurt if you have some type of opinion which may help, let me know.

This painting is painted in an Asian style.

It's a great deal at $50.00 Size is 9 by 11 This would fit into a 16 by 20 frame with mat which you could buy at any store such as target.

If interested, please write me email. To see other daily work go to...
http://shantimarie.wordpress.com

I received a message yesterday that a fellow artist and member of “Serious watercolor” an international group of watercolor artists of which we are members passed away from an aneurysm. It was shocking news and it once again reminds us all to really live each day & to paint as often as possible.
His work was loose and very fresh, nature seemed to be his biggest inspiration and he painted landscapes full of expression and emotion. I have included one of his paintings as a tribute to him, I hope he is painting with a golden sable and comets and star dust are his mediums of choice now.
This is just one painting of Mohan’s, take a moment and go to his web site and take a look around I think he would love to have you see his work.

http://members.shaw.ca/mohan-watercolors/

Here is another Koi, yes another Koi I love these guys, they are the national fish of Japan, I wonder what's our national fish is....maybe the trout?

This is painted on 300 lb paper, size 11 by 15 and was painted wet into wet while leaving the fish dry after several applications of paint to the background allowing each to dry before putting on the next layer I started the fish. after all this dried another layer to the background this time pulling the paint over and across the tail and fins allowing it to have some lost edges. This gives the painting a cohesiveness. Also I added some of the warm to the water which helps relate to the Big red splotch on the koi's head I also spritz it with water as the paint was drying avoiding the actual fish, this give the water a little bit of texture in droplet form.

I have been sketching some commission work for a mural, but I managed to squeeze in this little painting . Its been raining here and the trees are covered in little droplets of ice and I was really wanting to paint them, but I decided to paint this painting because it's a commission work. What can I say, I gotta pay the bills...
I do love lemons, the texture of their skin, the color and especially the way they look inside a blue glass bowl. It's really great being an artist. Everything I see is a painting, I sometimes just look up into the sky and I feel an overwhelming expression or emotion of joy come over me. Little things like colored glass or lichens on bark, fall leaves or mist floating across the water can send me running to my sketch book. I'm very thankful for this gift, because I do think it's special to be able to capture some of these things.

"Lemons" is small at 5 by 6.5 inches

go to http://shantimarie.wordpress.com for more paintings...