Frog on Matboard~No Gesso

I'm out of gesso at the moment but I'm still on my frog 'kick' so I decided to try painting wet into wet directly on matboard. I sketched in the eye and the general shape, then just winged it. There were a few moments when I thought it got away from me but in the end I think it looks like a frog!

Frog Pond #2

New Photo, better color

Last time I over did it. This time I may have 'under did' it. I used a much softer palette with a not-so-heavy hand. This image is not the greatest as I took it in poor light but did the best I could to correct the colors. I will take another photo tomorrow in better light and replace this one.

I completely changed the format. This is 7" x 15", taller and narrower than the first, and I only gessoed the areas around the frog while protecting said frog with frisket film. I'm not sure I was able to integrate the two surfaces to my satisfaction. The jury is still out on that. I had much more control on the un-gessoed area but I really missed the effects I can achieve on gesso, particularily the mottled 'look' I can create by misting partially wet paint with clear water. IMO, my frog would've looked better had I been able to give that look to it's skin.


I went for a much simpler composition...maybe too simple. I may add some more tadpoles or something to better balance it out. I'm really happy with the river rock/pebbles at the bottom and I like the splash/water turbulence around the frog. That was done by creating the right texture with the gesso around the frog before I began painting. After I had finished painting I took a Q-tip and gently wiped away any paint to reveal the white gesso.

Frog Pond~Starting Again

My new comp thumbnail sketch. I will probably change the proportions of the various elements when I enlarge it.

This time I decided to focus on only one frog and take more care with the development of it. I want to include more detail too, so the frog will stand out more. I also came up with a different composition. I'm shooting for a more underwater atmosphere..kind of a frog's eye view of things beneath a pond. Zhen painted something similar and I quite liked it.


The quandary is....how do I get a greater amount of detail on my frog and stay with a gessoed surface? My solution is to only partially coat my paper with the gesso while saving the frog itself under frisket film. It should work but time will tell.

Frog Pond~Watercolor on Gesso

This probably should be called Nightmare Frog Pond. I knew days ago this one had gone horribly wrong but I kept at it just the same. In the process I learned a few new tricks to use when working with w/c on gesso so it wasn't a total waste. For example...Q-tips are great for smoothing out the inevitable hard edges that form on a gessoed surface when applying transparent watercolor. I intend to try a second time, most likely with a new composition and maybe a few different colors. I won't be so heavy handed with the pouring either. That last bit will be hard. I love to pour paint and don't always know when to stop.

Awhile back I made a vow to post some of my failures along with the successes. For some strange reason I think it will make me feel more honest.

Frogs, Frogs, Frogs

My trusty #2 squirrel quill for those who aren't familiar with this type of brush, which I used for my painted frogs

These are my w/c sketches done with the quill. I numbered them in the order painted.

This one's got the look of desire...a desire for lunch!

He's got the look of love

The bullfrog


I've had frogs on the brain for days now. My oldest son requested I paint a few for him and I realized I've only painted one. Nothing makes me think 'frog' more than the good old bullfrog. To me, they're as American as apple pie only not as tasty. I went looking online and was amazed at how many websites there are devoted entirely to frogs and the people that love them!

I did a few pencil sketches trying to come up with a concept, theme....whatever. My first thought was to put a frog on the Moon. Afterall, I put cats on the Moon. Why not frogs? I shot that idea down and decided to try a few other ideas which I've posted above.

Today I was admiring Lian Quan Zhen's work(I have the link on my blog list)and decided to try my hand at a more loose, sumi e-style approach. I worked with my #2 squirrel quill brush which was a little large for the job but I think as I went along I began to improve. I've got another concept in mind now but I'm waiting for the gesso to dry so it will be a few days before I'll be posting my results if (big IF)I'm successful.

Japanese Irises~Completed

I've been fiddlin' around with this one waaaaay too long to be objective anymore so I'm calling it done, at least for now. I've included a long shot(some tape is showing...sorry, camera distortion), a closeup and the piece framed with the mat & frame that I intend to use. I did a lot of fine tuning, both with color and cleaning up rough edges. That's another thing I like about working on gesso. I used masking fluid on the irises and I can never get a nice sharp tip or corner with that stuff. I used a very sharp exacto knife to gently scrape away the surface paint(be very, very careful if you try this) and managed to get perfect points on those little top petals.

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My oldest son has requested that I paint some frogs for him so that will probably be my next mission. Ribbit!

Who Can Understand Cats?

Cute but not my idea of a house pet.
He knows it's there. He brought it in! Does he care? No!

Because I sure can't! Today while I was working on a painting, Digby, my male cat brought me a little 'present'. A chipmunk...alive! He proceeded to turn it loose in the house and shortly afterwards, casually sauntered back outside. }:-( There was a day when my cats brought me presents but none were alive and kicking when they arrived. If any unfortunate critter happened to get in the house it would've been bedlam. They'd have been in hot pursuit, scrambling under and over things, knocking over furniture and plants with the chase ending in bloodshed. I think they're getting old, or lazy...or both. Or maybe Digby thought I needed a new pet? Who knows.........