Here's lookin' at ya...

red eyed tree frog - acrylic on canvas

In the interests of keeping my blog active by posting to it on a regular basis - I thought this pic would be amusing...
It came up on my screensaver the other night and "spoke" to me.

This photo was taken during my developmental series (so it is not part of the photos I have of the finished painting) and was shot up close and at an angle.

Hope to be back soon with the latest painting stages...


Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog - 5 -

Red Eyed Tree Frog - 5 - Part 8

"Consummatum est"

I'm not doing anymore on <-- this frog. At some point one has to declare, "IT IS FINISHED!" And in comparison to the other frog paintings already declared consummatum est - this one joins them... All these tree frog paintings you see here are on 100cm by 80cm stretched canvas.

I'm taking a well deserved break from frogs for the time being (even though my focus remains on completing my series...) but I am keen to get back to doing a few more watercolour landscapes.
Watch this space...



Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog - 5 - Part 7

Well, I've dealt to the rather blue background leaf and this is the result.
Yesterday I bit the bullet and decided it would either work or totally ruin the painting.
Instead I've landed up in no-man's land. It isn't ruined but it certainly isn't fixed.

I used Light Green to paint over the obvious blue areas of the leaf - blending that into the rest of the painting. Then I spent the whole day glazing over the background with diluted layers of Light Green. Waiting for it to dry before applying the next layer and the next - and so on.
Lesson/s learnt?: Viridian Hue is a lovely colour - BUT - only in the right context. I should have been brave enough to mix my own dark green from the start...



So my thoughts at the moment are:

• that the background has lost some of it's solidness

• the frog looks like it's hovering on the leaf rather than sitting on it

• the luminosity of the frog body is lost in the optical mixing of the background

etc, etc, etc

My solution:
to put the painting back in the office and get on with other unfinished paintings until my mind has time to 'come up with the answer' or a friendly comment is left with helpful suggestion/s



Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog - 5 - Part 5 and 6

Red Eyed Tree Frog - 5 - Part 5 and 6

After my few days off from frogging I decided to get out the Lemon Yellow and Blue Lake to finally start painting the body. I have an unexplained aversion to mixing my own greens, but I do like the way Lemon Yellow and Blue Lake mix.

I squeeze out a blob of yellow and then squeeze about a fifth of that of blue - on the lid of a plastic ice cream container... No airs or graces with me - I don't even own an easle (though it's on my wish list)
Then: it's paint brush into water, (for the frog body, I only used a #12 Haydn) mixing the two together slightly on the plastic lid and transferring what's on the brush to the canvas where it's mixed further by the brush strokes and more water if required. (This frog body was painted differently to the ones in my previous series' - those were mixed directly on the canvas with a much thicker conistency and applied mostly with a dappled effect. This one was painted using flowing strokes. I didn't have to be too concerned about "detail" because the previous underpainting stages had taken care of that.)
Where I need to, I add more blue or yellow directly to the painted canvas (while it's still wet) to define specific areas. Check out the link above about mixing greens.

pre glazed frog

                                         
I then used washes/glazes of just Lemon Yellow to bring out the consistency I was after. As you can see, it has made the frog more luminous and vibrant.

glazed frog

Then a little more Orange on the hands and feet and Titanium White to accentuate the highlights brings me to this point.

Now I have to figure out how to deal to the leaf background, so will be back when that's done...



Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog - 5 -

Red Eyed Tree Frog - 5 - Part 4

red eyed tree frog - acrylic - painting process

So this is how the next espisode continues. I used mixes of Blue Lake and Phthalo Blue to paint in the blue areas you see here. Thin dilutions of Blue Lake were used to accentuate some areas on the frog body too.

Then I used mixes of Orange, Medium Yellow and Brilliant Red to paint in details on the "hands and feet" of the frog. Finishing off with just Brilliant Red to colour in the eyes.

Burnt Sienna was used in the central 'vein' of the leaf to bring it out more and define some of the shadow. I had high hopes of using washes of the same colour to brown up the leaves which I think are looking too blue... Something else required my attention - so this is where I'm up to for now...


Art Expresion

Red Eyed Tree Frog 5

Red Eyed Tree Frog 5 - Part 3

red eyed tree frog - acrylic - painting process - background

Nothing like a bit of viridian hue to liven up the background...
Again, I used various dilutions of the hue and like the way it has come out so far.

I decided to paint the background now before concentrating on the body of the frog - my reasoning being that when I do the final background, I can paint a definite and smooth line to make the frog stand out from the rest of the painting.


Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog 5

Red Eyed Tree Frog 5 - Part 2

red eyed tree frog - acrylic - painting process

I used a 'cheap' student acrylic called warm yellow to define some more areas of the frog - again, in various dilutions to help me when I get to 'fill in the gaps' later.
The same yellow was glazed over where the stem and leaves are.

Then I used a quality acrylic of light green to paint in the leaves.
I'm not too happy with the way the background leaf on the top left hand side came out so will be giving that some more definition soon.
And, this is where I'm up to...

Not sure if I should 'complete' the backgound first or fill in the body of the frog - not a major drama since this particular tree frog painting is one that I'm enjoying - it seems to flow a lot better for me than the other 4 I did. Practice does make things easier...
Already, I'm beginning to toy with the idea of doing a monochrome frog painting as my next project...


Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog 5 - Part 1

red eyed tree frog - acrylic - painting process

So begins the fifth tree frog painting that I am doing on 1metre by 80cm canvas.

Having painted horizontal versions so far I thought it time to go "long-ways" but hadn't yet found a picture that I like.
After drawing the frog on a white canvas I first used white fabric paint to outline the highlights.
This pic doesnt show it, but because the fabric paint is thick - it 'stands out' on the canvas. (I've found that if I'm aware of light and shadow from the start - and keep that in mind throughout the painting process then it is a lot easier [for me] to keep the painting grounded.)
Then I decided to add tonal features (using dilutions of violet) to see how it would turn out - and this is the result so far...
A good reference for shadow...


Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog - Red Series

My first red eyed tree frog painting (on the right hand side) and my latest frog - on the left.

red eyed tree frogs - acrylic paintings 80x100cm

If you would like to see the developmental stages of these pics, click on the label RED SERIES at the bottom of this post.



I painted over the mitre leaf in the painting on the left and changed the head of the frog from the 'camel humps' of the right to one 'hump' on the left.

So, lets have a vote on which frog painting you prefer - left or right? ...
Funny thing too about photographing my art - it never seems to be a 'true' reflection of the original...


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Red Eyed Tree Frog - side by side for comparison

There's only space on my viewing wall for one large painting at a time.

These tree frog paintings had to be placed side by side in the lounge.
I lay down in front of them to give an indication of how "big" they are but that looked a bit 'cheezy' so sent those pics straight to the recycle bin.

I think they are finished and ready for selling. You?...

Now I'm off to do another red background painting and will look at doing another tree frog painting in portait size since the frogs I've painted so far have been landscape orientated.

'til later.....

Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog - 3 - "Green series"

Red Eyed Tree Frog - acrylic on canvas - green series

Red Eyed Tree Frog 3 - Part 5

And so the red eye tree frog painting develops to this...

I don't think I have been defeated by green.
In fact I'm now beginning to actually think this is the best frog painting I have done so far.

For the face I used a lot of lemon yellow and blue lake. No white at all in that mix.

When the painting dried, I used white for the highlights and fixed up the eyes some more.

My wife thinks there is too much white on the face so I might have to re-green the frog a little...

Anyway, the next pic on here will be the final of this painting and then I start another one with the red leaves.

- If you want to see the sequence of paintings for this, just click on the GREEN SERIES label beneath this post.

Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog 3 - Part 4

Red Eyed Tree Frog  - acrylic painting process

I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY GREEN !!!
Today I painted:
the belly using lemon yellow, warm yellow, green and white
the arm of the frog using white, lemon yellow and blue lake
the 'hand' in the foreground with warm yellow and orange
and some work on the face.
Oh, and another 'glaze' on the background...

I'm hell-bent on making a success of this painting by actually completing it soon.


Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog 3 - Part 3

Red Eyed Tree Frog  - acrylic painting process

I haven't even started on the body of this tree frog yet - nevermind the red eyes...

Enjoying the painting process but not this particular painting.
It's a really big size - 1metre by 80cm to make a mess of and not easily gotten rid of (if it were a watercolour I could chop it up for bookmarks...)

I'm still thinking this tree frog looks like a cartoon rather than a painting.
Hopefully by the time I get to paint the frog's body - it will resemble a more 'realistic' look. I've spent hours on this one so far and really trying to get the leaves right.
Payne's gray was applied in various dilutions to get the shadows 'right' and define the huge leaf. I'm starting to wish I'd painted a banana leaf instead.
The face shadows were dry brushed with Payne's gray as well.

The background got another brushing of green paint and a thin layer of yellow paint to cover the ochre which I thought was looking too dull.

Any helpful suggestions anyone?


Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog 3 - Part 2

Red Eyed Tree Frog  - acrylic painting process

This tree frog IS proving to be a little challenge.
I've found I have to be very careful with my observations.
In this 'episode' of my painting's development I painted a few layers of light green in a water colour-type wash.
Whilst that was still wet, I brushed some viridian hue where the shadow was intended to be...
I then used blue lake to define the black bits and went to give more green into the leaf by using a mix of phthalo blue and medium yellow.
Having put a little too much blue on the tray, I used it up by layering the previous black bits and shadows. Standing back and looking at the overall pic I decided to bring some more yellow ochre to the background - using a flick or few of leftover green into the mix as well.
After that, I used a thicker wash of medium yellow to define the thick veins of the leaf.
And that's where we are up to... The red eyes of the tree frog are very tempting but I'm saving that for another time.
If I'm not back before the new year - have a great festive season...

Art Expression

red eyed tree frog - painting process

Red Eyed Tree Frog 3 - Part 1

And so begins my third painting in the series, "Red Eyed Tree Frog"...

In case you're wondering, the 'cracks' are the veins of the leaves.
I've painted them in a funny mix of yellow, lemon yellow and yellow ochre.
I think this tree frog painting will be very interesting as a study in green...


Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog 2 - Agalychnis Callidryas

Red Eyed Tree Frog  - Agalychnis Callidryas

Well I guess this tree frog is about as finished as I'm going to be with it unless someone points out an obvious flaw.
I fixed up the body and head and concentrated on the left side "fingers" of the frog.

Then I spent a while on the borders, tyding them up so the colours on the side match the front of the tree frog.

A bit more touching up of the red leaves and "Hey Presto!" painting ready for selling...


Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog 2 - Part 5
Agalychnis callidryas (amphibian)

I went back and painted more definition on the red leaves.

Then looking at what I'd done I thought I'd 'ruined' it...

So, the canvas stayed in the office for a few days until yesterday when I got the 'creative urge' again - and there was no stopping me... I put in a few hours of concentrated effort and completely forgot to take photos of the progress.

What did I do?...

I decided to give the background a glazed look. Having recently read somewhere about glazing I thought I'd try it on this one since the background covers a large proportion of the canvas...

Glazing is simply a lot of thin layers of colour. Click the link to find out more...
Very easy to do but is Sooooo time consuming.

Another 'trick' I learned about mixing green paint - painting the under-colour blue and then building up layers of thin yellow paint on top of it to produce the required green.

Thankfully I was able to take a pic of the bottom right border of the canvas (which got forgotten about at the time) to show you here. Using BLUE LAKE colour I built up three layers of glaze.

I then used layers of LEMON YELLOW to paint over it to produce the colour you see here...

Now I am off to focus on the frog body and - hopefully - somehow, define the outline from the background...
I have to fix up the right hand side bottom red leaf since some blue lake paint ran and dried on me before I could wipe it all away.
Plus I have to fix up the eyes a bit since some of the glaze got on there too...


Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog 2 - Part 4
Agalychnis callidryas (amphibian)

I've given more definition to the 'leaves' and the yellow of the flowers. One thing I did concentrate on in this painting are the contrasts between colours, highlights and lines. It seems to be working well so far - usually when I've painted, I blend everything and then outline at the end. Being aware of the use of contrast right from the start seems to make ths painting stand out a lot more.
I also started working on the frog - as you can see, so am slowly bringing it to life...
I'm off to work on the red foliage now cause it's bugging me a bit and will be back with the next update soon...

Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog 2 - Part 3
Agalychnis callidryas (amphibian)

Slowly slowly I build up definition of the leaves and flowers, layer upon layer of colour.
Ok, that sounds a little slow and pedantic, but for the most part, my hand is working quickly.

The eyes were looking a tad jaded so I filled in the pupils with violet and will add to it until I get that 'almost black' look. Continuing with the violet colour I also added some to accentuate the darker leaves and shadow.

So, now I'm done painting for the day and will see you tomorrow or the next day with the next update...


Art Expression

Red Eyed Tree Frog 2 - Part 2
Agalychnis callidryas (amphibian)

Figuring out what to paint next is a little challenge. I like to paint a thin layer of different coloured paints to give me an idea of definition, taking care to check where highlighted and shadow bits are. As always, I think the eyes of the frog are the focal part so usually always paint them at the beginning. They're small enough to stand out and it gives me the 'boost' I need to feel confident in my ability to carry on...