step one of watercolor

The Wolf & the Kid (Aesop's Fable); watercolor

Aesops Fable

This, of course, is just my line drawing for one of Aesops Fables. I'll be working on the color image this weekend. The fable: The Kid & the Wolf. A kid, returning without protection from the pasture, was pursued by a wolf. Seeing he could not escape, he turned round, and said "I know, friend wolf, that I must be your prey, but before I die I would ask of you one favor you will play me a tune to which I may dance." The wolf complied, and while he was piping and the kid was dancing, some hounds hearing the sound ran up and began chasing the wolf. Turning to the kid, he said, "It is just what I deserve, for I, who am only a butcher, should not have turned piper to please you." The moral of the story: In time of dire need, clever thinking is a key or Outwit your enemy to save your skin.

The Tortoise and the Hare - Aesop's Fable

I chose The Tortoise and the Hare because it reminds me of publishing. Slow and steady wins the race (or at least that's my hope). I started this painting after midnight last night, so it's not exactly the way I would have gone about it during the day. However, it was a fun experiment.

I started out with a navy colored pastel paper and drew on it with watercolor crayons.


I liked this stage so much that I almost didn't go any further. However, Watercolor Wednesdays implies the fact that I should probably use some water. So I got out my spray bottle, which made it look like this, which I also liked.


This morning, I really wanted to use acrylic to finish the painting, but first I tried regular watercolor paints. That wasn't very effective on the navy paper (I knew it wouldn't be, but it never hurts to try). So I decided to use my gouache paints.

Note: I don't like gouache. I can't make it do what I want, it smells weird, and it cracks after it dries.

But I decided to use it anyway, since this was an experiment. The first bits of gouache I painted didn't look good, but I stuck with it. I like the way it turned out, other than the cracking of the paint as I untaped the painting from the board. (Anybody know a way to make it crack proof?)

Here's the final result: