Cheered Up by Doggy

Little One was feeling a bit depressed about the coming of Autumn. With unstable weather, clocks switched back a. hour, days getting shorter and daylight gone earlier, who can blame her? But she’s determined to beat that! After all, surely there is something positive about this season of change: How about the leaves on the trees changing into stunning colors? “I need to get out for some fresh air anyway”, she muses, “And have a look at the beautiful autumn sceneries while it all lasts”. So out she ventures, awed by all the amazing shades of autumn colors of red, orange and yellow, only to be approached by the neighborhood dog which cheered her up even more! And to see her face lighten up… so adorable that I had to paint about it!

For this painting, I chose watercolor with cold-pressed Strathmore 300gsm paper. It’s a perfect medium that gives that feathery effect when used wet-on-wet. First apply water where you want the color, tap some watercolor and watch the color spread out. Then tap another harmonious color of a darker shade of the same color and watch it merge beautifully to create a marble-like appearance. I tried this for all the various areas, and what great practice it was! And which watercolor set did I go for? Kuretake Gansai Tambi, a traditional and naturally-pigmented set from Japan, was my choice for this, along with the Japanese calligraphy brushes. Loving all the pretty colors!

What an autumnal painting this turned out to be! And very cute too and happy despite the allegedly depressing season Autumn can be. The colors are perfect for this, and the wet-on-wet method turned out to be a success. I ought to practice more though! Meanwhile, isn’t it sweet how Little One cheered up so quickly? Thanks to the beautiful autumn scenery and of course the neighborhood dog!