Little Charmer By Adrienne Balkum
It is a 3×3 watercolor where I used Master’s Touch watercolor paint on acid free paper. The pad that I purchased only has 12 sheets for $6.99 that I picked up from Hobby Lobby.
This was my third attempt at creating this little beetle. I had a few challenges that started with primarily the size of the space needed to focus on the lush red color to the details of being a ladybug. On penciling highlights for the shell to give the impression that it is “shiny”. I had to think about the brush size to move within the pattern. Which ultimately is the reason I went with more of a frontal view. My previous two were from the rear off center view point.
In this attempt I avoided the main bug anatomy and focused on the green background first. Normally, I work in sections of wetting the area with my #8 brush then brush my colors in. So I went around wetting the background and working on the greens and browns. I have read while you do watercolors scenes of nature that you would use colors that are somewhat dull and not typically the bright greens. In this case I decided for this bug to pop out I chose to use a bright green that would compliment the Crimson Red.
Appreciate the little things, you would be surprised those little things make a big difference.