Blanket Octopus 2
Hello Friends,
A couple of nights ago I decided to find the part of the nature show I watched that showed the “Blanket” octopus spreading herself out to make herself look bigger. I found it and paused it at the best place to draw from. I couldn’t really get the brilliance of the sunlight shining down into the water and “through” her body, but this is the best I could do with watercolor pencils.
Watercolor pencils are very different to work with than paint out of the tube or even the solid cakes of paint in a pan, which I have never liked much. With pencils, you can either draw first and add the water which is what I do so the colors won’t bleed too much, or you can wet your paper and then draw. I have just always done it the first way I mentioned.
So here she is: “Blanche” the Blanket Octopus! (I have been watching reruns of “Golden Girls” lately! Blanche is my favorite character.
Over the next few days I will be posting more turtles I have drawn to fit a 5×7 card! (I would love to know if you think they should be smaller on the card with more background or fill the card as I have drawn them??? Let me know!) So watch for them to come swimming along.
The weather here has been cooler the last couple of days! I have not had to turn the A/C on until almost noon! Nice!
Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
Share this:
Posted on July 23, 2017, in Art Talk and tagged #WorldWatercolorMonth, art, painting, Prismacolor watercolor pencils, Sea turtles, watercolor painting. Bookmark the permalink. 17 Comments.
Patsy's Creative Corner 
I love this octopus! My younger daughter uses watercolour pencils lot but instead of adding the water with a brush she uses a sort of pipette with a brush on the end called a water brush. She finds them easier to control the amount of water especially with smaller areas of paint.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing that. That sounds interesting. And thank you very much!
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike
A blanket octopus! What a fascinating creature. I can’t imagine how hard it is to draw it but the idea of pausing a show with the real thing there is a great idea. It turned out wonderful and Blanche sounds like a good name. Love the Golden girls. I’m one of them now. 🙂 I’d rather watch the old shows these days. What does that tell you? 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. It wasn’t too hard to draw. I wish I had a dvd drive in my laptop but I purposely got one without a dvd drive so I wouldn’t be tempted to watch stuff. I am there with you on the Golden Girls. The old shows are the best. That tells me you have good taste.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Or that I’m old. 🙂
LikeLike
Age is only a state of mind. Think young! 😃
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike
Blanche is the perfect name for this octopus! Reminds me of some of Blanche’s outfits on The Golden Girls. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh Linda, that made me laugh out loud! I didn’t even think of that! It’s so true!! I just love her! 🙂
LikeLike
Blanche looks great, Patsy! Nicely done! I’m glad you’re having some cooler weather…can you send some our way? 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Jill! It is such a fascinating show, I kept in on our DVR so I can watch it again and again. There is a sea turtle in it, too, of course!
I’m sorry it is so hot and muggy back there for you! I could never live in that humidity again. Grace is living in it now, too, in Missouri. I’ll try to send some cooler weather back to you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great job!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Anneli! (I love your name!)
Watercolor pencils are a little more difficult to predict, because I draw first and then add the water. With tube paints I put some in my pan and mix with the water first and test the colors on a scrap piece. But the pencils are great for little sketches and for going over things for more definition.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The great thing about art is that there is rarely anything so bad that you can call it a mistake. Often what starts out to be not what you intended, turns out to be a special effect that is quite pleasing. Thanks for the nice compliment about my name. It has actually been a burden because it is so often mispronounced. I should have gotten into the habit of hyphenating it (Anne-li).
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is so true! Things I thought were mistakes in some of my pieces turned out to be pleasant surprises!
You’re welcome about the compliment on your name. My name is Patsy so I understand! So many people automatically call me Patty, but I learned how to politely correct them growing up. However, there’s one lady I met over 10 years ago who STILL calls me Patty! I just let it go with her. 🙂 I don’t think you should have to hyphenate your name; it’s pretty obvious of how to say it to me! People are just strange sometimes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
TNX. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person