Jellyfish #1
Hello Friends,
This is my first jellyfish watercolor sketch. I say sketch, because I don’t use my best paper for sketches. I have found the paper quality makes a difference for me, but maybe that isn’t true for all artists.
Anyway, I found a picture of this type of jellyfish in a book called Creatures of the Deep, by Erich Hoyt, at the library. On page 54 in a margin note he says, “A very deepwater scyphozoan jellyfish (Periphylla periphylla) provides an intensely bioluminescent example of gigantism. The conspicuous medusa ranges up to 20 inches (50 cm) in diameter, which reverses the trend toward decreasing size at depth.”
In the book, the photo’s background is black because the jellyfish is in such deep waters. I changed the background color for my painting. I also need to work on getting it to look more luminescent which is the hardest part!
I have almost finished drawing my leafy sea dragon on the watercolor paper (the better quality) but haven’t begun painting it yet. It might be awhile before that is done.
I hope everyone has had a good week. I got positive feedback from my instructor on my fiction story. So I am moving on to Assignment Eight. But we have a busy weekend ahead so I probably won’t start it until Monday.
Tomorrow is our monthly Writers Forum meeting, and Sunday our daughter wants to take me out to dinner and go to Turtle Bay for Mother’s Day. She is excited because she “actually has money” this year to do something! She’s always been so thoughtful. She is working ten hour days for awhile and will have Fridays off except for today because she had to go in to finish her super grading stuff. She is almost ready to promote to the next level!
We heard from our son and he is doing well. He loves the backcountry and his crew. We got his letter in the mail yesterday which was a nice surprise. That was his second letter. In his first one, he mainly asked for some guitar chords and lyrics of a few songs he likes. Apparently someone brought a guitar there! He loves the quiet and the person who leads their physical training in the mornings is teaching them yoga which he likes, too, apparently. So I’m glad he is really enjoying himself.
Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
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Posted on May 11, 2018, in Art Talk, Watercolor Paintings and tagged acrylics, art, drawing, painting, Sumi-e: The Art of Japanese Ink Painting, watercolor. Bookmark the permalink. 13 Comments.
Patsy's Creative Corner 
Oops! I feel silly.
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I love the colors and it does look luminescent – that must be hard to do. I was reading A Piece of the World and it mentioned that Andrew Wyeth mixed eggs in with his paints to bring in a luminescent look. I think the paints were powdered though _ I don’t know if there are any around like that anymore that can be mixed with eggs. : )
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Thanks, Sheila. I appreciate that! I haven’t read the book you mentioned, but I did get the novel you told me about at the library It is good. Yes, I have heard of painting with eggs, but I haven’t tried it. Artists who do it are amazing but I don’t know much about. You gave me a good idea for a new blog post though. 😁
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Thanks, Sheila. Well, I did try. Have you ever heard of that type of jellyfish? I haven’t.
So is the book you mentioned a novel? I believe that is called egg tempura painting. I’ve never done it, but artists who do it are amazing! I am not sure about what type of paint it is, though. So you’ve given me an idea to research and do a blog post about someday. Thanks! 😁
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That’s great! A Piece of the World is a novel by Christina Baker Kline (the author of Orphan Train). It seems like there’s a lot of truth in it though – I think she must have done a lot of research on Wyeth and his subject in that painting Christina’s World. It’s another fun one! The luminescence made me think of it, though your paintings are luminescent without any eggs involved. 🙂
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I loved the book Orphan Train! She’s a great writer. Thanks for telling me about it, Sheila. I love historical fiction even if an author just uses a few facts to build a story. I am enjoyimg Beneath a Scarlet Sky. It became intense pretty quickly! Thanks again for what you said about my jellyfish!
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Patsy, I’m looking forward to seeing your leafy sea dragon. I love sea horses (who doesn’t?). Happy Mother’s Day. I hope you and your daughter have a wonderful time!
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It’s always good to practice on not your best paper so you feel free to play a little. Good job. Sounds like you will have a wonderful Mother’s Day too. My daughter love it when she could finally afford to do things for me as well. Have a great weekend. Back to the writing on Monday. 🙂
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You’re right! I use it a lot to play around with colors, etc. Thanks. Yes, I hope so. Aren’t daughters wonderful? I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day as well. 🙂
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Very pretty jellyfish as long as he stays off my fishing lines.
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Thank you, Anneli. It most likely will since it is found in the deep, deep waters of the ocean. 😉
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That’s good.
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😁
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