Sun Splatters, 5 x 5 watercolor and pen. © 2016 Sheila Delgado

I started this piece months ago. When I started to add pen to shape the petals, I totally goofed. I did not start with a sketch, I just splattered paint, and then added the pen to highlight some of the shapes the paint developed.

When I came back to the piece recently, I was so attracted to the colors, I felt I had to try to save it. I continued to add petal shapes. Next I added more of the rust tones to the background. That looked terrific in person, but not in the scan. So I went back in with some deep sap green.

I thought it was too dark, so I washed some of that back out. Looking at the petals, I thought it might be a good idea to add some shadows. I didn’t want to ruin what I had, so I added shadows digitally, in Photoshop. The shadows here are not deep enough, and maybe they are not correctly placed. This is still a work in progress for now. Below is the original.

Sun Splatters, 5 x 5 watercolor and pen. © 2016 Sheila Delgado

Slide 1: left for dead
Slide 2: attempt resuscitation
Slide 3: add contrast, sap green
Slide 4: lighten the contrast
Slide 5: digital shadows

Sun Splatters, Left for Dead. Original. 2016 Sheila Delgado

Tomorrow is the Liberate Your Art Blog Hop. I hope you will join me, and visit some of the other artists as well. Kat will unveil her video – Sure to be fun!