Sketchbook Challenge - Opposites : Black Dog on a Frozen Lake

I did two versions.
Materials : watercolor, gouache, pencil on watercolor paper


Materials : watercolor, gouache, pencil on 65 lb cardstock
I did this one second, so I had a better idea of how to push the pigment around to make her fur look more like fur., so I think I like this one better.

This project really helped me get a feel for each type of watercolor paint--transparent vs. the opaque. The watercolor paper really does have more body to it and is suitable for the medium. The cardstock does all right, but I think I'm hooked on the watercolor paper now!


This is the original photo from 2008, taken by my husband on an "ice walk" on frozen Lake Winnebago, just a few blocks from our house. I know--you'd expect the ice to be white, but it really depends on the time of day. This was as twilight, hence the pink and blue. This is my lovely 2nd-hand Newfie again. She looks so noble in this portrait! For a few years, now, I've been trying to figure out to to turn this particular picture into a quilt ... Maggie is so black, it's difficult to get a good picture without her looking like dark puddle. This one kind of looks like those old silhouettes contrasting the light and dark. Hence, that made it suitable for this month's theme : Opposites.


Here's the outline tracing I worked with.

Follow this link to read more about the February Sketchbook Challenge Theme : Opposites.