watercolour

Rainbow Sulcata Tortoise Portrait

ink painting, pet portrait, watercolor, watercolour, wildlife art / / / , , , ,

After painting so many fluffy animals recently, I had the urge to paint a tortoise. This is a sulcata tortoise, one of the most charismatic tortoises you can meet imo.

I had a ton of fun painting the scales on this cutie. Sulcata’s have quite thick spur-like scales down their legs that create beautiful, dramatic shadows. I’m still working on balancing the more subtle scales on the face, but painting each leg scale individually felt right for this guy.

One of my biggest frustrations with painting on wood is how poorly it scans. The yellows and oranges have so much more depth in person that gets lost in the wood when scanned or photographed. But even so, I’m pretty happy with this piece! I’d love to paint more tortoises in the future. Do you have a favourite tortoise or turtle species?

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Rainbow Watercolour Black German Shepherd Puppy Portrait

pet portrait, watercolor, watercolour / / / , ,

Here’s another little experimental piece in my struggle to understand black fur! Painting this little GSD puppy felt like pulling teeth. I even had to start over, which is something I rarely do. But I think the face turned out really cute, and I learned a lot. All-in-all, totally worth the struggle.

Now I definitely need a break from these little studies. Be prepared for something new next time!

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Rainbow Black Wolf Watercolour Study

watercolor, watercolour, wildlife art / / / , , ,

Another week, another black animal study! I tried to implement what I learned with the kitty last week to improve this week’s wolf. I think the contrast turned out well, and I like the textures around the face.

My two big take-aways from this one are: 1. I very much prefer using warm colours on the face. 2. Black animals need purple or blue faces to look black. (Also something something use thinner paint something something.)

What do you think? Is this an improvement? Can you tell it’s supposed to be a black wolf, or does it look grey to you? (It looks grey to me haha)

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New Rainbow Goat Vinyl Sticker

pet portrait, stickers, watercolor, watercolour / / / , , , ,

Rainbow Goat Vinyl Sticker!

I’ve had a page of goat doodles kicking around in my sketching app for months now, and I finally decided to make something with one of them! I love drawing goats, because they’re so blocky and bouncy. There’s something super charming about how they’re just little bricks on pogostick legs. (Their flippy, little tails and huge, floppy ears don’t hurt, either!)

You can grab these goat friends here: 

https://squidtartsart.etsy.com/ca/listing/4331256883/rainbow-goat-vinyl-sticker

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Black Cat Experimental Watercolour Painting

pet portrait, watercolor, watercolour / / / , , ,

Here’s a little black kitty portrait for practice.

One of my self improvement goals for this year is to figure out fully black animals. I feel like I’ve actually gotten worse at conveying their darkness as I’ve developed my painting style over the years. This is where we stand now. I have a few ideas for how to improve, and I’m excited to see where I end up.

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Baby Leopard Gecko Watercolour Painting

pet portrait, watercolor, watercolour, wildlife art / / / , , , ,

It’s hard to believe it’s been a couple years since my last leopard gecko painting! These guys are so charismatic and cute. They have such an unusual texture, too, which is a real challenge to paint. Summer seems like the perfect time to be painting reptiles, and I hope to paint at least a couple more before fall hits. 🦎

Learn to paint like this through my Skillshare classes: https://www.skillshare.com/en/user/squidtarts

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Crested Gecko Mlem Watercolour Portrait

pet portrait, watercolor, watercolour, wildlife art / / / , , , ,

It’s been a little while since I’ve painted a lizard (almost a year!), so have a crested gecko!

I really struggled with this piece. Painting the crestie went pretty smoothly, but the background was just one problem after another. I used salt in the background textures, which is something I almost never do. I accidentally dumped a ton of salt on the rock in the back, so it really stood out with a ton of texture. I also realized the swoop in the background, the gecko’s back leg, and the back rock were all the same value; which looked terrible. I ended up lifting up most of the back rock, then going over it with very faint layers of white gouache. That helped smooth out the texture and contrast. Then I increased the contrast on the gecko’s back leg to help it stand out a bit. I’m happy with where it ended up, but it was definitely a journey haha!

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New Freebie Sticker – Blueberry Tarts

watercolor, watercolour, wildlife art / / / , ,

Halfway through the year, and I’ve finally found time to update my freebie sticker design. Every year, I draw Tarts the bobtail squid with either fruit or a tart, and this year I chose blueberries!

I used to do a lot of character art but have moved away from it in favour of portraits. I love portraits and one off designs, but it’s always really fun to revisit Tart each year. Bobtail squids are also a treat to draw, because they’re just orbs with little noodle legs and can come in any colour. It’s also a great opportunity to play with colours, textures, and elements I don’t usually include in my portraits or animal sticker designs.

Anyone who orders from my Etsy shop or website for the rest of the year will get one of these little guys as a thank you gift!

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