Light, King Tut and Gouache

I've mentioned before on this blog that I am in the middle of illustrating a book called Tomb Robbers. Here are a couple of color studies from the book. As always, the quality of light is one of my main concerns. The top image is interesting to paint because of the 2 very different light sources: the very warm lamplight that illuminates the father and mother and the cool moonlight coming in through the door and rim lighting the boy.

 I'm using gouache (opaque watercolor) which I have a love/hate relationship with. I mostly love it but I hate the way it dries at a different value than when it's wet. Makes matching colors/values a little challengeing at times.

Gordon's Market

When I first moved here to Arizona, I began roaming around town searching for places to paint. It seemed a little harder to find what I wanted than it was in LA where I moved from. But then I came across Gordon's. It was a little neighborhood grocery store on Roosevelt and Third Avenue. It has long since been remodeled and turned into some kind of school. This little study, 6x8, was done from a Kodachrome (may you rest in peace) slide I took 30 years ago.

Here is another painting I did a few years ago.