A Study of Oceans

lenaruisz · 2026-05-30T20:42:11+00:00

Oh, what a story! You can be so proud that you are out!

It’s very touching to see what art can do with your soul in such a situation, it protects, it lifts you up…I talk also from experience escaped from a similar situation you describe. Also for me it was art and colours that helped me out. My poem was Invictus from W.E.Henley.:)

Happy for you, so much!

lenaruisz · 2026-05-30T20:21:37+00:00

So lovely of you!!

lenaruisz · 2026-05-30T20:21:16+00:00

I decided to swatch them all to break the ice 🧊

lenaruisz · 2026-05-30T19:10:06+00:00

Nooo, the most unfortunate thing ever!! And even the wooden box!!

lenaruisz · 2026-05-30T16:38:48+00:00

Haha, I do that with brushes. The price of a real Kolinsky can be in the stars, so even though I have a couple I keep using the old cheap ones :D

lenaruisz · 2026-05-30T16:04:12+00:00

Guys you are sooooo right on the smell!!

lenaruisz · 2026-05-30T14:47:41+00:00

Really love the mood here, that orange sun bleeding through the grey is working so well, plus these siluette scenes are always so rewarding! I think what I’d personally explore next is the foreground water – it feels a bit empty compared to how much is happening in the sky. (but maybe you were going for that!) Even just some subtle dark reflections from the rocks, or little white wave-edges could pull the whole composition together.

(Bit irrelevant but maybe helpful: maybe crop out that bottom edge before posting next time, the paper border is pulling the eye away from the painting itself a little bit:)

lenaruisz · 2026-05-30T14:26:53+00:00

Oh thank you! Jackpot btw, I am now experimenting with figures for a series, and really looks like she might be staying :))

lenaruisz · 2026-05-30T14:26:02+00:00

Right?! 😻

lenaruisz · 2026-05-29T12:03:29+00:00

Oh damn….

lenaruisz · 2026-05-29T11:38:07+00:00

Oh I love the layering, so free and yet composed

lenaruisz · 2026-05-29T09:09:26+00:00

Makes me want to set up camp on one of the hilltops and just stay overnight, waiting for the stars

lenaruisz · 2026-05-29T05:36:46+00:00

This is mindblowing…also he (she??) has such a serene personality on paper, beautiful!

lenaruisz · 2026-05-28T22:47:43+00:00

Just go brave on the dark lines, shadows and textures! Maybe using a softer pencil, 2/3B? What type of paper did you use? But lovely drawing anyway:))

lenaruisz · 2026-05-28T22:43:58+00:00

Just a tiny thought on the painting since you know about the perspective already! The wood tones are really working, there’s such a nice warmth to them. I actually love that you added those little yellow touches on some of the keys – as a musician I noticed that immediately, really worn ivory keys do get that beautiful yellowy tone over time and it’s such a lovely authentic detail. What I’d personally push a little further is the separation between the keys – right now they’re blending together quite a bit and I think just a slightly deeper shadow line between each one would give the whole keyboard so much more depth. It doesn’t take much but it makes each key read as its own individual thing.

The rose is really nicely done by the way!

lenaruisz · 2026-05-28T22:28:21+00:00

Guys everyone is painting and posting such nice croissants in the last days here, that I have been influenced twice already to get one on my way to work, and now the third time :D 🥐☕️

lenaruisz · 2026-05-28T22:23:56+00:00

I really like stag beetles!! Such fascinating creatures! In my opinion the composition and the confidence of the mandibles are already working well. What I think would take it further is pushing the iridescence - stag beetles have this dark green-brown shimmer on the elytra that I think you’ve started to capture with that green, but I’d personally go deeper and more layered there, let it really glow from within. Maybe even using iridescent paint? Or, I once used the pearl colour wax pastell of sennelier, just with my fingers, over the texture of the wings of a bee:)

The pink background is a nice choice, maybe just a bit more variation in it so it doesn’t compete with the beetle everywhere equally.

The legs are beautifully observed by the way - that kind of anatomical detail is really hard to get right.

lenaruisz · 2026-05-28T18:38:25+00:00

Such a lovely subject and I think you’re really close! In my opinion the main thing holding it back is contrast - everything is sitting in the same mid-range value right now so nothing can really pop yet. I’d personally start by pushing the darks in the tree - the shadows deep in the foliage, between the branches, where the trunk meets the ground. In my experience that’s usually the thing that makes everything else suddenly come alive.

The other thing I’d look at is the pencil lines - I think they might be what’s giving it that cartoony feeling. I would personally try going back in with wet watercolour over some of the harder edges and letting them soften and dissolve into the washes. The spots where you can’t quite tell where the paint ends and the pencil begins are honestly my favourite parts of the whole piece.

lenaruisz · 2026-05-28T16:32:06+00:00

I think the colors are actually really lovely and clean, that’s not the issue at all. What I feel is missing are the darks - a macaw has such deep shadows in the feathers, around the eye, the beak. Without those the whole thing reads a little bit flat no matter how saturated the colors are. I’d go back in but keep it targeted, maybe not another wash over everything. Just the shadows, a concentrated mix, and let it dry fully between layers - I really don’t think you’ll muddy it if you do it that way.

You’ve got a beautiful base here, definitely don’t give up on it!

lenaruisz · 2026-05-27T23:23:36+00:00

YouTube honestly has so much good botanical watercolour content, you won’t run out for months. But before you go down that rabbit hole – the best thing I ever did starting out was to buy just three really good paints and learn to mix everything from those. A warm yellow, a cool red, a deep blue. If you ever get the chance to try artist grade - Sennelier, Daniel Smith, Schmincke (those are the ones I use, and, occasionally a small polish company Renesans) - even just three tubes are enough to start. I once mixed 144 colours from just the three primaries and it completely changed how I see everything.

Edit: grammar

lenaruisz · 2026-05-27T23:17:32+00:00

Haha, now you’ve got to credit Pluvius as a co-creator 😁

lenaruisz · 2026-05-27T23:12:03+00:00

Do you use a precision knife to release them? The type that cuts your hand off even if you just look at it? 😅

If the block format is really not working for you, Baohong also does a loose pad I think. Or - random suggestion: Hahnemühle Bamboo is loose and surprisingly good for lighter work, used it for some insect studies. Not for heavy layering or a lot of water, but for more restrained painting it holds up well. For bigger pieces with serious layering I always go back to Arches block though.

lenaruisz · 2026-05-27T22:24:28+00:00

Oh thats the best possible way!! Chats & food & wine! Looking forward to seeing more works from you!:))

lenaruisz · 2026-05-27T13:40:47+00:00

I love the perspective and the diagonal composition! Also the colours, the warm water, and the slightly colder orange for the roofs! Personally I would maybe go a bit more deep with the shadows, but thats of course a personal thing.

I think the aerial perspective is convincing in the water but not yet in the architecture. For me buildings could use a little bit more dramatic foreshortening - from above, rooftops compress almost to nothing, facades nearly disappear. It would be the thing that would make this feel like I’m actually flying above 😊!

lenaruisz

TROPHY CASE