Double Jeopardy Every now and then I like to create two paintings on the same piece of paper. It saves time, paper and water because I soak my watercolour paper in a water tray before taping it to the board to dry and stretch. It may be a time saver, but working like has risks. I must be very careful to protect the half I am not working on from moisture and paint. Thankfully Scotch Magic Tape is brilliant for masking watercolour paper without overly-damaging the paper underneath. Fortunately the tape also adheres to the plastic sheet I use to mask larger areas, which means I can fix the sheet in place and seal all the edges so there is little chance of water encroaching onto the painting. This message is not sponsored by Scotch Magic Tape, although I wouldn't mind if it was (they could pay in rolls of tape). Here are the finished 'The Wind In The Willows' illustrations: 'Walking Through The Village'watercolour and gouache 24 x 31cm 'Heard The News?' watercolour and gouache 24 x 31cm
'Ratty's House' watercolour and gouache 24 x 31cm This little 'The Wind in the Willows' illustration was completed Thursday - as hot of the drawing board as I can get. This is what Mole sees when he reaches the riverbank and claps eyes on Ratty for the first time. I had lots of fun working on the trees, especially flicking masking fluid around to get the speckled bark effect. I was also quite pleased with the water. Work in progress detail before whiskers and pinstripes. The pencil rough
Everyone knows by now that I am fascinated by the interiors of animals. This Wise Old Owl by Chris Dunn is a fine example of the kind of detail that pleases me the most. I love how he has decorated hi
Everyone knows by now that I am fascinated by the interiors of animals. This Wise Old Owl by Chris Dunn is a fine example of the kind of detail that pleases me the most. I love how he has decorated his hollow tree and filled it with antiquarian books and scientific instruments. via I dug a little deeper and found the artist's website and related immediately with this image of Mole's House Getting a Bit of TLC. It is from Wind in the Willows illustrated by Chris Dunn. Is fall cleaning on everyone's mind?
As the year draws to an end, it's time to post some artwork highlights which I have completed in 2019. I don't post much work on the blog these days, so there is a fair amount to show you. 'Telling Tales' 24 x 31cm watercolour and gouache 'House Sitting' 24 x 31cm watercolour and gouache 'House Sitting' rough drawing 'Hankering For Home' 24 x 31cm watercolour 'The Last Train' 51 x 35cm, watercolour and gouache 'Nice Morning Ma'am' 24 x 31cm watercolour and gouache 'Ratty Writing Poetry' 24 x 31cm watercolour and gouache Hopefully in 2020 all my 'Wind In The Willows' illustrations will be published in a fully illustrated edition of the classic story. P.s have you seen my Winter Sale? Please take a look - www.chris-dunn.co.uk/sale . Everything is reduced, including calendars and limited edition prints up to 50% off! I wish you all a Happy New Year!
Chris Dunn…Watercolour illustration.
Voyez son blog ICI Une merveille! On peut y voir les techniques pour en arriver à de telles illustrations.. Cette fois, j'ai choisi plusieurs illustrations car elles sont très nombreuses à me plaire. Par contre, je n'ai pas réussi à retrouver à quelles...
The online home for artwork by Christopher Dunn
The online home for artwork by Christopher Dunn
The online home for artwork by Christopher Dunn
The online home for artwork by Christopher Dunn
I feel like I'm blowng the dust off this blog, polishing my spectacles, and thumbing through its pages to see where I last posted... December 2020?!!! Oh dear. In explanation I use this blog to post my thoughts and process on painting, and Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for promotion. Over the last year and a half I've been so busy, I've barely been able to look around and post something meaningful, until now. As part of my Kickstarter campaign to gather pre-orders for my fully illustrated edition of 'The Wind in the Willows' (take a look), I have been creating 15 small watercolours for those lucky backers who snapped them up in the first few days of the Kickstarter launch. I also managed to make a time lapse video painting Ratty, start to finish. Many people ask me about my technique, hopefully this video will give you some pointers. At the beginning I start with my basic linework (which has been slightly erased with a putty rubber). Then I add an underpainting of cobalt blue and cadmium red mixed together. Those colours create a dull violet, perfect for cast shadows on a warm day (complimentary to yellow ochre). Once the underpainting is dry enough, I add local colours and then start to build up deeper tones and details all over. Lots of work is required on the fur to give Ratty a nice texture, but I have to be careful not to overwork his shirt and trousers, which is easy to do with transparent watercolour. The red chequer for the basket liner is left until last, because I want to build up all the tonal values first and then let it influence the layer of red watercolour. I do this with all patterned fabrics. Here are the other character paintings, all taken from scenes in the book:
A short post for those who have not seen my latest output: 'The Fox and the Cat' watercolour and gouache 24 x 13cm 'Shoemaking Elves' watercolour and gouache 24 x 13cm 'The Raven' watercolour and gouache 24 x 13cm 'The Cat and Mouse In Partnership' watercolour and gouache 24 x 13cm Some of you may have spotted these illustrations are all inspired by Grimm's Fairytales. I will be producing more illustrations based on the well-known tales very soon.
'Mr Toad In Court' watercolour and gouache 51 x 39cm Last week I completed this complicated scene from 'The Wind In The Willows'. Mr Toad has been brought in front of a judge to hear his sentence for stealing a car and driving recklessly. My rough drawing. Compared with the finished painting you can see I made some changes, especially on the faces. I followed all the usual procedures on the creation of this illustration. Thumbnails, rough preparatory drawing, transferred pencil onto watercolour paper, sepia underpainting, watercolour work and finally gouache finishing touches. Nothing out of the ordinary. Therefore, in this post, I have chosen to highlight some of the details in the painting that are not immediately obvious, but I feel make a difference in how you read the image. A spiky friendship I've 'raised the bar' Both my wife and myself make cameo appearances in this scene. I appear to have changed profession, and Suzanne now hangs out with hedgehogs. I detest littering. The discarded 'Times' newspaper headline reads MR TOAD ON TRIAL. Note the burnt out matches on the table used to light the table candles when the sun drops. Vicky is not amused. Queen Victoria is quite shocked at Toad's sentence (or is she showing disapproval?). Also the human and owl judge have their own painted portrait in the corner, just above peeling wallpaper.
The online home for artwork by Christopher Dunn
'Forth They Went' #watercolour / #gouache 30x30cm. The third instalment of my #goodkingwenceslas series for Books Illustrated (Art of the Imagination). #childrensbookillustration #illustration #watercolor #bear #snow #whimsicalart #anthropomorphicanimals
I feel like I'm blowng the dust off this blog, polishing my spectacles, and thumbing through its pages to see where I last posted... Decemb...
The online home for artwork by Christopher Dunn
My last post on 'Paisley' gave you a sneaky peak at the huge treehouse cross-section I was working on - click here. Thankfully I eventually finished it and I'm going to show you the whole full colour version, including lots of details hitherto unseen on the web! The Treehouse Cross-Section, watercolour and gouache 53 x 102cm This took me roughly 30 days to complete and really pushed my studio's capabilities. For example the painting, when stretched on board, didn't fit my easel so I had to work with it propped against the wall. Also most of the time I was stood with my back against the opposite wall trying to take in the whole image as it progressed. You will see in the shots below, it was very easy to get lost in the details of this illustration and forget about how the whole painting should be knitted together with a consistency in colour, tone and level of detail. A ball pool with individually painted plastic balls. Why, Chris, why!? A well stocked cellar ready for Christmas festivities. No treehouse is complete without a cinema An American diner, because it's the 1950s (and America). I think we'd all love an entrance hall like this. Paisley's on personal library, with a secret staircase running through a hollow branch.
