Underwater Commission

16" x 12"
colored pencil

My latest commission was more of a challenge than I expected. I studied pictures of aquariums, underwater photos and paintings for the effect I wanted. After sketching the composition I jumped into the watery background quickly...too quickly. The pencil pressure was too hard and wouldn't blend. I just started over on clean paper and was thankful that I had not worked on the animals yet. Even after lightly layering the colors I had trouble blending the transitions from light to dark. My base was blue paper rather than white, so maybe that had something to do with it. Whatever the reason, I spent a LOT of time on the water. The dolphins and turtles were fun.

This will be a Christmas present for a 3 year old girl. I really hope she will like it.