Chipmunk Watercolor Painting from Start to Finish
(Reference photo below created by Dan Waltz)

I started with a photo I took many years ago with my first digital camera, a Sony Mavaca 1.3 mega pixel camera. It was actually good enough quality to enlarge to an 8x10 photo, but not until I added a couple of extra things in Photoshop (moss and fern plant). This made for excellent reference material for the painting.

This painting didn't take much sketching, just a diagonal line for the log and a basic outline of the chipmunk with a few detail markings for location. After drawing it out and transferring the lines to the watercolor board, I cut out the background off the drawing and used it for a stencil (frisket) to block the paint from the airbrush while I airbrushed the out of focus background. I wanted to keep the background really simple and blurry to push the chipmunk to the forefront and really stand out.

This simply shows the mask that I cut out after spraying the background keeping the foreground white for a clean painting surface. I normally would use shelf lining paper to cut the frisket out. It has a sticky back so it stays stuck to the surface keeping all paint out. With this painting I just hinged the paper template to the board so that it just floats above the board surface as I spray. This gives me a softer edge, yet keeps the board fairly free of paint. This is a great technique when painting fur over the airbrushed area, NO sharp edge to contend with.

After painting the background I then free handed the fern plant over the painted surface with just a couple of light lines and begun to rough in the leaves of the plant.

With the fern plant roughed in I then started roughing in the log in the foreground. Starting light then getting darker and darker with each detail.

Following the same steps I then started roughing the main character in, the furry chipmunk. This was done with fine lines with very minimal washes.

Adding more and more details to the fern, log and to the fur and finally adding green moss to the log.

I finally added the final touches. Added a little more details here and there. More moss and a small pile of sunflower seeds. A scene we all are all too familiar with. At least for everyone who had at one time fed these friendly little creatures.

Hope you enjoyed.

Signed prints are available for order.

Signed Chipmunk Print
11" x 14" image size $24.95

Comments:

Howard Gillespie: all I can say is WOW!!
Dana Mercer Lehman: Likes this!
Candis Dobbs Waltz: Great Job Dan!! Each painting amazes me even more...
Lesley Ames Vilders: It is wonderful!
Mary Reilly: Yeah, Chipmunks!!
Tonya King Boose: Very cool!
Stacey Hearn-Hajj: Likes this!
Denise Jachimowicz: Coughlin: Likes this!
Stephen Dallas Backa: Very impressive BTW
Carrie Oxford: Likes this!
Angela Miller Martin: Likes this!
Dianne Slaga Cupp: Likes this!

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