A series of drawings are made and spliced together for transfer to a sheet of watercolor paper. After the drawings have been transferred to the painting surface, I begin a series of light washes to determine my lightest lights. I work flat on a huge drafting table. The paper used for this painting is a 40 x 60 inch sheet of heavy handmade Arches watercolor paper. I use a very dark gray/black to letter in the comics using a long haired liner brush and slowly build up the folds in the paper being careful to create the illusion of depth and highlights without going too dark or light all at once. This may require days of painting subtle washes before color is added. The background colors of the circus poster have already been painted to establish my darks so that I can judge the lighter shades of antique paper in the comics. The highlighted whites of the marbles and glass jar will be painted last because they are the actual whites of the paper itself.

In this photo the actual newspaper comics used for the painting rests on the drafting surface as details are transcribed

After all of coloring and shading has been established for the paper itself, I begin the long task of lettering and painting the outlined drawing before color is added to the comics. It is important that I be working with the established values (lights and darks) of the comic paper by this stage of the painting. I have chosen to slightly lighten up the values in the painting verses the actual comic which was used as a model. I mix my black paint with a small amount of white gouache and acrylic matte medium. Although the paint is applied in a watered down fashion using a long rigger brush, the grayed down black keeps it from jumping off of the page and becoming stark. The acrylic medium will fix the black and not allow it to run once color is layered on top of it. I paint with tube watercolors and not acrylics. However, I often mix in an acrylic matte medium to establish permanent base coloration before application of subsequent washes.

By now the newspapers have been completed. The folds and tears in the old paper have been given dimension. The edges of the paper shows signs of yellowing and brown staining. It is also noteworthy to mention that the whites in the clown suit have been cooled a bit to make them recede into the background while the highlights in the newspaper jump forward. Even lighter reflections on the glass jar bring it forward a bit further, while the glass marbles remain only the white of the paper for the time being. The marbles and the bank are the “stars of the show”, and will receive the brightest of highlights and most detailing.

The most important elements of this painting are the client's toys. I will paint the marbles and the bank taking time to give them the special attention which they deserve.

After several weeks of planning and painting, I have completed a 40 x 60 inch watercolor featuring my client’s “Trick Dog Bank” that he had as a boy. I have also included the client’s marbles. The large clear marbles are hand made sulphides. They have ceramic animals or numbers centered in each marble. These sulphides along with the glass onion skin marble and clay marbles were made in Germany during the Victorian times at the turn of the 1900’s. The client also provided the large Mason jar.

Prices for commissioned paintings begin at $2000. The final price is determined by size and time necessary for completion.