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| "Xeroxed" photo & detail of watercolor on paper, c. 2013 Tina M. Welter |
I wanted to send two thank-you watercolor cards and to "save time" I thought I would try using the exact same reference photo. The original rose photo is from morguefile.com, a great reference library with images artists can use for free. My thanks to photographer Cohdra.
I transferred my line drawing onto both cards with tracing paper, so the images were both the same to start. I started out with the usual light shades first, reserving the white highlights. The first card, I was thinking more about the dark background. The second card, I decided I wanted it lighter. I liked the rose in the first card and tried to repeat it exactly in the second, but I don't think I succeeded in an exact match. I just realized that I actually deleted a whole leaf on the second card! Talk about mind tricks.
I think both cards are successful and I had a hard time deciding which I liked better. Perhaps with oil paint I could be more exact, but it wasn't easy for me to do an exact copy with watercolor paints.
