Watercolor painting - Hand forged garden sheep shears 7.5 x 10 inches

I have finished doing the watercolor painting on the hand forged garden sheep sheer.  If you have read my yesterday’s blog, you know that I have done painting most of the sheer plus a layer of very light wash on the background.  Last night I have added anther wash to various area of the background where the wood grains are and use a darker color to do the shadow outline of the wood grain.  The knots on the wood is also done by applying several washes and finally with a darker color using very fine liner brushes.  Shadow on the wood was painted with a mixture of Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson and French Ultramarine Blue in several watercolor layers.  Each one is added after the layer is completely dry until the desire darkness is achieved.  Then the highlight is lifted off the painted shadow area and also darker wood grain is added.   Picking the correct watercolor pigment is important so that it can be lifted and not too staining.  It was lots of fun doing this wood texture background in watercolor.  It is also very important to find a place for your signature so that the finished painting is well balanced.  When it is time to sign the watercolor painting,  I found that it is best to turn this watercolor painting in a vertical position and sign on the lower left near the sheer.  Although it takes a while to do the wood texture background, I think it is lots of fun and I haev learned a lot from doing it.