My latest painting...

So, I'm a bit behind in my birthday gifts this year. My sister-in-law had her birthday in March, but I'm just finishing her birthday gift. What held me up was that I just couldn't figure out WHAT to do exactly. I find it so hard to come up with unique gifts for people sometimes. SIGH. It really stresses me out. I hate the thought of spending money on a gift that someone won't like and will get rid of, so I've been sticking to consumables such as food, gift cards to restaurants, etc. But these things are so impersonal! Well, this time I had an idea...

I grabbed a photo she had taken while on vacation and posted to her facebook account and created a watercolor/colored pencil piece from it. The photo is from a place that is near and dear to her heart: Rehobeth, Delaware. She vacationed there with her family as a child and still goes there every year now that she's a grown-up.

You Are Here...
(Rehobeth, Delaware)

To create this piece, I used pencil to transfer the photo to Arches cold press watercolor paper. The photo wasn't exactly the dimensions I wanted--I wanted to show more ocean and beach and give it a more contemplative feel, so I drew in more of the ocean and beach. I then used permanent marker (a very thin tip) to outline the important contour lines in the piece. Afterwards, I added washes of color using my trusty Windsor Newton watercolors from college (I love those babies!). Once everything was dry, I went in and added layers of color and texture with Prismacolor colored pencils. Finally, I added some white gouche for the crests of the waves.

So here's the original photo and the finished piece. I'm very happy with it and I hope she is too. Happy Birthday Susan!

The original photo Susan took...Beautiful!
I can see why she likes it there so much!