Not!Echo - a monochromatic watercolour

Well, the less said about today, the better.

But one good thing about our plans for the day collapsing with gusto, is that I tidied up my front room - I only seem to get inspired to do housework beyond the bare minimum when I am in a foul mood - and I've been far too happy in recent months so it was a tip! :D

And the other good thing, was after I had calmed myself down with all that therapeutic clearing-up-by-filling-black-bags-full-of-clutter, I had time to finish up a painting I have been faffing about with all week, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

So - here she is - inspired by Whedon's TV show Dollhouse and an image from the opening credits which really resonates with me.  I'd love to just hide away at the bottom of a deep pool for hours (if I could get past that little needing to breathe issue) - nobody could get at me and I wouldn't be able to hear them trying - perfect solitude.

The finished painting is around the width of an A4 sheet of paper and about 1 and 2/3 the height - the little lego cowgirl is there for scale (which, of course, relies on you knowing how big a lego cowgirl is :)  )

I'm glad that I managed to capture the expression of serenity on her face that I was going for.  And that she doesn't look anything like Echo, the character that she is based on, as she's actually my least favourite character in the show....   That's why I've called her Not!Echo

Not so pleased with her hands or feet but they are always impossible....  need more practice.....

And here are a couple of in progress pics - I did mean to take these all the way through, but I forgot - you'll have to imagine the rest, soz:

First I stuck my paper down to my table using torn masking tape to give an uneven border, and then sketched the girl's outline and used masking fluid to mask out her silhouette (minus hair as I knew that would be dark) and the bubbles above her and reflection ripples on the bottom of the pool

Then with a round brush and a dark blue watercolour I wrote in a little bit of what the image of the girl at the bottom of the pool means to me, and then started building up the washes of colour for the background of the painting - dark at the top fading to light at the bottom.

Most of the writing was covered up by the time the painting was finished, but I like to see hints of it peeking through....

Now I just need to find a frame that fits this odd size of paper, as, for the first time ever, I actually would quite like to frame something I've painted :)