Continuing the Mouse Story, the next two images are going to be small illustrations of how our mouse was caught. Below are the initial sketches.
The first one was transferred onto watercolour paper, this is just of the trap and the mouse.
My first step was to get a little paint down to hint at the surroundings. This was a thin mix of Ultramarine and Gamboge yellow to represent the green carpet, and then Yellow Ochre, with a tiny touch of Cadmium Red and Ultramarine to make the amber colour of the trap. The amber mix was very thin so that I could build up layers of colour depending on how many walls of the trap were being looked through.
Next I added the basic mouse colour which is Ultramarine with Alizarin Crimson and a little Yellow Ochre.
Then a very thin mix of Alizarin Crimson and Gamboge for the fleshy parts of the mouse with some of the fur colour dotted onto the tail while it was wet to suggest a few hairs. I added the eye and the rubber bumper on the trap.
The shadows were next assuming the light was directly above.
And finally a few details like the little end of the pivot on the trap and whiskers on the mouse.
The mouse trap took quite a long time to get right, I had a lot of failed attempts, trying to get the angle right and to make it look interesting. Here are just a few.
Then on to the next little illustration, this time with the mouse in the trap.
As before the image was transferred onto the watercolour paper, Bockingford as usual.
I started the painting by filling in the body of the mouse, this time using a little more Yellow Ochre to give the mouse a slight tint of the amber colour that would have reflected on him as the light passed through the trap.
Next I painted the trap, again with the thin amber mix.
I added more layers to show where less of the light got through and also the shadow to the breathing holes. The white plastic trap trigger was toned down with just the slightest hint of colour in clean water as the light shining through does this. I also painted his tail just as I did in the previous illustration and added shadow to the black bumper.
Finally I added the whiskers.
Here are the final illustrations shot in a slightly better light.
Next time, freedom.
Worm Illustration 