This is an 8 X 10 inch watercolor illustration I created for a contest. Unfortunately I did not make it far in the nationwide contest, but I managed to create something I didn't know I was capable of. This contest was the Michael's Art Challenge competition and the top 10 pieces selected were awarded cash prizes. The public voted for their favorite out of the ten and the winner was awarded a trip to London to study in an art studio. So, as I was saying, I didn't make it to the top 10 and now I'm going to move on and talk about my work.

When I first heard of the contest, I wanted to use London as an inspiration. The first couple of ideas I had were pretty cliche so I made a list of English icons and I thought 'tea party.' But I wanted to go further so I tried to imagine the last thing  at the table like a dog, Now that I think about it, I wish I did something more outrageous like... cows? Anyways, I did dogs and this is how: I made a sketch. traced it on tracing paper. Transferred it onto watercolor paper. Then I painted away.

The Painting process was a bit slow for I was researching as I was working. My Google search history was very interesting during those weeks, Suggestions like 'window light,' 'tea pot,' 'teacups,' 'tea lunch setting,' and 'cupcakes' would come up when I was typing. However, it all paid off in the end. My main goal in this illustration was lighting. I put a very light blue wash over the background so everything would recede. I haven't perfected it but I will explore this technique more in the future.

When I was finished, I took the painting outside to take a picture on a sunny, morning. I don't know why morning light is the best for taking photos but it works wonders. When converting the photo to a digital format I didn't have to make any changes because the photos turned out beautiful.

This piece has taught me how I was able to take something from my fantasy and make it a reality. I never knew I could pull this off and I am happy with the results.