On the Easel

Step into the world of Kaye Earney, where creativity comes alive through an intimate exploration of their artistic process. From her starting points to the finer details, Kaye invites you to witness the passion, techniques, and thought process of creating her works.

Whether you're an art enthusiast, a fellow creator, or simply curious, this is your window into an artist at work.

Join the journey and be inspired to see the world through her eyes.

Step 1

Starting out

I use two jars of water. One to clean my brushes between the different paints. The other one has always clean water and is used when you are adding clean water to moisten the paper. I usually use 5 brushes: 2, 4, 6, 10, 12…all round and with a very good point. I also use 140 lb cold pressed watercolor paper…either Arches or Saunders Waterford. I do stretch my paper, but, with this particular painting, I did not stretch the paper.

Selecting your Subject

Select your subject. Select one that is very clear so you can see the features. I am leading a class in May on painting this very little rabbit.

Step 2

The Drawing

Draw him out as accurately as you can. You can hand draw him or you can use some sort of light feature and trace him off, or using a type of APP. But it is very important to make it as accurate as possible. If your subject is not drawn out accurately, the painting will not be good. This is extremely important with pet portraits, which I have requests all the time to paint someone’s beloved pet.

Make it as clear as you can; then, I go over it very lightly with a kneaded eraser. Watercolor can be so transparent that sometimes the pencil lines will show up. You don’t want to see a lot of pencil lines. But make sure you can still see the pencil lines enough to know where to paint them. Note too: the eyes are extremely important…in an animal or person. Get the eyes drawn in correctly. If the eyes are not correct in any kind of painting/portrait, the painting will not be good. The eyes reveal the personality of the pet or person…you must get them right, when drawing them out or painting them.

Step 3

Painting the Ears

On this little bunny, I will start with the ears. Look carefully at your reference photo. On most pet portraits, I usually do start with the ears. I am not sure why. On this little guy, the ears are black and white. Perhaps a little sepia…and I see a bit of pink, like a very light rose. Rather than black, I will use a Paynes gray like color…called Sodalite Genuine to just paint in those areas that will be black in the rabbit. Then, later, I will go over it with lamp black. I use mainly Daniel Smith Watercolors. And always a good watercolor paper, like Arches Cold pressed or Saunders Waterford Cold pressed are good choices. For beginner watercolorists, I might have them use more of a student grade watercolor paper. But, as you get more skilled, it is very important to use good brushes…good paints…and honestly, good paper really makes a big difference in your paintings.

Now, back to the ears: moisten the ears with clear water with a round no 6 brush. Don’t puddle the water on the ears…just moisten them. Then, dip that same brush in water and then touch your brush to the sodalite paint. Very gently, dot your paint with the sodalite genuine and a bit of sepia around the edge of the ears…and the entire ear on the right. Then, clean your brush with water…then mix a tiny bit of rose…Let the water do what it does naturally… let the colors mix naturally…and let it dry. You can dry it with a hair dryer or take a break for about 15 minutes; watercolor dries much lighter than when it first goes on. No worries: the paint will be light, but we will go over it again on the 2nd round of paint.

Step 4

Painting the Lower Body

Again, look at your reference photo. Wherever there is black in the body, moisten that area with clear water and then dip your size 10 or 12 brush in the sodalite genuine and paint over that area that you moistened. The wonderful thing about watercolor is that the paint will only go where you have moistened the paper…unless there is a lot of water in your brush when you add the clear water. Sometimes there is a need for adding a lot of water, but, in this case, with the bunny’s body, you just need to moisten the paper where the black is on his body before adding the paint. Don’t puddle it. After adding the sodalite genuine, let it dry! Again, you can use a hairdryer, or you can just take a break and let it dry naturally.

And, don’t worry…we will put some black over the bluish color on the areas of his body. Before it’s all over with, he will be a rich black. Since this is not a pet portrait, we can be lenient with where the black actually is going. If it was someone’s pet, we would have to be very careful and only add the color to match the pet.

Step 5

Starting on the Head

Now, moisten that dark ear again and put some lamp black on that black ear. Then, bring the brush in down with the lamp black and just paint wet on dry with just little dots. As you can see, bring the black on down…just dotting black color here and there…and also adding some raw sienna and burnt sienna in these areas that are slightly brownish. I also took my #2 brushes and made some tiny hair strokes in the direction of the fur. No animal has just straight lines along their body or anywhere. There are always little tweaks of fur here and there. And, at all costs, avoid the eye area. Let it all dry! Use the hair dryer or just take a break.

Step 6

Painting 2nd Coat on the Body

Now, with your #12 brushes, moisten the lower body again where the black is. Dip that same brush in lamp black and paint over those areas again. I also went over that black ear again and touched up the black on his face. I also added a bit more raw sienna and burnt sienna around those areas in his face. Just dotted them on with a wet brush dipped in paint. You can see this little guy is beginning to take shape!

Step 7

Final Touches

Next, I began the final touches: I added a tad more black to his body. Painted in his nose with my no 6 brush. And a little spot for his mouth with the same brush. Moistened his tail…added the black. Put in very light shadows on his face and around his legs.

Capturing Life In Brushstrokes

On The Easel