Posts by: Rica Espiritu

Doing portraiture is hard – I realize that now. After laying down the base colors a feeling of doubt creeps up on me. What if I get the lights wrong? What if the shadows are wrong? What if my portrait’s tonal value looks like it was viewed through foggy lens? By the time I put in the midtones, the only thing that keeps...

When I heard that Relly died I was stunned. I can imagine the grief my friend felt. I couldn’t feel anything except pain – her pain. My friend, her daughters  and brother gave him 64 cycles of CPR. She felt him lift his hands and saw that his fingers was turning black. He signed for her to stop. He looked at his...

Not every picture looks good as a painting. I am learning that now. This was taken by a friend and I think it’s ok. If a picture is blurry – chances are the watercolor portrait or picture will not have any detail at all. Blurry also means low resolution. A photo may look really good as a thumbnail, but it is not a good...

“Carpe. Hear it? (whispering) Carpe. Carpe diem. Seize the day boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” – Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society Decided try and do Robin William’s portrait. Got a pic from one of my favorite movies, Dead Poets Society, and immortalize him through watercolor. I learned something today. Not only...

I know white is the absence of color – visibly. After trial and error I finally found out how to do a white cat. That is to treat her like any white object with sheen – she will reflect all the colors that she is surrounded with. Lots of water, lots of colors [50 layers] and lots of tissues later, I had my cat. I did...

I never thought blue eyes could actually change color. It depends on where he is and what he does. If he’s pissed, it looks almost dark gray. If you catch him outdoors, his eyes turn a lovely shade of pale blue. When he’s in front of the pool, it becomes a reflection of the water – sea blue. Amazing.

All eyes fall on this slender, black mother when she enters a room. She has a presence that exudes with confidence and grace. She walks like a queen surveying her domain. Pragmatic, protective and powerfully aware of who she is and what she can do. I am not satisfied with how I’ve painted her image. I will do another...

I realized one thing – do you need to learn patience? Watercolor is the best teacher. You can’t just paint everything in one go. One waits. You can’t wait too long for the paint to dry because the effect would be different. You can’t put on too much paint while it is damp because the water would diffuse...

I know I have to work on both the likeness and how to make it ‘softer’. Still practising. 🙂

I thought doing pets would be easier. After all – they don’t have wrinkles. Ha! Granted that I need to learn how to do fur, I think I learned how to do gradient colors by doing my friend’s yellow labrador.   These are photos of Joaqui when he was younger:      

This portrait was based on a photo I took of Gems in Cucina Rusticana. It was afternoon and there was a thin sliver of sunlight that lighted the room. It fell on her face as she talked. When she was worrying about how things were. I took a pic and captured that moment. I never thought I’d be using it as basis for this...

It all started when my brother asked me to do a portrait of his friend. He didn’t want a digital one. He wanted something tangible. A ‘real’ artwork. That’s what pushed me to pick up the brush and do watercolor portraits. I can’t get these thoughts out of my mind. It’s like I’m gripped with a fever and I’m too...

via IFTTTMy doodle for the day. #dailydoodle

via IFTTTTesting something. #dailydoodle

I was digging through my old files and cleaning my hard drive when I found an album of old photos. Photos I’ve taken using a point-and-shoot camera. I’d pick out the best and turn them into wallpapers that anyone can download if they so wish. So here they are again, free for download. 🙂 At least I know where they all...