Useless Degree

27 May

This is my favorite dino piece I've made. I really hope you like it. It took a long time! John's Memory #2 Watercolor, pen, and gouache on paper 8.5" x 24" *Please note that it is hard to photograph w/ my phone. A bit dark* #dinosaurs #traditionalart #painting #drawing #watercolor #artsky

One more of Stephen on this day. So much belly.

11h

@day10machine.bsky.social catte

One more as we remember our dear fuzzy friends who have moved on from this plane. Our beautiful Deltron, who passed 11 years ago.

One more of Stephen on this day. So much belly.

@beezany.bsky.social @sheev.calamitousintent.com @esedia.bsky.social

13h

This is Stephen. He crossed the rainbow bridge a few years ago. He was such a calm, loving boy and big huge 18lb floof. He is missed everyday. (He only went outside with me (rarely), in the yard and strangely, always stayed by my side)

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Done!!! "This Guy with Pumpkin," acrylic gouache, watercolor, & pen on Fabriano 140lb CP paper, 6" x 4", 2026

Gonna work on another little piece tonight. This dino's name "This Guy." He likes being tall. He also likes wearing a jack-o-lantern and hanging out with ghosts on a lovely Prussian blue background. This one is 4" x 6"

Waiting for the pumpkin to dry. Putting in phathlo green + phathlo blue shadows on This Guy. Spooky!

Ok so there was just a tornado in Santa Fe city limits about 2 miles from here so I got a little distracted, but I'm moving along again.

It's pumpkin time!

Finished all my backgrounds. It took a really long time.

I have transferred 11 more drawings to watercolor paper. I am now working on painting in the different backgrounds in acrylic gouache. I want to get the backgrounds in first so I can focus on the watercolor & linework for each. #traditionalart #watercolor #dinosaurs #artsky

Eight paintings are 4 x 6" and four are 3 x 5" Two more small pieces after this will be 5 x 11" I'll need to buy more plastic frames after all these I finished one, "Companion in Late Night Talk" last night. These all will be for sale.

I just want to share my dino friends with people and I hope they make people smile. They have been a comfort to my friends, family, and me.

I wanted to do a bunch of smaller pieces because they are affordable for a lot of people. I'd like to have prints of the large ones made but I will need to have the big ones professionally photographed. If I sell these, I'd be able to use the money for the photos and prints.

Just want to thank my followers. I can't believe I have 222! That's more than I ever expected. 💜🦖🦕

I'm gonna work on a new small piece tonight and thought I'd share the process in this thread. It features our friend the Zhuchengtyrranus and a cat guy who has appeared in previous work, though I think this is his first Bluesky appearance.

Ok here's Zhuchengtyrranus! Just needs some teeth.

See my newest post for the finished piece!

Finished! The color looks a little funky to me in the photos but the Zhuchengtyrranus is a cool pale pink. Here's the finished drawing and it in its frame: "Companion in Late Night Talk," watercolor, acrylic gouache, & pen on 140 CP paper 4" × 6", 2026 #traditionalart #watercolor #dinosaurs

Really moving now!

It's drying and then it will get linework and teeth. I also touched up the gouache around Zhuchengtyrranus's mouth.

Layer 2, just darkening up some areas. This paper is pretty good but I still have to be careful so it doesn't pill, so I'm really soft with my brush. I haven't really decided where the colors are gonna go yet....

I have not quit. I'm in little tiny brush world working on the nozzle of our pink Zhuchengtyrranus...

Side note for my watercolor and traditional gouache buddies: Buy some of these Meeden ceramic palettes. They are inexpensive and infinitely better than any plastic palettes. They have this one with little wells and a flat one. My watercolor palettes themselves are also Meeden. Cheap and great!

Ok! Here we go for the first fun part: This is the first layer for each of these dudes. If it were a white background, they'd end up lighter but for these small pieces I want to make them very saturated so they stand out. Watercolor forces me to slow down and think, which I need.

Waiting for the background to dry. Acrylic gouache gets water added so it's pretty thin. I also live in New Mexico so things dry pretty quickly. Once it looks good, I'll do a pass over it with a hair dryer. I start hallucinating lighter spots if I look at it too long....

Now it's finished and I can start with the watercolors. Left a little space around Zhucheng's mouth for details. Yes, I'm a paint goblin & I'm proud of it. Would be fine with only owning three colors and neutral tint. My is palette is Sennelier, Schmincke, Holbein, & MaimeriBlu with a few others.

In the last photo you see the original drawing. Here's the transfer I made on tracing paper and the completed transfer onto a piece of 4 x 6" Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper.

I'm getting the background down. Using Holbein acrylic gouache in "ice green". Holbein is ok but I prefer Turner for its pigment load & opacity. But, my art store is limited so I have this. Love how matte & waterproof it is. I use a round brush & then go back in with my #3 angled one for edges.

Does anyone have suggestions for what care instructions I should include when someone buys one of my watercolors? The pens used are Micron. I also avoid highly fugitive colors. So far I have: - keep out of direct sunlight - do not get it wet/damp (I put UV Archival matte spray coating on them)

Here's an Inktober drawing from a few years ago. The prompt was "Dream." This was a fun one. "Dream", ink & pen on paper, 9" x 12" 2023

Here's some process images for my last painting "Always Together." I created five transfers before I was happy with a composition. This was also my first Pachycephalosaurus so I had to figure out how to draw him. Sketches, color tests, and planet studies....

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I start with sketches & then I make a transfer in tracing paper. I do this because I use high quality watercolor paper for the final & I don't want to have any eraser or pencil marks on it. I make transfers for all of my dino pieces. When done, I mail them to myself as a sort of "copyright"

Useless Degree reposted

Jeff de Boer

@jeffdeboer.bsky.social

At last the Fat Henry VIII mice are done! Today is phot day. #jeffdeboer #mousearmour #miniatureart #metalarts #henryviii

But, here's the piece I made for my partner's birthday at the end of September: "Always Together," 2026, watercolor, pen, and acrylic gouache on Saunders Waterford High White 300 HP, Image Size: 16" x 20" #traditionalart #dinosaurs #watercolor #drawing #painting #originalart

Guess nature made my Inktober participation decision for me. It appears I have RSV again (I'm too "young" for the vaccine). I've been in bed too exhausted to draw for 8 days! Woo-hoo!

JJ is my favorite Bluesky artist 💜

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I have a tremor in my hands that I've had for about 20 years. I grip my pens really hard. Putting a makeup sponge on them helps a bit, but I try to set a timer to take breaks when I'm going to be drawing for a long time.

Well this is an obstacle to getting any work done... (No wonder I find cat hairs in my watercolor palettes) Typical Walter behavior.

I used to do Inktober. I stopped for many reasons, but one of the biggest is because I always end up stressed out from drawing a bunch of stuff I don't want to draw & am super burned out afterwards. I'm thinking about doing a Dino-tober. But I'm wondering if that will stress me out too...