For my nineteenth birthday, I had the pleasure of inviting my friends over to spend an Art Club day with them, where we have fun and create and plan our coming “Super Senior Graduation Show” at ACES Gallery that May. After painting my Bornean Rainbow Toad in February, I felt inspired to create another watercolor frog scene, and after looking at pictures of different species, settled on painting the gorgeous Peacock Tree Frog. That said, I am always looking to push myself further and improve my skills, so I challenged myself to paint not one Peacock Tree Frog but two. That way, I would be able to depict this beautiful species with two radically different poses and angles. So I started my painting that April, with the goal of completing it before the end of our showcase in May.

Unlike most of the frogs I have painted so far, Peacock Tree Frogs are characterized by their vermiculated black markings. Therefore, I decided to paint them in two stages. First, I would paint the underlying greenish blue skin tones, and only afterwards would I paint the dark markings on top. That way, I would not have to worry about their textures bleeding too far as I worked. After drawing my piece, I began by painting one loose, flowing base coat for the frogs and stick they rested on. Unfortunately after my birthday, schoolwork, other preparations for the ACES Gallery, and general life kept me from continuing my painting any further than this, until I completed my Red-Eyed Tree Frog commission in June. As soon as I had finished that piece, fueled with more experience from completing a surprisingly similar tree frog watercolor, I plowed ahead with my Peacock Tree Frogs.

With another layer or two to finish off the frogs’ base coats, I moved onto their delicate markings. Fortunately, while painting such thin strokes was a slow process, it was not nearly as difficult as I had anticipated, and by using my smallest brushes I was able to capture the species’ most recognizable trait. Afterwards I painted both frogs’ eyes, which with their thin inner textures were some of the most enjoyable eyes I’d had the pleasure of painting up until that point. Lastly, I went back in with white ink to fix my mistakes and to add highlights in the eyes, bellies, and toes.

While the frogs themselves went smoothly, the background proved more of a challenge. For some reason, the stick really fought with me, and I even with multiple attempts I am still a little unhappy with its unnatural texture. Fortunately though, at least it does not distract much from my Peacock Tree Frog subjects. As for the dark, blurry background background, I started with a wash of India ink as I had done at this point for both my Bornean Rainbow Toad and Red-Eyed Tree Frog paintings previously. For some reason however, when I attempted it with this piece for some reason with this piece it, the outcome looked horrendous! I was half I had actually ruined my piece, but I continued anyway, and after many layers, the background transformed into the blurry impression of leaves I had hoped for. Phew! Fortunately, while I only finished this piece after “Super Senior Graduation Show” had ended, I finished, framed and scanned it just in time for the “Hooked On Arts” craft show, where I had the pleasure of sharing it with my friends and those visiting our booth. And while this piece came out differently somehow than I had originally expected, I am thrilled that this piece managed to come out as well as it did.