Cain Frogs | 2005-06

Cain Frog 1, 2005

Watercolor and ink on 140 lb (300gsm) paper, 18x24 in (46x61 cm), Cain Collection

This is the first of two frogs painted on commission for a woman who has assumed the title of Frog Lady for her town. She started a frog festival for her town in upper Michigan and it really caught on. I think she plans on incorporating these frogs (this and the second one) into the festival somehow. I have mixed feelings about this frog. What I do like is the background and foliage give a wet feeling - such as a rain forest or other tropical setting. I also like how he's holding the branches. It gives him some human traits which, by the way, several frog poses seem to have. Maybe that's why they're so often photographed and why Kermit was such a genius creation.

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Cain Frog 02, 2005

Watercolor and Sumi-e ink on 140 lb (300gsm) paper, 11x15 in (30x38 cm), Cain collection

This is the second frog painted for the Frog Lady. Although it's smaller, I think this painting makes a bigger impression with its bright colors and bold lines. Again, I found myself using one of my favorite mediums - sumi-e ink or Indian ink. I'm really drawn to its qualities and how you can obtain endless shades of gray to complete blackness. Since it is so dark, I tend to naturally use darker and/or brighter pigment which in the end gives a more striking result.

the sketches ~~~~~~

Cain Frog 01
2005, Pencil and watercolor

This is one of about four frogs I sketched after I was commissioned to paint a frog for a wonderful lady in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

I was pretty pleased with this guy since I drew him without any reference - sometimes those are the best pictures. I was particularly pleased with the carefree attitude shown with his hanging leg. To me, my sketches are often better than the finished product and I think it's all psychological. When I know it's a sketch, I draw much more deliberately and use bolder colors. The psychological part is I'm not inhibited with worrying about making 'mistakes' because it's only a sketch. I need to transfer that attitude to all my work.

Cain Frog 02
2005, Pencil

This was the last of the frog sketches for a commissioned painting. I liked this version because his eyes are very large and his skin had a nice, crazy pattern.

As you can see in the painting the frog turned rather different. However, I went bold (colors and contrast) so it turned out well to my eye. I guess I feel comfortable with sumi-e and those Japanese brushes (in the final product). I also like digitizing my sketches because they always come out a little different than the actual drawing. With this frog, for example, the shading on the branch was a pleasant surprise to me.

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