TRICUSPID VALVE WATERCOLOR - ORIGINAL

It's the colors that first get me on this one. I modeled it after the opalescent insides of an oyster shell—that cool blue and lavender, juxtaposed against a pearly gray. When I see images of the tricuspid valve in action, rhythmically and fluidly opening and closing, it feels so aquatic and otherworldly that the colors felt appropriate.

I know I say a lot of these are my favorites, but this one really is. You know it is because I paid the big bucks for a wide American Hardwood ash frame from Framebridge, complete with the float mounting that shows off the deckled edge. That's their most expensive frame, so I only choose it for the paintings that I love best.

I didn't paint this one for anybody, it was just for myself. It was one of those where I had it all done in my head before I even started and BOOM, it just came out perfectly, first try. I made it right before my first art show in Omaha, feeling as though I needed a statement watercolor piece. It's easy to make statement oil pieces, they're made for that. But for watercolor, you need to make a real effort to go bold with both size—difficult because bigger paper warps more, so you have to buy the big, heavy kind—and color—difficult because watercolor is always trying to go pastel on you and you have to work hard for those darkest darks. I'm so happy with how I allowed the valve itself to lean pastel, then hit the crevasses and the opening with that deep purply-navy. Hints at mysteries in the fathoms of the body.

This one has been with me for a long time and is so representative of everything I try to convey when I create anatomy paintings. Hope you love it too.

The tricuspid valve watercolor original can be found here. Enjoy!