Wes and Rachelle Siegrist are a husband and wife team specializing in exquisite miniature paintings which are gems of fine art for enhancing existing collections or starting a new one. The Artists both currently render their intricate techniques in opaque watercolor. The Artists are available for workshops, demostrations and lectures on the topic of miniature art.

Rachelle's "Sadie and Sophie" rendered in watercolor on Cresent watercolor board. This painting is a traditional one-sixth scale miniature painting. This painting was commissioned by collectors to feature their two Golden Retrievers.
The original sketch on the board. The image measures 2x4 inches and was rendered from one of several photographs that were given to Rachelle by the owners of the dogs.	Initial washes of color are applied much in the manner of a traditional transparent watercolor painting.
Further transparent washes are added with Rachelle carefully following the fur patterns. These layers will serve as a road map for later development in the painting when Rachelle will be adding the individual hairs and texture.	Adding in the eyes and noses helps key the overall values in the painting and heightens the joy felt by the artist as she works since now the dogs are starting to show their personalities.
By using colors with more opaque pigments, such as yellow ochre, Rachelle starts to develop the intricate details of the fur. It's tedious but the result is worth the patience.	Rachelle continues to develop the intricate details of the fur now in both dogs. At this point their personalities are showing! The rug is also started with basic washes of color.
The rug is finished and those special details such as wiskers and wet noses are added to complete the painting. Click the image to see the finished painting enlarged.	An enlarged detail to show some of Rachelle's brushwork. The area in the detail is slightly larger than an American penny.
About the Dogs: (as of 2003) SADIE - born: February 12th, 1995 Sadie received her Delta Society Therapy Dog Certification in July 1999. She and her partner began work by starting a pet therapy program at High Point Regional Hospital's Adult Psychiatry and Restorative Care Units. They then helped initiate the pet therapy program at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical center working in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Adult Psychiatry, the Sticht center's Transitional Care and Acquired Brain Injury units and other units as appropriate. Sadie also works with respite patients at Greensboro's Adult center for Enrichment. Sadie has in excess of 600 volunteer hours at WFUBMC, was named volunteer of the month. received a "miles of smiles" award and was recently selected for the NCVMA'S Canine Hall of Fame as a service dog. She is included in "The Compassion of Dogs" authored by Kim D.R. Dearth. SOPHIE - born: October 4th, 2000 Sophie received her TDI Therapy Dog Certification in July 2003. She received her AKC, CGC Certificate in 2001 and her AKC Companion Dog Certificate in May 2002, having earned qualifying scores in three consecutive AKC obedience trials. She is currently working on her Companion Dog-Excellent Certificate. Sophie visits respite patients at Greensboro's Adult center for Enrichment. She has recently started her pet therapy work at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical center in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit and will expand her visits to other units as appropriate.
Rachelle's "The Angel and her Duckie" rendered in watercolor on Cresent watercolor board. This painting is a traditional one-sixth scale miniature painting which was commissioned by a collector as a surprise Christmas gift.
Rachelle started the painting with the tile in the background.	Initial washes of color are applied much in the manner of a traditional transparent watercolor painting as she starts to develop the skin tones on the child.
Skin tones are built up by adding more layers of color. At this time she has pushed the darks and lights in the image to establish the painting's values.	Facial features are slowly created with deft brushwork. Working so small leaves little room for error. At this point Rachelle is concentrating on capturing the likeness of the subject.
Rachelle continues to refine various aspects of the painting. Values are adjusted in some areas while adding detail into others. Once she feels the likeness has been captured she'll add all the tiny highlights and water droplets.	An excited and cooperative Grandpa corresponded with Rachelle as she drew close to completing the work. With the help of his keen eye and the aid of our computer to compare the painting with the reference photos each detail was completed. This was the first time we had used the computer photo editing software to compare images. Seeing the painting so enlarged was quite helpful. Almost all of our reference photos are larger than the finished paintings.
An enlarged view of the painting showing Rachelle's brushwork.
Wes's "Mediterranean Monarchs" rendered in watercolor on clayboard. This painting is a traditional one-sixth scale miniature painting although the style is more painterly than most of our miniatures. The background has a layer of 24 karat shell gold. The reference for this painting was a photograph I took at the Denver Zoo of a pair of immature Cinereous Vultures.
Simple outline sketch of subjects with a toned clayboard.	I'm using a #6 round sable brush at this point.
An initial wash of yellow ochre to the background.	A second coat fills in the slight clayboard texture.
Gradation is applied to the background and more "massing" is done on the birds.	Body colors are applied.
Gradually adding the detail.	At this point I'm more careful with brushwork. (#3 round brush)
Details and additional colors are introduced. (#3/0 brush)	A stippled pattern is applied to the background.
Additional stippling (@2 hours total).	The shell gold is applied which looks great in person but just so-so in a scan.
It's all a matter of adding details and adjusting colors from here out.



I still made some adjustments even after signing the work (yes...I should have asked Rachelle's opinion first!).	Finished scanned painting. Other images were taken with a digital camera and not color corrected. This painting was completed over a three day period. @12 hours.

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