Water Color Painting Tips _ Tricks

8/12/2019 Water Color Painting Tips _ Tricks

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Secret Brush Skills for Watercolor Painters:Bands of Color:

This exercise is desig ned to hone your wash laying skills in the form of single strokes ofcolor laid down side b y side in whatever pattern your first stroke takes. The object is toconcentrate on the w hite line you are forming between each stroke. Try not to touch anyprevious strokes, kee p the white lines of unpainted paper unbroken.

Mix several puddles of different colors on your watercolor palette.I used a round #10 red sable for most of this exercise. A round #4red sable was used to add smaller variations in the gaps.

A larger brush that holds more paint will allow you to make longercontinuous brush strokes.

Fully load or "charge" your watercolor brush with paint and starting atan edge of your paper, start painting a winding line of paint across thepage.

Keep the widt h of the brush stroke as consistent as you can. You canrecharge your brush as needed and pick up where you left off.

While the laststroke is still wet,rinse out your brushand grab the nextcolor. Start pullinganother linear strokenext to last onepainted. Follow parallelwith the previous

stroke as it snakesacross your pag e.

Do not let the washestouch. Leave wh itepaper between eachstroke. This is t he timeto be daring...try toget as close as you canto the previous stroke.How thin can thatwhite stripe get?

Repeat as necessary with different colors until you've filled thepaper, then rinse. This exercise requires a certain steadiness of handto do without letting the washes touch as you maneuver across yourpaper.
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Thick 'N' Thin

Artists add interest and variety by altering the thick ness in a single stroke of a flowing paint. Byusing the tip of your brush you can get a fine line f low ing. If you add pressure as you pull the strokethe brush spreads and the stroke thickens. If you less en pressure the stroke will get thinner. This

exercise combines this brush skill with a twist on the Bands of Color exercise.

Start by pre-mixing several puddles ofdifferent colors, basic primary colors are fine.

Make sure your brush is full but not soppingwet. Work the tip on a clean area of your paletteuntil it comes to a satisfactory point.

Starting at the edge of your paper gently pull afine line with th e tip. Start to apply pressure tothe brush to thi cken the stroke.

Then lessen the pressure until the line thins outagain. Continue this thick'n'thin stroke acrossthe page.

Rinse your brush and change colors. Start a newthick'n'thin stroke next to the last one.

You can try to thicken your stroke where theadjacent line is thin, but in particluar, avoid touchingthe other washes with the new colors you lay down.

If your brush s tarts to runs dry, reload your brushfrom your palett e and continue the stroke where youleft off.

You will notice that different pigments and brandsof watercolor pa int have different "flow"characteristics a s you practice.

This exercise will help you learn todevelop more expressive lines throughbrush and wash control.

Being able to instinctively thicken or thin

a brush stroke on command while you arepainting, and have it go where you want it,is a good thing . It is a learnable skill as youwill see.

I used a roun d #10 red sable for most ofthis exercise, while using a round #4 redsable for smal ler fill-in strokes.
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Wrist Flick

The Wrist Flick is a playful stroke t hat can be easily overdone. And it is sometimesoverdone because the artist just cou ldn't get that last branch or blade of grass to lay theway they wanted. So they try again. As an alternative to screwing up an otherwise decent

painting I suggest practicing and ex ploring this technique so you know how to do it whenyou need it. Screwing up while pract icing is O.K. Just try some more until you'recomfortable with it.

Start by preparing a few colors to work with on yourpalette. Mix up some medium value washes in several colors.

The Wrist Flick is easily done with a decent round red sableor a rigger-style brush.

Load your brush with paint and angle the tip of the brushtowards you as pictured. This is the starting position for theWrist Flick.

This is the ending position of thebrush stroke. Pivoting from your wristpush the brush tip up and away in a"flicking" motion.

The last part of the stroke flicks out ina feathery point. Practice several timesin each color yo u have.

Vary the thick ness of the strokes asyou try to imita te grasses, branches, oreven feathers.

I rested my br ush hand on top of myother hand for s ome of the brushstrokes here. Tr y this technique forstability and con trol of detailed flickstrokes.

Continue practicing the stroke on your paper. Youdon't have to paint a scene like this one, but be awarethat one may grow naturally as you practice.

Along with suggesting grasses, branches, and featherseffortlessly, the Wrist Flick and variants are handywhen renderin g hair in portraiture or wildlife painti ng.

A little Wrist Flicking can go a long way to finishi ng offa landscape p ainting. Too much can do a painting inbefore you kn ow you've gone too far.
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Painterly Strokes

The feel of a fully loaded watercolor b rush slapping on the paper can be exciting and scaryat the same instant. Being free with yo ur brushwork and paint can be a bit intimidating atfirst, but it is a lot of fun. You can see t he brush shape in strokes made with this brush

technique. Generally speaking any pain ting done in a loose and free technique would beconsidered a "Painterly" painting.

Mix up some watercolor paint on your palette inseveral colors that may work well together.

Start by laying the full brush on the paper and liftingaway cleanly. That is the shape of your brush fullycharged. Try more short dabbing strokes across yourpaper.

Rinse your brush and change colors.

Experiment with some longer sweepingstrokes. Keep your brush strokes uniformin width as you start to overlap strokes todevelop shapes.

Play with differ ent groupings of brushstrokes across y our paper.

Rinse your bru sh and change colors.Continue laying down similar brush strokestrying different angles of attack.

Allow your wet brush strokes tointermingle as y ou progress.

This "full brush" painterly stroke lends itself easily tolandscape and watercolor gesture sketching.

This brush stroke is only one of many that areconsidered "painterly" in quality. It is loosely based on thewatercolors of Frank Wilcox, Frederick Childe Hassam,Maurice Prendergast, and Edward Hopper.

Variations of p ainterly styles can be found in works asdiverse as those of Charles Demuth, Paul Cezanne, DongKingman, Georg ia O'Keefe, Andrew Wyeth, and JohnSinger Sargent, among many others.
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The Stab

Start by pre-mixing puddles of color on yourpalette. You may want to use an old brush topractice this technique.

Load your brush with color and take a gentle "stab"at the paper. Watch your brush and notice thefanning pattern of the hairs as you push it into thepaper. Although it looks otherwise, this is not aviolent stroke. You have no intent but to find somenew technique.

Continue poking around on your paper,adding a twist or spin to your stroke by rollingyour brush in your fingers as you paint.

Experiment with angles of attack to find the bestspreading point for the brush you are using.

Consciously try to shape the hairs as you pressa stroke into the paper. Give it a little wiggle whilethe brush hairs rest on the paper to make themalign.

Try a slow mot ion stroketipping your brush sothe pressure po int is on the tips of the hairs. Thispresses more p aint into your paper, making amore defined st roke.

Rinse and switch colors and/or brushes.Continue to practice spreading and twisting yourbrush, building texture across the paper.

Look for organic shapes and textures as you allowyour strokes and colors to overlap and blend.

This is another example of a what is considered apainterly stroke.

The "Stab" technique works best in conjunctionwith other brus h strokes unless all you need istexture for your painting.
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Cutting Edges

This exercise utilizes your skills in dra wing and your brush control in painting edges of washes invarious shapes. Use geometric shapes in a variety of sizes, and colors using the largest brush possible

for each size. You have to know how t o paint the shapes you see before you. Since we all know how acircle, square, triangle, rectangle, or s tar, looks you'll know immediately if you've succeeded. Paintingshapes requires the use of several bru sh techniques you can develop simply by practicing them.

Start by mixing up several pools of primary colors to workwith.

From my experience "cutting an edge" is a sign painter's termfor pulling a clean line of paint with your brush. A clean linebeing a line that is smooth and flowing with no irregularities.

Notice the twisting motion controlling the upstroke of the circleshape.

Consider each shape before you startto paint. What is the minimum amount ofbrush strokes needed to create the edgeof the shape?

A circle? One or two strokes. Triangle?Three. Square. Uh, four. You get the idea.The five-pointed stars were done severalways. I cut both edges of each arm onsome (ten strokes ), tried five thick'n'thinstrokes, and drew a star doodle: one

stroke, five inters ecting lines.

If your brush is to o full to get a properpoint, touch it on a sponge, tissue, ortowel to remove e xcess paint before youstart.

While you have one color in your brush try painting all the differentshapes across the page in that one color. Rinse your brush out, switchcolors, and repeat.

For sharp corners use the very tip of your brush and start the brushstroke at the corner point of the shape.

For circular shapes, start your curving brush stroke inside the edge ofthe shape and pull the stroke into position before continuing the stroke.
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Tissue Paper waterco lor textures OBJECT: Learn to create unique watercolor textur e with tissue paper.

MATERIALS:Watercolor paper, a paint brush, & a crumpled pieceof white gift wrap tissue paper.

COLORS USED: Permanent Rose, Alizarin Crimson,Sap Green.

I started by wadding up a single sheet of tissuepaper and preparing washes of Sap Green, and awash of Permanent Rose and Alizarin Crimson.

Making a field of color

Using my 1 ! " wash brush Iloaded it up with the previouslymixed Permanent Rose and AlizarinCrimson.

I proceed to lay washes and cutin the edges in with red.

I dipped the corner of my (red)

brush into some Sap Green andstabbed and mixed these two colorson the paper.

Before the big cover-up

I continued to scruff in the middle a bit and thenthoroughly rinsed my brush.

I finished painting the rest of the surface with a strongSap Green wash intermixed with the reds from before.

The surface is wet and saturated with watercolor paintin strong colors.
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Clean that mess up!

I spread the tissue out and

shaped it into the approximatesize I needed.

Being careful to cover the entire area, I positioned thetissue over the wash and gentlepressed down with my palms.

I did not press the tissueentriely flat, allowing the crinklesand creases to do their job.

I set the example aside todry, almost.

Tissue paper watercolor textures

I knew that a couple of the pigments I used havehigh binder levels (see the salt tutorial) and thetissue paper could be glued to the painting if I let itdry completely.

I lifted a corner to see if the design was set andgently pulled the tissue paper off to reveal the effectyou see.
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Plastic wrap watercolor texture OBJECT: Learn how to create unique watercolor textures with plastic wrap.

Before the flood

MATERIALS:watercolor paper, apaint brush, andplastic food wrap.

COLORS USED: Pthalocyanine Blue,Sap Green.

I start by mixinga large wash ofCobalt Blue andlaying in a largeloose wash fromthe upper leftcorner on acrossthe top of thepaper.

The under-painting completed

I finished the underpainting with Sap Green, spreading thingsaround in interesting shapes.

I measured off a piece of plastic wrap by sight, ripped it off theroll, and spent a minute trying to un-cling it from itself.

Laying down the plastic

I roughly shaped the sheet with my hands and pressed it intothe wet washes.

I pulled the plastic sheet out a bit to cover the whole wash.
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Pretend to know what you're doing

I spent a few seconds playing with the shapes. Making some

raised, flat, and stretched areas in the plastic.

You do have some control over the final outcome at this point,so take your time. I set it aside to dry flat and undisturbed.

Plastic wrapwatercolortexture

I had a teacherwho used thistechnique as astarting point forlarge acrylicpaintings. I nowunderstand hisenthusiasm for it atthe time. The effectalways givessurprises and isstartlingly beautifulto look at.
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Masking (Frisket) watercolor tutorial OBJECT: Learn watercolor masking techniques.

MATERIALS: Arches #140CP watercolor paper,

Incredible White MaskLiquid Frisket, maskingtape, a #6 Liquitexsynthetic Basic round (forfrisket use only),Grumbacher 1" flat redsable, Kalish Kolinsky RedSable #8 round, and aKolonok #4 round Kolinskyred sable brush. ...and ablow-dryer, a scrap ofpaper and a square ofartist's crepe rubber.

COLORS (variousmanufacture): CadmiumYellow Light, CadmiumYellow Medium, AlizarinCrimson, Dioxazine Purple,Cobalt Blue, PthalocyanineBlue, Pthalocyanine Green,Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna.Colors chosen aretransparent and semi-transparent.

A stark yellow pear on adark background andcheckered tableclothbecame the subject matter.
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Protecting your lights

I started by stirring the liquid frisket. The solids tend tosettle out if not used often enough.

Dipping my already damp #6 synthetic round into thefrisket I used the scrap paper as a palette and smoothedmy brush to a point.

I then painted a layer of liquid frisket over the entirepear, stem and all.

Do not use your sable brushes for frisket. It will ruinthem by getting embedded in the hairs.

Use a synthetic hair brush , moisten it before use. Foreven easier cleaning, use mildly soapy water for wettingand rinsing your frisket brush.

Masking the details

After the pear wasmasked I decided whichsquares in the tableclothpattern were white andproceeded to mask themall with frisket. Notice the"X" marks the spot in the

squares to be dark.

I taped off the edges ofthe entire painting withmasking tape, gentlysmoothed the inside edgesdown and allowed thefrisket time to dry.
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It's quicker than you think..

Using washes of Alizarin Crimson, and DioxazinePurple I laid in the red squares of the table cloth.

I varied the color towards purple as the wash recededbehind the pear, and graded the main red wash to alighter red towards the foreground.

Dry it up... Lay inbackground

After letting the firstwash dry , I lightly mixed

Pthalocycnine Green andAlizarin Crimson to form adark murky bluegreencolor. With no backgrounddetail we'll rely on colorand value instead.

I washed in a darkangled green area andadding a touch ofPthalocyanine Blue gradedthe wash to a ligher bluishgreen trying t o be as

"painterly" as possible. Icarefully cut in the line ofthe edge of th e tablecloth.

Underpainting complete... drying time

I finished off the background by mixing Alizarin intothe Pthalocyanine Green to make a deep dark Maroon andblended into a shadowy upper left corner.

At this point take a moist brush or tissue and carefullydab up any puddles of paint resting on the frisket.

Allow painting time to completely dry.
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking6.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking6.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking6.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking6.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking6.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking6.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking6.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking6.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking6.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking6.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking6.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking5.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking5.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking4.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking4.jpg


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Removing the mask...

To remove dried liquidfriske t you need a NaturalRubber Pickup. They comein little squares in papersleeves. They are made ofa crepe, a crude rubberused for the soles of shoes.It has a high tack.

Gently stroke the driedliquid frisket from theedge of the painted areainto the masked area. Iwork in short strokes fromtop to bottom or left toright, pulling w ith an even

light pressure.

The rubber p ickup willroll and pull u p the dryliquid frisket. Do thiscarefully and r emove alltraces of frisket.

If your paper is not totally dry, you canaccidentally pull somepaper fibers up with thefrisket.

Adding an illusion of depth

I wanted the covered tabletop to have a sense ofdepth and worked on the areas in shadow.

Using my #8 red sable round brush I loosely mixedCobalt Blue, Pthalocyanine Blue, and Dioxazine purple in acouple areas of my palette.

Varying the colors as I went , I graded the shadowareas from cooler richer blues to warmer lighter blues inthe foreground.
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking8.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking8.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking8.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking8.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking8.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking8.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking8.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking8.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking8.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking7.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking7.jpg


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Points of light

After letting the lastareas dry, I wanted tokeep some highlights openon the pear before Icontinued.

Using the #6 syntheticround brush, I covered acouple highlight areas onthe right side of the pearand let it dry.

A singular pear

I started working on the pear by laying a light glaze ofCadmium Yellow Light (and Medium) over the entire pearshape.

Adding tiny amounts of Raw Umber, PthalocyanineGreen, and Burnt Sienna I started modeling the form ofthe pear. I dropped dark "pin pricks" of the pear surfacedetail in with the tip of a #4 round red sable brush.
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking10.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking10.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking9.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/masking/masking9.jpg


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Final strokes and cleanup

I let the work on thepear dry and thencontinued modeling theshading on the pear.

Using cool gray washes (Burnt Sienna andPthalocyanine Blue) Ifurther modeled theshadow side and otherareas of the pear.

The tablecloth needed to be more fully realized so Idevised a simple floral

design over the "X"squares to pull it together.Using a #4 round red sableand Alizarin Crimson invarying values Isystematically painted thepattern on the cloth.

After painting wascomplete , I let thepainting dry again andremoved the last of thefrisket using the natural

rubber pickup.


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Final example painting

To clean up the finished painting I used a kneadederaser to remove most traces of the pencil drawing in thepainting itself.

Click photo to enlarge.

Here we have a 7" square watercolor painting of ayellow pear on a red-checkered tablecloth painted usingthe Liquid Frisket and Masking Tape techniques.

This tutorial uses a representational approach the thesubject matter, pre-planning was needed to protect areasneeded for later stages of the painting. More spontaneousapproaches to masking are also viable alternatives.

You can use liquid frisket on areas already painted for

some amazing multi-layered effects. This works withvarying degrees of success depending on the underlyingpigments.

Reference tools: Glazed color grid OBJECT: See how your colors interact with one another as glazes.


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Something foryour referencewall

Creating aglaze grid willallow you to seehow the colorsyou haveinteract witheach other.

I decided touse 9 brightcolors: Cadmium YellowLight, CadmiumOrange,

Cadmium Red,AlizarinCrimson,DioxazinePurple,PthalocyanineBlue, CobaltBlue, SapGreen, andPthalocyanineGreen.

I drew a 9 x 9

grid of 1/2"bands. (You canskip the drawingstep if you canpaint a straightline without aproblem)

You shoulduse your own palette of colorsarrangedcorrespondently.
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/glazegrid/glazegrid1.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/glazegrid/glazegrid1.jpg


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Laying some stripes

Try to mix each color to about 50% of it's hue strength.

Starting with my lightest yellow I painted a full stripe of colordown the paper in an even tone. I used a #10 round red sable, butyou can use what works best for you.

Following the rainbow of the palette I chose for this grid, Ipainted through the reds to blues to greens, completeing the firstrow of color bars.

I let the piece dry thoroughly before...

Rinse and

repeatI flipped thegrid around foreasier painting.

Starting withmy lightestyellow Iproceeded topaint the samesequence ofcolor bars

across the firstwashes.

When you laythese secondcolor bars overthe first oneslay the washesas cleanly aspossible.

Try not todisturb theunderlyingwashes.
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/glazegrid/glazegrid4.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/glazegrid/glazegrid4.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/glazegrid/glazegrid2.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/glazegrid/glazegrid2.jpg


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s'pretty innit?

You now have a color reference chart that shows you what?

Click image to enlarge.

It shows you: 1) Color transparency, semi-transparency, or opacity2) Colors created when your colors overlay each other3) Colors that tend to bleed or stain when glazed over

Tack it up in your studio as a painting aid.

Use it and others to help you determine what your personalartistic palette of colors should be.

Use it to identify the troublesome pigments and their behaviors.

ax Resist watercolor tutorial OBJECT: Learn to use wax-based media for watercolor 'resist' technique.
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Materialsanddrawing

MATERIALSUSED: Arches CP#140watercolorpaper, a 1"red sableGrumbacherwash brush.A candle anda number oflight coloredcrayons fromand old pack

of 64.

COLORSUSED: PermanentRose,UltramarineBlue,DioxazinePurple,Pthalocyanine Blue, BurntUmber.

I gatheredthematerials and roughedin a quicklandscape inpencil.

Is that a moon?

I started by drawing the moon in with the edge of a candle.

I couldn't see the wax on the paper so I continued to throw in somecloud forms that I couldn't see.

I then rough in some reflections below the moon, in the soon-to-bedark lake.
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/waxresist/waxresist2.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/waxresist/waxresist2.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/waxresist/waxresist1.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/waxresist/waxresist1.jpg


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Picking outsomegrassy

areas

Using ayellow-greencrayon Idrew insome grassyreed areasaround theedges of thelake area.

It is futile to resist

Using a yellow crayon I added more details to the grassy areas.

With the yellow-green crayon I put a light tone along the edge of thehorizon.

I finished by dotting a few stars in the sky with a white crayon andusing a light periwinkle blue to try and catch some highlights in the lakearea.


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Are thestars outtonight?

I mixed aintenseUltramarine Blue washand startedlaying in thenight sky.

The areascoveredwith waxresist thepaint, andstay white.

Not quitewhat I hadvisualized,but I digressandcontinue.

Maybe a little more color

As I washed in the rest of the sky area I added some Permanent Rose

and a touch of Dioxazine purple towards the horizon line to liven thingsup.

I mixed some Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber into a medium grayand started to cut in the background hills over the resist areas.


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Shiftingcolors andwatertones

The graydidn't workout too wellso I layed awash of pureUltramarineover top ofthebackgroudhills to popup the color.

I then

mixedsomePthalocyanine Green with a bit ofthe previousgray washand pulledthe greenwash overthe surfaceof the lake,revealing

more resistdetail.

It's easy to resist

I continued with the grayed-green wash, leaving a bit of white paperand drybrush toward the far shore to accentuate the reflections on thewater. Some backwash came down from the blue hills so I worke d theblue into the lake.


The wax resist technique requires some thought and preplanning ifyou are doing representational work.

Trying ideas with tracing pape r -
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Part 1 OBJECT: Learning to test design ideas before you commit them to paint.

Trying ideas with tracing paper -Part 2

OBJECT: Learning to test design ideas before you commit them to paint.


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Flippingandrubbing

To prepareyour newdesignelements fortransfer youneed to turnyour tracingpaper intotransferpaper.

Any softlead graphite

instrumentwill do. I usegraphitesticksbecause youcan coverlarge areasquickly byusing theside of thestick.

On a flat,

smoothsurface suchas the backof a drawingpad or scrapfoam board,flip yourtracingpaper overand rubgraphiteover theareas whereyour linesare.

Remember,you arecoating theBACK of thedrawing witha fairly
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Distribute evenly

After you've coated the paper with graphite you need to even out the

graphite coating and smooth away the graphite dust.

Take a wadded tissue and, using a circular motion, smooth the graphiteinto the tooth of the tracing paper.

Make sure all areas to be transferred to the painting are covered.

Shake any excess graphite dust into the trash can.


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Getting iton thepainting

Take your"cartoon" ;and positionit on yourpainting.Tape anedge or twodown,gently.

Trace yourdesignusing a ballpoint pen

and a lighttouch. I usea red penbecause it'seasier forme to see.

Usemoderatepressure whentracing.

Too muchpressure can bruisegrooves intothe surfaceof yourwatercolorpaper. Thedents canshow up asdark lines ifpaintedover.


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Interest added: background

On the far left you can see the transferred image of the figures.

I refine the drawing at this point by working over the transferred areaswith pencil.

On the immediate left you have the finished figures.

I used three colors, raw sienna, dioxazine purple, and cadmium red toquickly paint in the figures in a loose manner. These were painted with a#4 round sable brush.

The figures are really nothing more than indications of people. Peopleshapes. Although they are in silhouette, the colors suggest details thataren't really there.


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Interestadded:foregroundandmiddleground

I decidedto approximatethe trailtracks leftby previousmechanizedhikers. I'veseen thembefore, butI've never

reallystudiedthem indepth. Aruts a rut,eh?

A fairlydark mix ofpthalocyanine green,alizarincrimson,

and a littleivory blackwas used toget someinterestinggrays.

I used a lighter grayto rough inthe linesand thenintensifiedthe darkswhereneeded.

After thepainting driedthoroughly Iremoved


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AFTER: A different perspective

The visual flow of the original painting (click image below) readsvertically, right up the big blue tree trunk (left of center), off the page,and back down the tree on the right to the path, which leads you to themiddle of the page.

With the changes , the visual flow starts again up the blue tree trunk,you jump immediately to the people in the distance and pan back to theforeground. Which again pulls your eye up the tree on the right andsweeps left across the canopy of color.

Notice how the addition of people draws your interest and implies astory in process.

BEFORE:
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/1tracing640440.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/1tracing640440.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/finished640441.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/finished640441.jpg


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Materialsandintentions

Tracing Paper

#1 or #2(soft)Drawing orwriting pencilGraphitestick - 4B orsofter(optional)Ballpoint pen- (I used red)Plain FacialTissuesMasking tape

Requirements:A paintingthat's notquite "there"yet.The desire tofinish thepaintingSome ideasto try

BEFORE: Focal point without a payoff

This painting (see above) had laid around the studio for a few monthscollecting dust and cat hair. It was an O.K. painting as it was, but afterliving with it for a time I decided there were some simple additions Icould add to "complete" this painting.

All elements in the woods scene were working to pull you straightdown the muddy path to...what?

An empty spot (see left.)

And not a very interesting trip there either.
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/2tracing.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/2tracing.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/1tracing640440.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/1tracing640440.jpg


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Layingdown somepaper

Somethingwasmissing .The settinglooked ratherominous inspite of allthe bright fallcolors. I feltlike anything could cometearing overthe crest ofthe hill at

any moment.

Giving itsomethought , Istarted bylaying sometracing paperover the areaI was goingto work on.

I used

some masking tapeto gentlytape a coupleedges downto keep thetracing paperin position.

Can you see what you're doing?

Your tracing paper should be translucent enough to see the basicdetails of your underlying painting.

If you have a light box to work with, heavier papers such as layout orplain bond paper can be used in a darkened room.
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/4tracing.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/4tracing.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/3tracing.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/3tracing.jpg


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Elements ofinterest

By this time I had decidedto add astrolling pairof figures insilhouette.

I looselydrew insome figures.Just somebasic humanforms.

I wanted to

give theimpression ofthe figureswalking awayfrom theviewer, butthat wassecondary tosetting thescale of thescene bydeciding onthe height of

the people inthe distance.

The middleand foregroundseemed fairlynon-descriptso...


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Maybe a little tracking...

To show evidence of others enjoying the park I doodled in somemuddy tracks.

The figures established that the path was just wide enough for anaccess road so I added some indications automotive tracks.

I threw in some random bicycle or motorcycle ruts because that's whatI usually trip on.

alt wat ercolor texture effects OBJECT: Using table salt for unique watercolor texture effects.

Materials andobjective

MATERIALS: Arches #140

CP watercolorpaper, IodizedTable Salt,Grumbacher 1"flat red sable.A small squareof dry cellulosesponge.

COLORS(variousmanufacture): AlizarinCrimson,Cobalt Blue,Sap Green
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt1.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt1.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt1.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt1.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt1.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/6tracing.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/tracingpaper/6tracing.jpg


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Start out with a painting

Using a 1" flat red sable I use washes of Cobalt Blue to paint a skyarea. I graded the sky using lighter bands of Cobalt Blue closer to thehorizon.

Using straight Sap Green I blocked in the right hill element.

The hills rancrimson

I washed in the AlizarinCrimson hill onthe left and

pulled a strokeup the topedge of theSap Green hilla bit.

I let the SapGreen andAlizarinCrimson battleit out wherethey met inthe middle.

When it rains...

Holding my new tool, a canister of salt, I slipped open the metalspout and tried a few light dustings od salt crystals and watched.

Hmmm... there's salt sitting in puddles of paint. Looking like...saltsitting in puddles of paint.

As the minutes passed, I decided to add a bit more salt to the

heavier areas of wash on the bottom.
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt4.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt4.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt3.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt3.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt2.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt2.jpg


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Wow, I'mimpressed!

There's notmuchhappening atthis stage. Sonow I watchthe drying tosee whathappens.

There were afew areas I'dleft to drop thesalt on whenalmost dry. Idropped a bit

of salt in thoseareas.

I set it asideto drythoroughly.

Pass the salt please

As the painting dried , the salt's effect on the watercolor washes

became visible.

But there was salt stuck all over my painting!

Using a clean dry hand I gentle started brushing away the salt fromthe sky area.

As I got to the hill sections heaviest with salt it felt like I wassanding my skin off! There was more available binder (gum arabic) inthe more intense washes which held the salt tight.

Change of plans.
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt6.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt6.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt5.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/salt/salt5.jpg


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The propertool for the

job

I cut a drycellulosesponge into asmall squareto uses as asurrogate formy skin.

This enabledme to quickly and gently ruband wisk awaythe remainingsalt. When

removing anyabrasive fromyour paint(salt, sand,etc.) take carenot to scratchthe paintingssurface. Brush lightly.

The salt watercolor texture effect


As the washes dry the salt crystals suck up pigment gradually,creating a myriad of light star-like shapes. This is most noticable inthe sky areas and was less effective, and different, in the darkerareas.

Experiment with various types of salt: table salt (iodized and non-iodized), sea salt, rock salt, kosher salt, etc. Larger grained salt willproduce a larger, more pronounced starring effect.

I have no idea how salt affects the longevity of your art.Considering salt's corrosive nature I would think over time it mayinteract with pigments and natural paper fibers in an unintended way.

Alcohol watercolor textures OBJECT: Learn the affect of alcohol on watercolor washes.
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Materialsand set up

I drew asquare andfound someQ-tips and91%IsopropolAlcohol.

MATERIALSUSED: ArchesCP #140watercolorpaper, a 1 ! "wash brush,the abovementioneditems.

COLORSUSED: DioxazinePurple,UltramarineBlue, CobaltBlue.

Laying the field of attack

I mixed a large amount of Dioxazine Purple and started blocking in alarge wash on the paper.
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/alcohol/alcohol2.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/alcohol/alcohol2.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/alcohol/alcohol1.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/alcohol/alcohol1.jpg


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The "before"picture

I continuedpainting inthe rest ofthe loosewash with aCobalt Blueand layed insomeUltramarineBlue in theupper leftcorner.

Prepare toDrip.

The first wave not as effective...

Dipping a Q-tip into the alcohol I proceed to tap and drip alcoholdirectly into the washes.

As the alcohol hit the wash it repeled the paint, pushing it awaywhile leaving a lighter tint of the wash exposed.

Because the wash was so wet, I had to repeatedly drop alcohol ontothe open areas to keep the flowing paint at bay.
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/alcohol/alcohol4.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/alcohol/alcohol4.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/alcohol/alcohol3.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/alcohol/alcohol3.jpg


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Gettinginterestingnow

As thewatercolorwashes continue todry I trysome smallersplatters ofalcoholthroughoutthe area.

Duringevaporationthere

passed apeak time forthe effect toworkbest...although everythinglookinteresting sofar.

You willnotice a"fish eye"

effect in themiddle ofmost thelighter areaswhere thecolor slightlydarkens.
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Finished example: alcohol and watercolor

I finished playing around and set the painting aside to dry.

Click photo to enlarge.

Alcohol and watercolor don't mix well. The results of their fight onthe paper is strangely organic in nature and not achievable using anyother technique.

The "fish eyes" are a signature of this technique, so it's obvious toother painters what you are up to.

Use it judiciously or with total abandon , it's your nickel.

Sgrafitto and Stamped watercolortextures

OBJECT: Learn sgrafitto and texture stamping watercolor techniques.
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Etching darklines

Sgrafitto is anItalian term for scratching

techniquesusuallyassociated withstratchingthrough layeredceramic glazesto expose theunderlyingglazes. Do yourecall thoserainbow colorscovered in blackcrayon youwould scratch

pretty picturesinto as a child?Same concept.Still fun.

Shown in thisexample is avariationscratching a linewith a fine sharppoint, in thiscase a penknife. The wetpaint is suckedinto thebruised paperfibers as youscratch acrossthe wash,creating darklines.

Used judiciously ,this technique isexcellent foradding details tolandscapepaintings in theform of nakedtrees andbranches, andother flora.
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Broadside scrapes on credit

I often use old credit cards , cut to shape, to scrape larger areas of paintaround.

The smooth flat edge will act as a squeegee and push the paint off the area

you are scraping.


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It's on thebrush!

Many brushescomeequipped with

angled scrapersbuilt into theirhandles. I haveseveral sizes ofsyntheticbrushes I'vepurchased justfor theirhandles.

I use thescraper end ofmy oldGrumbacher 1"

flat red sableand proceed topush some lightcolor tree trunksup and into the"sky" area.Notice the darkedges thatautomaticallyform where youscrape away thepaint.

Had I waitedanothe r minutethe scrapedareas would nothave as muchback fill (fuzzyedges).

Timing is veryimportant. Scrape toosoon, you'll getbackfill. Scrapetoo late and itwon't work atall. You'llburnish a smearthrough yourpaint.


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Feats of stamping

Stamping is putting paint on something and pressing that something ontoyour painting. The stamping material you choose could be anything organic orsynthetic. Try the classic potato, pencil eraser, or leather, lace, burlap, leaves,grasses or your fingers. Use your imagination, possibilities abound.

Using some facial tissues I waded up, I dipped into green and crimsonwashes I had prepared on my palettes and stamped some texture in the uppersection.

Sponges!

I used a ratherstiff slice of asea sponge anddipped intosome Sap Greenand stampedthe middlesection.

The range ofsize, texture ,density, andother variationsin naturalsponges is wide .

This spongegave anexcellent roughorganic texturewhen stamped.I'll have toremember that.

This could go on forever...

A finer small soft sponge , a cellulose sponge, and some rather tribal use ofvarious hand parts take place...

(A flurry of activity and a couple of blurry photographic sequences forced thismontage, sorry ed. )
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/stamped/stamped3.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/stamped/stamped3.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/stamped/stamped3.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/stamped/stamped2.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/stamped/stamped2.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/stamped/stamped1.jpghttp://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolorpainting/stamped/stamped1.jpg


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Oooo, thatwas fun...where's thesoap?

Click image to

enlarge.

As lame assome of the technicalexecution was inparts of thisparticularsequence, Ifound myselfthinking of thi stutorial as apiece of art an dcontinued tryi ng

to "pull ittogether."

I nested colo rsin colors usin gthumb andfingertips andsigned it with abig red handprint. A tip ofthe hat to theLascauxartistians.

BASIC SKILLS

Flat Wash The first basic watercolor skill to learn. Takesome time and learn to paint flat washes. Itwill be time well served.

Graded Wash The second basic watercolor wash skill. Learnhow to make an evenly graded dark to lightwash.

Glazed Wash Getting multi-layered jewel tones in a simplecomposition using the technique of glazingyour watercolor washes.
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Wet-in-wet Technique An exciting exercise in the free f lowingpossibilities of watercolor. Practice often, it'sfun.

Dry Brush Technique Proper brush handling and paint consistencyis needed in this easily learned watercolortechnique.

Lifting Wet Watercolor Watercolor lightens easily when wet. Planahead before you paint.

Lifting Dry Watercolor Lifting and lightening dried watercolor paint.(Elbow grease and a light touch)

ADVANCED S KILLS I

Splattering Textures Some people do it on purpose. A funtechnique for the playful at heart. With Spray(below)

(and)Spray TexturesRecycle your toothbrush for some funspraying action. Don't use it for your teethagain, that's just gross.

Sgrafitto Textures A light scratch, a burnished caress, anagressive knife attack...linear texture. WithStamped (below)
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(and)Stamped TexturesSponges, tissues, and anything you can getyour paint to stick to can be a "handy" tool.

Back WashTextures Intentional drips or controlled back washes.There's lots of texture in simple water.

Alcohol Texture It's not just for boo-boos. Flick a bit on yourwatercolors and watch what happens.

Salt Texture Kosher or not, you'll sea salt in action and theproblems it can create. You want fries withthat?

ADVANCED S KILLS II

Tissue Paper Texture Next time you unwrap a present, save thattissue! It does fascinating things to paint.

Plastic Wrap Texture It's not just for leftovers. See how thiscommon item makes unique textures.

Paintingwith Frisket Painting using basic liquid frisket maskingtechniques for saving the lights in yourwatercolor painting.
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UsingWax Resist From crayolas to candles, an irresistabletechnique. You get the idea.

Color Grid Exercise An exercise to learn learn about how yourcolors work with each other as transparent(or not) glazes.

Tracing Paper Testing ideas and adding elements using atracing paper transfer made with graphite.

Part 2 Here!

Blow Dryer Tips Learning to dry and not fry when your artisticpatience is wearing thin.

Tower St. Martin, Sorezestep-by- step Impressionist watercolour painting.Allan Kirk's impressionistic watercolour exercise shows how to capture

the mood of a bright, and and sunny day in medieval Soreze in theTarn in southern France.
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Step One Drawing and

Masking Fluid(Read this stage fully before starting, it will give you a clear overviewof the process)


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Initial DrawingTo begin with cut the Arches rough 300gsm watercolour paper to size(22 x 28 cm) and using masking tape attach it to a board. You can

just use an old piece of hardboard as your painting board.

Now complete a simple line drawing using a 4B pencil. Use a softpencil to draw with, and don't mind if the pencil is visible on thefinished picture. It can be erased, but you don't need to bother.

Concentrate upon your drawing and try to get it to be accurate. You'


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Step Two First Wash(Read this stage fully before starting, it will give you a clear overview

of the process)


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First Wash

Wait until the masking fluid is completely dry.

1. Wet the paper thoroughly with clear water.

Use your large squirrel mop brush and wet all the paper thoroughlywith clear water. Make sure that the paper is wet all over.

2. Apply very wet colour wash to the whole picture.


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Second Wash

In this step you will apply a second wash to the buildings and street.

Use your existing colour mixes in your palette. In addition add a mixof Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Violet and Burnt Sienna. This will be used to


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Deep shadows and shutters

Wait until the work from step three has dried completely beforebeginning this step.

In this step you will use the Pro Arte sword liners and develop theintricate dark tones in the street, on the tower and round the frontbuilding. Use the existing colour mixes in your palette.

You will also deepen the buildings and shadows that exist. (forexample there is a little Raw Sienna on the front building. If you lookclosely you will see that it is wet on dry and has a harder edge thatother washes.

The front shutters are a grey colour, and you can add the shuttershadows when it is dry or nearly dry. In this exercise the shuttershadows on the front building were added when the grey shuttercolour was quite wet. If this happens you will get bleeding, but this initself can add interest to the whole picture.

The Process

1. Apply pigment and water to your palette regularly as you work. Mixa dark tone of Cobalt Blue and Burnt Umber for the darkest sections.

2. Work carefully on the dark tones down the street, using yourdarkest mix.

3. Add Raw Sienna to the front building in a haphazard way thatindicates the crumbling render.

4. Apply another wash to the building shadows on the left. Keep theshadows varied and interesting.

5. Add the dark tones to the roof and chimneys.

6. Work quickly and freely, do not get bogged down in details.


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Step Five Final Details(Read this stage fully before starting, it will give you a clear overview

of the process)

To complete the work:

1. Add suggestions of windows to the buildings in shadow.

2. Add suggestions of hinges on the shutters.

3. Add hanging lamp to street in dark tones

4. Touch up dark shadows all over painting.

5. Do not over do the darks, keep the work loose and free. Keep themystery of lost and found edges in the shadows.


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Documents

Water Color Painting Tips _ Tricks