Hey guys. I picked up watercolours about a week ago, and I've been trying to get good at it. It's the first physical paint I've used, aside from acrylic washes and block gouache and such, so trying to grasp concepts of colour and layering is a bit difficult. Usually I use digital but I want the versatility and beauty of being able to paint traditionally well.
I'm chronicling everything I do every day on Facebook, this is my latest, and I'll post the other few afterwards. Here's the description:
"Day 5: Another self-portrait. Great success! This time I took what I learned from yesterday's portrait and worked really hard on improving it. Specifically, I applied the background wash first this time instead of after painting the face. Additionally I used dry-brushing a lot more, and took a lot more time between layer, reducing the bleeding effect and thereby creating a much softer gradient. Really really pleased with the textures in the hair as well, whips of ink look like calligraphy. Inoue influenced? Probably. Need to work on saturating colours more; black is too overpowering, and once it's applied the other colours pale, particularly the pinks on the lips. Really pleased with highlight on nose though, splotch of white paint helped established the point of light. Area around eyes too dark and flat. Tomorrow I want to try working on a portrait without using thick black outlines to define the outlines; that is, defining them with shading alone."
If anyone could offer tips and whatnot that would be terrific.
Day 1: Experimenting with the properties of watercolours. Surprisingly hard to control. Was not able to achieve the desired opacity, fading and texture that I set out. Need to learn how to effectively fade/bleed watercolour; perhaps properties of the paper? Some of the effects resemble calligraphic ink - one possible use, although somewhat redundant (more efficient to use actual calligraphic ink). Not comfortable enough to mix and tone yet; need to learn how to apply multiple layer to create depth, tone and gradients. Tomorrow will attempt simple monochromatic shape e.g. leaf or flower.
Day 2: Played around a bit more, tried to be more specific with my shapes and shading. Wet on wet has really interesting bleeding effects. Need to work on more control over the thinness and lightness of applied paint, and layering etc. Also used watercolours in a more calligraphic style that prioritized line, interesting and I like the texture - will keep in mind for future. Also, goes without saying, but black is very overpowering - will have to be careful in applying it on top of other colours.
At 1/29/11 06:46 PM, UndefinedArt wrote: Hey guys. I picked up watercolours about a week ago, and I've been trying to get good at it. It's the first physical paint I've used, aside from acrylic washes and block gouache and such, so trying to grasp concepts of colour and layering is a bit difficult. Usually I use digital but I want the versatility and beauty of being able to paint traditionally well.
I'm chronicling everything I do every day on Facebook, this is my latest, and I'll post the other few afterwards. Here's the description:
....
If anyone could offer tips and whatnot that would be terrific.
I like this. Im anxious to see your progress up to this painting though, so im gonna wait and have a look at those before I really critique it.
NEVER LOOSE FAITH IN MANCUNT
Day 3: Big improvements in understanding of the fading and layering properties. Got a lot more comfortable with the paint, and how much water is necessary for a specific opacity and brightness etc. Combined with pencil as well - cubist forms on hand helped establish the light/dark areas and toning. For the rest played with softer shading and spot colouring, still need a lot of practice on highlights. Skull motifs for kicks.
Day 4: Attempted to paint using a reference at last, specifically a self-portrait. I think I gave up all pretenses of realism around about the time I started crying tears of liquid cobalt. I am, however, rather pleased with a lot of the fading and bleeding effects, and am growing more and more comfortable with mixing colours and playing around with opacity using water and brushstrokes and whatnot. Need to work on my highlights - will start experimenting with white paint as well. It's interesting to explore the potential that WC has to create very abstract looking portraiture - a branch worth exploring.
Day 6. Here's a new one. I managed a lot of improvement from the previous, although it would be really really good if anyone could offer me some tips. With watercolours, that is. Don't say stuff like "the model looks manly" because, well, not all women are perfect.
Wow. I LOVE THOSE!!
Have you ever tried working with watercolor pencils?
Who are you looking for? What are you looking at?
A light? a star. A boat? an insect. A plane? a flying fish
Are you using watercolour paper? Normal paper will warp and buckle and make painting more difficult. Sometimes it will clump and rip and form little dark balls on your paper. Believe me,
trying to pick them off is super tricky.
Your best bet is a good watercolour paper, or my beloved illustration board. Depending on the quality of these, they seem to absorb the paint better and will allow more experimentation.
It will make a world of difference (i.e. less frustration and screaming).
I think you're making great progress. You have some really great work. I really like the two faces on your third post, especially the one done in skin tones. It really pops out. Like my painting teacher would say, it has a "sculptural feeling". :D Awesome stuff. Great style! Keep going. :D
At 1/30/11 01:26 PM, Evasis wrote: Are you using watercolour paper? Normal paper will warp and buckle and make painting more difficult. Sometimes it will clump and rip and form little dark balls on your paper. Believe me,
trying to pick them off is super tricky.
Your best bet is a good watercolour paper, or my beloved illustration board. Depending on the quality of these, they seem to absorb the paint better and will allow more experimentation.
It will make a world of difference (i.e. less frustration and screaming).
I think you're making great progress. You have some really great work. I really like the two faces on your third post, especially the one done in skin tones. It really pops out. Like my painting teacher would say, it has a "sculptural feeling". :D Awesome stuff. Great style! Keep going. :D
Thanks for that :) Yeah I'm still working with regular paper. It's extra thick so it won't warp and buckle but it does flake if I apply layers too quickly. I did buy a book of WC paper but it's pretty expensive at $3 AUS per sheet, so I decided to save that for proper works and just use my regular journal for experimenting.
Haha really? That was playing around in my usual cartooning style. I guess I'll eventually start using WC to paint in that style, but for now I'm trying to hit realism before cutting down. Thanks :)
At 1/30/11 09:28 AM, MasterMerol wrote: Wow. I LOVE THOSE!!
Have you ever tried working with watercolor pencils?
Yeah. They were alright although I had trouble controlling them, in terms of opacity and concentration etc. Usually I do stuff in pencil and digitally add colour if necessary, most stuff in my gallery works like that. I just switched to paint because it looks like an interesting medium and after a previous foray into soft pastels I decided I wanted to be able to do something with colour.
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