FALL 2012 WATERCOLOR CLASS – More Splattering

(Torrance the following will be what we will be doing in class this week. The drawing is on the picture page and the reference photo is in my Class Reference album if you are going to do the exercise.)

My whole purpose to the splatter projects is to make you less afraid to try something out of your comfort zone and see that you can make something wonderful.

This time I started with the drawing already on my paper so if I want to be a bit more selective on where I drop my paint, I will know where things are, then I wet the entire paper. I want the splatters to run and spread so my paper needs to be wet, the color I used to splatter or drip into the wet paper were very dilute so when they dried, they were just very pale suggestions of color. I noticed that some of you were having problems with this one, because your paper was too dry second, the paint you were trying to splatter didn’t have enough water with it. This is call “wet into wet” for a reason everything needs a lot of water to make it work.

While everything is still wet and running, you can tilt your paper in any direction you want. Notice that I didn’t tell you which colors to use, that is totally up to you, they just need to be very watery.

Now comes the hard part: Letting the paper dry completely. You can use a hair dryer if you want but let the paint do its things for a couple minutes before you drag out the dryer because it will stop all the subtle action that is going on, on your paper as paint and water mix so don’t get trigger happy with that dryer.

The other part of this lesson is contrast. Most of you are just so timid when it comes to getting really dark that your paintings look flat and lifeless. To make this poppy stand out from the background, you need to get dark. The darker you can get the negative space around the flower, the more that flower will stand out from the paper. Also note that I was using a variety of colors in my background. While it was predominantly green, I added colors like blue, purple, sienna, orange, yellow, red almost every color I have on my palette, this gives the background interest it creates soft shapes and suggestions of “stuff” happening around the poppy. Also note that I started with the leaves under painting them with a yellow wash and not really worrying about if I stayed in the lines or not. The background will be dark so what does it matter if I paint outside the lines?

Therest of the poppy I painted normally using blues and purples for the shadows, yellow and oranges for the center, this part you should be able to figure out by now.

Once the painting was as done as I could get it in class, I asked if anyone could see the splatters? There was a universal “Oh!” as people realized that you didn’t see the rainbow of colors that I started out with but a white poppy that seemed to glow. Is this the way you should paint all the time? That is a question only you can answer but you should keep it in your “bag of tricks” and pull it out every once in a while, it will make you happy.

Please have your own project for class next week, I will do demos as needed. See you in class.

PV Watercolor demo - More Splattering

Torrance Class - Finished Scotty's Truck.

FALL 2012 WATERCOLOR CLASS – Scotty’s truck

Torrance class you will need to go to the previous blog entry for your class notes.

PV class we are up to finishing the truck, how you finish it depends on you, I will go over what I did to finish mine.

First, I wanted to make sure that I had enough intensity to my color. The truck should pop off the page if your color is intense enough. Your darks need to be dark – and cool. Many of you had shadows that were too brown making them warm. The rest of the colors need to be rich in color. If your truck looks washed out it is because you need to increase the intensity of your color. You can keep your light areas light and still enrich the colors, always start in the darker parts of the area you are working on, rinse you brush and move the paint towards the lighter area. By comparison you will still have dark and light areas but your colors will intensify.

Watercolor is all about layers and it will take several to get to the point you need. Some may take 2 or 3 other times it may take 5 or more but you do what you need to, to get the intensity of color your painting requires.

For the shadows on the ground I used mostly blue and purple with a touch of sienna in it to gray is slightly. The shadows are important in this painting so don’t overlook them.

When I got to a point where I felt I was done with the painting part of the project, I looked to see where I could start adding – or in some cases – lifting detail. In the shadows in the cab and inside the engine compartment there is “stuff”. It is a bit hard to see but it is there, remember that all that stuff is, is shapes. You don’t have to figure out if it is a carburetor or whatever, just either add some dark shapes or lift out some lighter shapes. Lifting you just use a clean damp brush and go over an area. Rinse and dry your brush often.

You can lift out some detail on the fenders as well. If you want a dent, lift a light area off the fender, then on the left side add a touch of a shadow, look at your reference photo for details. Or where the hood meets the lower part of the engine compartment, you can lift a bit of highlight along the top edge of that lower part. Detail is up to you on just how much you want to put in or leave out.

Lastly, if you want to go over some of the edges and do some of the detail with a fine point Sharpie pen wait until your paper is good and dry before you start then you can go around all the edges or just parts of the edges if you want. Add some detail with the Sharpie if you want. There is a chain hanging out the door on the floor of the truck, make some marks that look like chain or add some wood texture to the wood frame. Add some bolts or some rocks or ??? what you do is up to you at this point, whatever you do have fun with it.

I may have another quick project for class when we meet again but please have something of your own to work on from this point out. I will do mini demos to help with problem areas. See you in class.

Torrance Truck Week 2

PV Truck Week 3 Finished

Fall 2012 Watercolor Class – Scotty’s Truck

Torrance students please refer to the previous blog entry, you are about a week behind PV.

You should have the first wash of color on your truck from here until the end it will be about intensifying the color and deepening the shadows. Remember watercolor works best if you do this in layers of washes rather than trying to do it all at once. Before you start, please look at the reference photo of the actual truck and not the place where I left off in class that photo is there so you can see where we left off and where you need to be before you start the next step, the actual truck shows you where you need to go.

Look at each part of the truck before you try to paint it. What you are looking for are highlights and shadows also where the rust might be a different color or have some texture. The more detail you can observe in your subject the better the outcome of your painting even if you are wanting to be more impressionistic, the devil is in the detail as they say, most painting go through a stage where they look very impressionistic it is where you take it from there with the amount of detail you put in that will make a more realistic painting.

For instance, look at the front fender. If you will notice around the outside edges it is a lot darker than the top, it isn’t a sudden change bot a gradual one with very soft edges. To paint the fender to get that look you start where it is the darkest with your color and using water on your brush move it towards the lighter area, this is called a graded wash.

The basic color for the metal parts of the truck are always going to be burnt sienna, a touch of orange and a little touch of purple. That will be the base color that you can add other colors to or more of one of the 3 basic colors depending on what you are trying to accomplish. There is some water in this mix and it is still a wash but it is not as thin as the first couple of washes, you paint should not look or feel pasty or thick when you put it on, it still needs to feel like painting with water. Some of you were using your paints way too thick a problem that can happen when you use them straight out of the tube.

I use my ½” angle brush and load the color on the tip and first third of the brush, you can use any brush you feel comfortable with but will have to practice to get the same effect. I put the tip of the brush where the color is the darkest but my whole brush is on the paper. I paint around these darker areas, and then I rinse my brush, take off the excess water and with just the damp brush I go back into the darker paint and start working it into the lighter areas. If you do it right you will have the edges darker and the top of the fender lighter. Yes, you may have to do this more than once because watercolor dries lighter but each time you will repeat this step just don’t got as far into the light area each time and you will see the fender start to pop off the page.

I know that it is tempting to go into the dark area with a very dark color and get it over with but please try to resist that urge and build the shadow just like the lighter areas of the truck. With your dark color – which is the above mix with more blue and purple added, BTW -  once you start to get the area dark enough to suggest shadow, go back in with more shadow color and just make some shapes especially in the cab of the truck and where the engine was because there might be “stuff” in those shadows and it will make your dark areas look like there is something there besides just dark.

The rock needs to have a shadow on it this is going to be a mix of blue and purple, again look at the rock before you start to paint, it is darker further under the truck and along the sides. If you “pat” the brush to the paper it will create a bit of texture the rock will need otherwise it could look like a smooth river rock, rather hard to find in the desert.

I have not done my shadows yet but if you feel like you can paint them, use the blue and purple mix with just a touch of sienna in it and keep your edges soft.

We will be finishing up the truck in the next class so if you want to do some detail with a pen, have a fine tipped Sharpie with you at the next class. See you all next time.

Torrance Watercoolr class

PV Watercolor Class

Fall 2012 Watercolor - Scotty's Truck

Torrance Students: The PV class is a week ahead of you so you will need to use the previous week's blog entry for the class notes after we start the painting.

PV Students: I wanted to show you that you don't always need to have your drawing on first before you started a painting but if you have something specific in mind, it is important to have your reference handy so you can make adjustments if you need to.

Starting a watercolor by splattering the background can be a very effective way to loosen up your painting but also yourself. It lets you see that you can do a lot to a watercolor and still get great results.

To start this process I spritz my paper in a few places with my sprayer. I DID NOT WET the entire paper! I only spritz randomly to hit it a couple times with water though most of the paper was dry, otherwise all of my splattering would become very soft and blend in with what was around it. That is something to keep in mind for another painting.

You can use a tooth brush or a paint brush or both, I was using my 3/4" angle brush with lots of water and color on it as I flicked it on my paper. I sorta kept the warm colors (reds, yellows and oranges) in the upper 2/3's and my cooler colors (blues, greens and purples) near the bottom but there was plenty of mingling, some of which I caused by tilting my paper.

After my paper dried,  I transferred my drawing onto my paper using graphite transfer paper but you can rub a #4 pencil on the line of the back of your pattern, place that side down on your paper and go over the lines, works about the same. Putting your drawing on after painting your background often works better than doing it before all the water and paint hit it because graphite can dissolve and you will need to draw it on again.

When you have your drawing on your paper you will start the under painting process. Remember that in watercolor we go from light to dark so we will be building up to those dark shadows with layers of paint.

You will need your reference photo so you can find the lightest areas on the truck, they will be on the hood, fenders around the door and parts of the frame. On those areas you can use a light wash (little paint, lots of water) of either orange or yellow or a combination of the two, the most important part of this is to keep it light with lots of water.

Next, over the rest of the truck - that includes the shadows - mix a bit of burnt sienna into the orange/yellow mix you just used, keep it to the orange side but still keeping it light then go over everything that is metal on the car including all the shadow areas, we will pull those out with the next wash but because they will be very dark we need to build the dark layer by layer. Watch out for the wooden frame in the door and in the cab, those should be painted with a blue/green mix but wait until the surrounding area is dry. The rock below can also get a light wash of this color.

Let this layer dry completely, you can use a hair dryer to speed up the process, then once it is dry, use you sienna, with a touch of purple and water into that color you were using and go over all your shadow areas with this color. We aren't trying to get our final darkness yet all we are doing at this point is finding our light and dark areas. This color can also go on the tire.

This is where we stopped, I hope that everyone is at or near this point when we meet again.

WATERCOLOR SUMMER 2012 -  P.V. Bunny

PV Class you will need to go to the previous blog post for the things we covered in class.

For those of you who really don’t like to do a lot of negative painting, I showed how you can use masking fluid to speed up the process. The one thing that you must remember is that your paper needs to be COMPLETELY DRY before you add the masking fluid. Be particularly aware of areas where paint/water may pool up like the junction of meeting lines of masking, if the paper is even a bit moist, the masking fluid can soak into the paper and ruin your hard work. Rinse your brush every minute or so and re-soap it so the masking won’t stick to the bristles, other than that, you will notice only a little, if any, removal of color when you remove the dried masking.

Be sure that you have made your dark areas dark enough not only behind the bunny but also the bunny’s bum and behind the rocks.

When you have added as may layers of weeds as you think you want whether you have used to negative painting method or the masking fluid method, you may want to detail out some of the weeds to give them more structure especially those near the bunny. I started this process last week and will do some more on it this week as well as adding some darks into the weeds (yes, more negative painting) and then I should be done with the rabbit.

WATERCOLOR SUMMER 2012 – PV Bunny

PV Class you will need to go back to previous blog entries as the Torrance class is a couple weeks ahead of you.

Many times when I am painting in watercolor, I will establish my values first before adding color, this is what I did on the rabbit. I got most of my values at least half way before I added any color. Watercolor is a transparent medium and so I use that to my advantage with my under painting, by establishing the values, I don’t need to worry about do I have the color right all I’m concerned about is light and dark remembering that in watercolor you work light to dark, once I have clearly defined my light and dark areas, then I start to add color.

That said, I was to that point with my bunny. It doesn’t mean that I am done with my values at this point, it just means that I can now introduce color and work to intensify not only my values but also my colors. I was using my ¼” angle brush but a small flat brush or a small round will work as well, you just need something small because we are working on something small – the fur.

The colors I used varied very little and they were sienna, blue, yellow, orange and touches of purple depending on where I was painting on the bunny. It is essential that you have your reference photo where you can look at it often so you can see the subtle color changes in the fur and the direction the fur is growing, I can only show you technique the photo is you map to create this rabbit, it is the difference between “turn left at the big oak” and a Google street level map.

I used my brush on the very end so I was making small, fur like strokes. It is a repetitive, slow process but unless you have a grass brush (it is a specialized type of brush), making small dry brush, strokes.

A couple of areas that you need to be aware of and they are areas behind the rabbit: One is the area behind the back end of the rabbit and the other is under its chin and down the front. The area at the back end needs to be lighter than the bunny behind so that the body shows up, so as you are doing your values be sure that you make the fur very dark though the opposite is true in the area in front of the bunny. The area under the chin and down the front needs to be very dark BEHIND the rabbit. This area needs to be dark so that the light fur that is backlit on its face and chest will show up. When you paint an area around the subject it is called “negative painting” and we use it a lot in watercolor. You may already be using it to do your weeds, just be sure to get that area dark.

Like I said, you can paint the weeds using negative painting, you can also use masking fluid. You can do this by adding a light layer of color or value, let it dry COMPLETELY use your masking fluid to add more weeds and repeat the step as many times as you feel necessary. Be sure that the masking fluid is dry before you paint your next layer or it could mess up your brush. Also, if you drop fluid where you don’t want it, just let it set up and peel it off, that is the easy way.

We should be about done with the rabbit next week so you might want to start looking for something you would like to paint for your next project. We will have a couple weeks off between classes and I hope that next semester is a lot smoother than this one has been. Thank you all for your support and understanding during this very trying time in my life.

Watercolor Summer 2012 – PVBunny

This will be a brief summary of the past two weeks of painting the rabbit so you have an idea of what we did to get to this point.

First, I drew on the rabbit. I wanted to make him big enough on the paper so he is the focal point but left enough room in front of him so he can move. This is a “landscape” (horizontal) format vertical or portrait would make him too small in the painting and give too much importance to the rocks and weeds. Watch his proportions as you draw him, his body is just slightly more than 2 lengths of his head and his ears are the same length as his head (I measure from between his ears to his nose).

Once your drawing is on wet the entire paper. Don’t worry about the rabbit, he has a lot of the surrounding colors in him, it helps him hide there is also on actual white in the photo so we don’t need to protect or save white, everything gets color at this point.

I used A LOT of water with these first colors so they were just basically tints. They need to be very light because these colors will be the highlights in the finished painting. Remember in watercolor we paint from light to dark which mean to start very light and work in layers. If you are not a patient person, watercolor may not be the best medium for you because you will need patience.

Onto my wet paper I added these tints of yellow, orange, sienna even tints of gray I made by adding a tiny touch or purple to the yellow, then I let it dry completely.

When it was dry – and it needs to be totally dry for this next step – I added some masking fluid to a few areas that I thought I wanted to stay very light. This isn’t necessary but the masking does make it a bit easier so you can just paint and not have to worry about painting around something.

When the masking was dry, I added more of the same colors to most areas but this time I was a bit more selective. I didn’t add more to the rabbit at this time but I did add more general color in the rock areas and weed areas and avoided areas where I thought that light might hit I had my photo right in front of me so I wasn’t guessing. I added more gray tint into the shadows again, this can be the exact same color you used before because watercolor is accumulative and will look darker or more intense in the final painting.

I have not started to paint weeds yet I am just establishing light ad dark – sun and shadow – weeds will come later.

The rabbit I under painted with gray. Again I am not going for my dark darks yet but I do want to start to establish highlights and shadows. The gray can be the yellow and purple you were using or  a mix of blue, sienna and a touch of purple keeping it to the blue side/ Please have the photo there to look at when you are doing this and just paint what you see even if it doesn’t make sense right now, it will later on. Be sure to use water to lighten when you need to and always follow the direction of the fur growth with your brush strokes.

I think this was week 1 but there may be some crossover.

At this point we start getting more specific and we will be using both positive and negative painting.

Positive painting means that you are painting the thing itself lit the rabbit or the weed; negative painting means that you are painting the area AROUND the thing like the rock behind the rabbit or the shadows behind the weeds. This is a very important technique we use in watercolor and it goes back to what I said before about painting from light to dark. When we negative paint we are darkening the area behind something so it will look lighter in the end. You must have dark to show light and using negative painting is one way we accomplish that goal in watercolor.

On the rabbit I continued to use just the gray for now to intensify the shadows on the rabbit and to suggest some of the features such as the light rings around his eye. I still followed the fur growth. I also added some gray behind the rabbits face using negative painting to add color to the rock leaving that one side of his face lighter.

Behind the rabbit are a couple of very dark spaces under the rock but rather than paint it dark all at once I negative painted using layers of a lighter gray. Each time I added a layer, I painted around not only the rabbit but also I suggested weeds by painting shapes to suggest a tangle of weeds, each time adding more weeds and the area getting darker.

I also used the negative painting in the weeds in front of the rabbit and in the shadows. This can take time but you should be able to move around your painting as areas dry you can go back over them.

Another technique which I am not using because it means more drying time is to use the masking fluid on each layer of color to make your weeds. It is up to you.

There are also some weeds that are dark against the lighter rock that come up against the dark areas, these weeds you can positive paint using a similar value to the area left in the dark shadow, just continue them out into the light area use your liner or a round brush if you have one.

I will show you another way to make weeds next time so you might want to bring some plastic wrap J.