_ e Paint«:Draw Createa unique aesthetic! Learn how to develop an Discover how to make stunning by combining ink wth watercolour Impressionist painting style scenes featuring friends and familyPaint-Draw WATERCOLOURS Painting has always been considered 2 relaxing activity, and this is certainly true with watercolours. As your brush sweeps cover the paper i's impossible not to feela sense of calm, and that's what has drawn so ‘many people to the medium, InPaint & Draw: Watercolours, it’s time to take this to the next level and improve your techniques, With tutorials on everything, from colour theory to composing interesting scenes, is theperfect way to develop your skills while still having fun. Uncover how to Create stunning fire effects. make the perfect harbour scene and fil in allof those ‘minute details that will make your art realy stand apart from the crowd, But the learning doesn't stop there — explore how you can take yourself that one. step further with ink, gouache, and line and wash. Finally, we reveal how you can mount, photograph and frame your own paintings. The next step of your watercolour journey lies just over the page.634 Simplify painting with a strong composition 38. Working freely in watercolour 42 Capture spring light in watercolour 48 Find beauty in a fading flower 54 Depict a luminous harbour scene at dusk 60 Create stunning fire effects 66 Capture movement with loose brushstrokes 72 Capture light for a harmonious result 78 Paint your family in watercolours 82 Create a moder Impressi Impressionist scene 86.Saonlennsiorenenglich 106 Experiment with 48 urch in line and wash Brusho ink pigmer an \ t 92 Preparing paper for 108 Make spontaneous bees and butterflie wet-in-wet watercolour 93. Get to grips with th 114 Get outdoors and t paint with gouache et-in-wet tec niqui 94 Paint beautiful blooms wi 116 Mount your artworl wet-in-wet watercolour 120 Create great quality 100 Bring the outdoors in digital copies of your ar vith ink & watercolot 124 Frame your own aMastering the busics of watercolours Robert Brindley RSMA explains how to simplify a watercolour by using a limited palette and interpreting tonal value he fluidity transparency and immediacy of watercolour allows ‘the artist to interpreta wide variety of subject matter. ‘Although challenging, especially {orbegimers, watercolours canbe spl by adopting a limited palette and choosing ‘subject with ood tonal contrast Inthe following snow scene demonstration followed the above criteria and worked from photographic reference, in conjunction with plein air’ oil painting. Working from a sketch ~ or even paintingin the final stages ~helps toeliminate the often overwhelming detain aphotograph oo ROBERT Cartisle, Cumbria, England ober aims to capture light andatmosphereina Contemporary impressionistic Style He tutors watercolour ‘soundthe UK and abroad, ‘wiv obertbrindley.comReference used thireference image but shteredittosutmyneeds Using 2B pencil, | drew out ust enough of the image toenable me to apply the intial oose \wet-into-wet colour washes accurately. The predominant areas of sunlit snow, together with ‘smaller highlights, were then preserved with masking fluid using an old No, 2 Pro Arte Acrylix brush. tis important to mask these areas as accurately as possible, Clean thebrush immediately after use i © Draw and mask Arches cald pressed, Not weterealour “tock” Brushos: Escada Pera -Nos 8 and; Pro Art “Acyl Series 202Nos 2,4; 208 No Rigger ‘Winsor and Newton artists tube colour Rew Senna, Burt Sine, Cobat Bue, Crean Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt ole, Permanent Megents Masking Fuid Masking tape Ceramic mixing palette Smalltube of white acrylic paint Bens Pasi arasor Kitchen towel| prepared several colour poots for the frst wet-into-wet washes. ‘These mixes don'tneedto be exact; | call them my first guess: They were prepared using the following colours: Cobatt Blue. Cobalt Violet and Raw Sienna (these ‘three colours are the basic primaries upon which the entire painting isbased). Inaddition, mixes using the folowing colours were also prepared: Raw Sienna, Cobalt Violet, Burnt Sienna, Cobalt Blu, Uttramarine Biue, Cerulean and Permanent Magenta, 2 © Mix colour pools © Wet into wet, diffused wash Before introducing any ofthe pre ‘mixed colour pools, |wet the paper thoroughly. By doing so alittle more time can be taken applying the colour anda soft diffused result is morereadily achieved My aim was to place the colour fromlight todark and as accurately as possible etting the colours mix reel.Don't (ee Forallaintngs, especialy watercolours cessuntalta kp things simple Justa fw colours andbrushes—plusasurfeceto Work on ~is al that you need. and branches Using the No2 Rigger and the No& Escoda Perla Istarted topaint the tree trunks and branches. created a natural taper on thefiner twigs and branches by Using the brush from bottom to top, finishing witha flick toend the stroke. The twocolour mixes used were: Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue, one with slighty more Ultramarinein the mix ‘and the other with more Burnt Sienna, 6 © Develop tree trunks When dry, the foliage on the main trees was painted using the following mixes: Raw Sienna and Cobalt Blue; Cobalt Blue, Raw Siennaand Permanent Magenta; Cobalt Violet, used ‘sparingly, was introduced into the above, damp washes. | tried to keep ths diffused ‘wash simple wth only alittle defiition to the edges ofthe foliage 4 © Develop the foliage ‘Once completely dry removed all of the masking fluid usinga clean finger. You shouldnever attempt to remove masking fluid until the paintings ‘completely dry. With a damp brush, [then softened few ofthe harsher edges. This ensures 2 variety of edge and makes the masked areas appear more natural. 5 © Remove masking fluid‘Toaddifetomy painting. linctuded a pony, which was taken from one of my reference photograprs. Although took care to retain the masked highlights, Ihadto sea itlepure Titanium White acrylic paint toreinstate them. Thecolour mixes used were: Cobatt Blue, Permanent ‘Magentaplusa touch of Raw Sienna, makingagrey-biue Colour Aix of Utramarine Blue plus Burnt Sienna was sedfor the derkpatches. Horo Asuccossul painting roant ‘ona steng focal pci. To ensure thatthe focal pont is foci, consider the ‘olowing pies: | Inrease the tonal values around the focal pont trong contrast draws the eyein, 2 Raduce tha tonal contrast and dotas around the egos ofthe panting te ensue that the viewer’ eyeisnotdrann aay fromthe focal point 3 Tryntroducig alain tn, which takes the viewer's ee tthofoca point Tis coud beafence ne or footpath. 7 © Paint the pony © Add details and foreground wash I started to add the fence posts and more detailtothe grasses and bushes onthe fence tine. also began to develop the white buleing further ving consideration tothe tonal values with regard tothe litwalland the wall shadow. These tonal values ensure that the painted bung looks convincing and three-dimensional 10© Paint falling snow thad not planned to paint falling snow, but felt thatit would addatmosphere further interest, andit would help to soften the overall feeling ofthe painting, used a fairly fluid mix of Titanium \Whiteacrylic and loaded an ole ‘toothbrush with the mix After trying out the etfecton a scrap piece of paper. spatteredthe paint carefully using my thumb. I buitup the spatter in several applications tocontrolhow far that | wanted to take it, 1] O Finishing touches Inthis step| gave careful consideration toall aspects ofthe painting, most Important to ensure that the tonal values were correct. Iwas alsominafulthatby ‘adding too much detailand unnecessary information, Icouldezsily reduce the effectiveness of the painting. Idid very little extra at this stage justadding afew grasses, fine twigsand afew ‘more details on the building,Colour theory, Whether you have half an hour or an afternoon to spare, follow these quick, simple and fun tips to start experimenting with your art today! Create a colour theory chart to improve your colour mixing GETTING TO GRIPS with colour theory can seemalittlebit toomuch ike learning maths or science. You may feel you just want to be creative and express, yourself not work out calculations. But colour theory is one ofthe fundamental things you need to learn in order to progress and grow as an artist. Readon tocreate a colour theory chart that wil transform your creative life, About f ROB LUNN Bath, UK Fobisasolftaught painter, andloves painting nails His Influences ae Vincent Van Gogh. Caravagatoand ya Repin.Hehas been teaching art workshops since 2002 ‘wwroblunn.co.k You can oat very book on eoour theory, butthere iso substitute for gting stuck in. This exercise should hp Follow these steps. outa contol of yr caring © Your medium © Materials The following exercise can Irecommend usingan AZ a becompletedwith acrylic, oi! C_. piece of quality cartridge ‘or watercolour paints. but Paper; butyou could scale the colouringpencilsarebest. Not exercise dawn. Draw a square of nly doyoujust need the pencils 300x300mm (12x 12in).Then themseWes-there’snoneed force that square up into 12 waterspntsbrushesora_equalparts (the squares So palette buttheyreareasoalot should be 25x25mm or lili) ——os, lessmessythanothermedius. Starting rom thebottom left Andtheyteportabe.sothis comer mark I-12 running rercisecanbecompleeden —heriaontallyandvertcaly as PS thebusi nee! shown nthisimage 2Colour theory ©The spectrum “Thewonderfulthing about thespectrumis how the coloursalwork together. Understanding the relationships between thecoloursis eyo getting great results while mixing. Using the lovely Derwent Procolour pencil, Ichosethe following 2 colours torepresent thefullspectrum OL: Ultramarine (31) (2: Midnight Blue (40) 3 03:Racing Green (44) 04: Grass Green (49) 05: Primrose Yellow (02) 06; Buttercup Yellow (03) 07: Middle Chrome (08) 08: Spectrum Orange (10) 09: Primary Red (12) 10: Plum (15) ‘IL Imperial Purple (26) 12: Dark Violet (27) Foe ar ee ern ert Geel eee is Fares eet Nate aaa frvierarsoranesraeietonieiek tit 5 © Extending colours Now it's timeto extend the Ultramarine line ‘out horizontally and vertically. Stil try to shade each square as an individual, though — it will, help keep them consistent and stop you from ‘making some much darker than others. Don't worry about going over the lines, ust give itanicerelaxed feel, And con't get too uptight while laying down your colour: it should be fun, a © Anew colour Move to colour 2, square 22,colourin this square as one of your ‘ure’ colours. Then add Midnight Blue in squares 12 and 24 Continue with the rest of the colours, colouring in the pure’ e = a As The diagonal Start with the bottom left corner (square 1-1) and shade itin with the Untramarine (31) pencil. If you're using good-quality pencil. a light touch s all that's needed. This wll be one of our ‘pure’ colour squares. There willbea line of pure’ colour squares running in 2 diagonal from the bottom-ft Upto the top-right as the two sets of colours converge. © Colour chart ‘As you move into the oranges and reds, the effects of the 12-step colour mixing wheel becomes more apparent. Seehow the colours that are opposite each other on the 12-step wheel seemto'cancel and'grey each other down’ when mixed together. This effect of desaturating the colours one ofthe comerstones of effective colour mixing.Ne cs Torhbn nn Keep watercolours fresh and loose THERE are many things that contribute don't plan todo any over-painting. lavoid to the attractive and free nature of painting anywhere twice, until Ihave paperaennn watercolour, buthere we'll concentrate _ painted everything once. And I don’t eel neater on the simplest and most basic: how to rect as | go along either— I wait until aE iinEcenteed apply the paint to the pape the end, whenit iseasier to judge the painter who ves in Sutfok and l'vefoundthe easiestwaytomakethe passages that haven't quite gone to plan. swell known forhispiein ar paint look happy on thepaperistotouch Remember, we are all trying to narrow paintings and simple style the paper once. That s.!know how |want the gap between our vision and the voraanximaplttonsk ution of our vision. my picture tolook straight away, and "Fishermen's Sheds, Suto __nacvantage of hisone-wash | mothegs don't have to paint in | tnysetorder lis remain | intrested ard commited t'sanFollow these steps... To get a fresh-looking watercolour © Sketch it out a Thepurposect myrelininry cravings ensure teimage fitsthe paper Asm aim—and a =z dontaays succeed ~isto go for theendstaghtavay.icenstor Bg anyuhereke, dont panttoaset = formula, but dle obegn somenthere smal ardeasy. “Gee Fresh-looking watercolour wy © Get painting I decideto leave the sky unt ater. like to feel my way before tackling large areas. | continue to paint the sheds and some ofthe ‘greens, all the while going for the final lookin one wash. lalso keep varying my colour to add interest 3 A © Make the sky The skys paintedin one go on dry paper. Starting atthe top, hwork down andacross, and | use the paper to separate the clouds - the flecks of unpainted paper add life and movement. As Add the details Finally, add selected detail - masts, figures, shadows and texture, | avoid tidying upmy picture, in fact, loften 'muckit up. Ithink this adds lite ~ certainly don't start painting everywhere ‘again, That's guaranteed to muddy fresh washes. 15Paint vibrant petals in watercolour FLOWERS 210 alaays lovely subjects topaint, but their complex petals can often be difficult to get right. By looking at the contrasting effects of highlights, rmidtones and shadows ona single petal, Iwill show you how to get amore realistic, tonal appearance with ust a few techniques, and only three basic ‘mixes on the palette. About JARNIE GODWIN re London, UK Working asa botanical ae ee starsat Sir ene Pet ek eet teen blogger, laerieisknowntor i iia eal ejemplo ea ney ofimpertect subjects ‘opaque pigments that can lla mix. ‘woe sketchbooksquirrelcom - © First wash © The midtone After laying aglaze of Now onto the midtone, cleanwater.Idrop in the which willform the lightest colour. While the actual colour of the petal glazeisstilwet, |continueto Working as before, let the buildupthetonewhereIneed water glaze settle before tobyaddingmoretouches of _droppinginthe second paintseveraltimes. Lifting colour. Keeping the paint colour with aclean, damp away fromthe brightest brush maintainsany highlight, leave plenty of highlights and softens the the first wash visible, Again, | finish, Let each layer dry Use a clean, damp brush to, before applying the next, littoff any unwanted colour. 16 © Details Shadows offerthe deepest tones and will give the petal athree- dimensional appearance. ‘Another glaze helpsthe darkest paint spread, softly building the deeper tones, andcreating higher contrastandtone. With ‘more variation and contrast it villlook more ifelke. At this stage, wet-on-dry details can alsobe introduced {>} ACG VIDEO eke withthe fine details introduced, the complex tones and highlights emphasise the shape further. giving ‘amorerealisticrinsh, me ony © Build depth Working wet on dry. apply the deepest colour only where want it Thisbuiks more depth anc ‘movement vith several layers pant. also soften the edges witha clean, damp brush The characteristic markings ar softened with several complex overlazes, made by moxng the hues on thepalette togetherPaint spring foliage using a dry brush watercolour technique THIS PROCESS shows 2 method for depicting trees when youwant your folage and branches unified as one isthe effect we generally get when looking towards the light. You'll see less internal detail and variation of tone ‘and colour. Things become silhouetted andit's more the outside edges of shapes that define ther. JEM BOWDEN Follow these steps... It's best touse either Rough or Not surface paper forthiseffect. Loada medium-sized brush with fairly thick paint, then begin the treeby squashing the rush against the paper firmiy at the wered trunk, Dragthe ly upwards alongitslen so itleaves amark that's broken by the paper surface, 1 © Paint the trunk © Branch out Using the tipof the brush, draw out some fine linesas the branches of the tree. However, don't add too many ~just thinkof the biggest branches. At the moment the tree looks ikea winter one, but inthenextstep well add the budding spring foliage ~ you'll see that you don't need to paint hundreds of branches. eee age) hd Next, use the side of your brush ithout re-loadingit, soit’s quite dry. Test on some scrapppaper fist before dragging thebrush across the surface of the paper. If you're happy, start atthe outside of the tree and make drags inwards. You may have to press the brush abit. but go cautiously at first. Itcan almost be like shading with a crayon, A little more Z| Use the same method todeseribe he hedgerow. Mix up your marks Using the side and tip of the brush, pressing down firmly as you drag when you need astronger, more solid mark Finally, dampen the brush toenable you tomake acleaner edge along the bottom ofthe hedgerow where it meets the grass. Thiswill contrast nicely with the rougher top edge. 3 © Add your foliage vFollow these steps. For a core shadows lighting key with light and shade here, Itty tomerge areas that will share shadows, and focus lesson rendering detailin those areas, Look for values ‘thatare already close andjoin them across objects. Background shapes especially will become simple outlines containing single tone. e ile Since 'm concerned How to convey bright sunlight TO CREATE the effect of strong sunlight, start with locating core shadows ~ the darkest areas of shadow in your picture. Look around your scene and identify every place where these shadows occur. Don't get hung up onindividual objects just look at where the deep shadows are happening. Often these areas will flow together across several objects, so don't be afraid to join the shadows together. Start painting by layingin these core shadows throughout the scene, and try to minimise transitions to lighter values, 2? © withthe dark core The result will be adark/ight interplay shadows on the figure that already conveys the essence of your laidin without much scene. Thisishow our eyessee nbright transitional edge shading, we light, especially when coming froma already havea feeling of bright dimmer environment - we tend to light. We'veestablished a value interpret everythingasa high-contrast _ range to work between — play of ight and shadow. darkest to lightest ~ and can This willcreateakey thatcanbeused —_beginflinginthe rest ofthe to bulldyour image. Work back upthe _areas based on this range. value scale from your core shadow value. For each element. ask yourself where it 3 © Nowit's large fields of mid-tone falls between the core shadow and your colours, Thinking of each object as a lightest value. Where possible, oush the pattern of shadow and light helps light values together inthe same way, point me to rendering solutions. |use tending towards the light end ofthe scale. ‘watercolour pencils for details and toadjust ‘some ofthe deeper shadow colours that ‘weren't consistent enough. This will help DAVE BRASGALLA Unify the various elements.Create more interesting compositions AREWARDING technique that can drive your compositions in new rections isto push compositional elements of the same value together ‘andthen et the colour fow freely throughout the new. more complex shapes that are formed. Youcan even lift out bits of pigment within these areas to create lovely effects. Thisisa good mentalexercise because it encourages us to think in terms of the overall composition, rather ‘than potentially getting ost by focusing ‘too much on single details In this scene, | thought that the boat. its sail nd passengers made a nice arrangement that could be combined intoasingle, more complex shape. The key here is deciding which details can be safely omitted —for instance, the sihouettes ofthe passengers isall that's needed to convey them, Weread their forms easily as people, wth almost no detail given. l'velet the general value ofthe boat hull bleed up into the sal, intothe passengers, andalso down into the waves. |pulled outa bit of pigment along theupper edge of the boat, sothat it ‘would be clearer, plus that element has suchanice curve, Taking the shapes further, lwould probably darken the ‘main sail area athe way up. Atany rate, it'snow ready to goin and | can polish itwhere needed, as the basic formsare now strong and the image already makes a distinctive and recognisable impression, Sunlight & compositions ‘My edges became too strong as | coloured the forms, 50 had to carefully pullout most ‘of those dark accumulations of pigment. (© Merged shapes, colours and the outlines of {forms convey this boat and its occupants, ‘makinga strong compositional base to build detail onto. Abo DAVE BRASGALLA ‘Stockholm, Sweden Dave is anillutrator and ‘graphic designer who also loves to pursue personal projectsusingtraditional painting media, wu phrelhuset.se a Cee as eee ond eee ee enya Dene reat ree eanNEGATIVE PAINTING ref the negative shapes that define positive cones. This is especially important with traditional watercolour, where painting things as light-against-dark means the \white ofthe paper must be preserved (rather than using white paintas is. done with opaque media). So, in of painting the object, you paint the object's background, 5 to painting d JEM BOWDEN Bristol England Jem paints and teaches 7 watercolour tal time, ith ‘focus onlandscapes He ges demonstrations, uns workshops and tutors on residential painting holidays. hntp://bity/jembowden 20 ©Upand down Now use a combination downwards an strokes at the botion sections. Here you'r grass and weeds in front of thehedge. and youhaveto think negatively while being quick! in addition, paint a gate, posts and some growthon top of the hedge. You need to do allthis while the paint is stillet Follow these steps... “| ©The sky and ground Thisisa simple demonstration of a useful exercise. First, paint a rectangular sectionof paper witha two-colour wash, biueat the topanda palehay colour atthe bottom. They can blend together for asoftedged jon, Don't worry about perfection, but aim forhalf and half ofeach colour Now it the paper dry completely inga thick dark green mix anda ge synthetic brush which will enable you to work quickly), paint in two bits of hedgerow. These overlap where the background colours merge. You can draw the main shapes in peneilfirstf youlike. but here Im ust drawing with the brush. which is good practice fo 2 © Add the hedgerow © Try scraping Here's another negatve-painting some fence posts, ke horizontal and | scrape marks inthe stil-damp cdge. find a fingernail works this, butyou could try anything hard, such asa matchstick. The relatively thick paint wil it off toreveal the underlying, wash, and voila ~ youhave your lights against-darksCreate a sparkling night sky with watercolour WATERCOLOUR is an incredible medium that can be used to make the ‘most magical and unique images. Itcan create anything ~ a bright sunny day as wwellas a deep dark night, Here, we'llereate a mysterious starry right using watercolour and masking. fluid. The latter is an interesting and relatively new medium for me. To create therandomness of stars, | will pray it “onto paper using an old toothbrush, \When this stage is done, Ican colour the sky with dark shades and diferent tones, The branches of trees willthen cover some parts of the sky, especially near the horizon. Where the background goes dark, | can paint the branches ina lighter ‘colour. Dark on ight and light on darkisa _great method to enhance a painting. musing a wet-in-wet technique here, but note that masking fluid should bbe used on dry paper only. Any small details can be painted on the dry paper too, And, rememiber, to save time you can, always use a hairdryer, OLGA STERNYK oe) eres tts res © Create the stars First. place ight yellow and blue spots on very wet watercolour paper. It wil form the colour of the stars. Ithen dry the paper using a hairdryer. Then |add masking fluid using a toothbrush, as shown above, These spatiers will soon be stars! | remove any tunnecessary drops and letthe paper dry. Note that the masking fluid should dry completely belore we can proceed, © Paint the sky hen wet the paper again to gradient. place the dark colours onthe top and mix them with warm tonesnear the horizon. | use Payne's Grey. Perylene Violet. Permanent Mauve, Manganese Blue Hue, Ultramarine, Phihalo Blue, Orange and Lemon-Yellow colours. Then, ladda yellow andiblue glow around stars. They are still masked, sol paint around the ‘masking fluid © The end result l’snowtimetoremove the rmaskingfluidusingan eraser. |painttreebranchesusing ddarktones,andwashoutafew brancheswithawet fat synthetic brushso they are visible on the darkbackground. Every time eraserasking flit feesikea miracle! Wearenow done, aMix greens from basic pigments for a more natural effect ‘THROUGHOUT YEARS of workingasa professional artist, | have experimented with a number of purchased greens but have always found them unsatisfactory. Viridian is useful. put only for seascapes. On rare occasions luse 22 Hookers Green, but even though it's a fairly subtle colour it can overwhelm more delicate pigments. Here, | would like to demonstrate how a wide range of pleasant greens can be obtained from ‘mixing basic pigments. MARGARET MERRY Almeria, Spain After studying at Falmouth ‘Art School, Homsey Collage ‘of Art and Bristol University, Margaret nas worked asa artist specalisingin watercolourand pastel She ‘ow paints in Spain htp://bit.iy/pad_memyFollow these steps... © Vary intensity ‘hen creting the painting above the preens neededo be stronger a5 2oproachedthe foreground. used Uttramarine mxeduth Lemon Yellow anda ouch ofRaw Sienna, w highlights of Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Orange. Thelatterarestrong pigments andmust beusedwith care Tvary te intensity of colours, painted freelyusing plenty of clean water to cute the paint. Thetrees were gona loose treatment toavoxdtoo much deta Uttramarine Bive ‘Lemon Yellow Cobattaive& Lemon Yellow Yel Utramarine Bue, Lomon Yellow 8 Burt ‘Sienna © Getting stronger Forthe trees and bushes below the church and theirreflectionsin the water, Ineeded even stronger greens. In order to create a feeling of perspective, warmed up the colours using Burt Umber andBurnt Sienna, These pigments blended very well wth the Ultramarine mixture and they dict not lose their transparency. By allowing clean water to flow into the wet paint, the pigments separated and produced a pleasant effect, 3 Utramarine Bue ‘Yellow Ochre Cobalt ate & Uttramatine Bue, Lemon Yellow & Raw Uttramarine Blue &Cadmaum Yellow Cobalt Blue & Cadmium Yellow Uttramarine Blue, Burnt Umber & Yellow Ochre low Ochre = ‘Sienna © Soft versus strong wanted soft greens fr this, painting depicting aCocrish spring but or stronger summer greens lwould haveusedCadmiumYelow, as wellas Lemon mixedwith Ultramarine, Monestial Blue (Phthalo Blue) also produces a strong, bright green when mixed with Lemon Yellow. i's sharper, more acid blue than Cobalt or Ultramarine anda Useful addition tothe paletteCombine hard and soft edges for effective watercolour clouds DISTANT CLOUDS jn the sky can appear tohave hard edges in places and soft edges elsewhere. Often the sun edges stand out, with the shadowed Lndersides appearing to blend softly into theblue sky. Watercolour isideal for capturing thiseffect, and 'llsho how simpiyit can be done, JEM BOWDEN ent, UK Jemisawatercolour landscape ats and tutor, tho enjoys working outdoors He provides workshops, ‘demonstrations individual tultonand teaches on residential painting breaks, jembowderwatercolourco.uk used this method here, doing all ‘clouds at once, but with some grey instead of clean water The pencil {uid ines enabled very quick painting! k | PRPPPF' Follow these steps... am - 1 © Make an outline Mark outa section ofpaper to practise on-Then, asa guide, ighty draw the ‘outline ofa single coud as shown, although there's noneed to doso if youcan visualise the shape without i've also markedan areaatthebottom ofthe cloud shape ‘where!'m going towet the paper, 24en ee erent eee Cer Dee ttre Rt Ce eS wash brush. Ensure there's more ‘than enough so you won'trrun out halfway through. Then once your brush is pre-loaded with the paint and ready to be sed, put it down, Next, using separate, clean brush, quickly lay down some clean water over the area inside the dotted line shown instep 1 Make sure the area is ‘thoroughly wet © Paint the sky Quickly pickup te fist brush and paint the blue sky above your cloud. Here, you're defining the top of your cloud, which will beard edged, Make sure you don't go down aslowas the clean water! Continue down both sides ofthe shape, eventually etting the paint touch the wet area atts base, Then ‘moyen tothe next step as quickly as you can! ‘Speed's of the essence! Draw your brush directly through the wetted area at the base ofthe cloud to Join up with the sides. Don't fuss or try ‘tomake things even. Ifyou've done it Quickly enough, the clear water may run down slightly randomly, creating ‘some ‘flow’ along the bottom edge. Relax and lett do ts thing. 4s Create the cloud 25How to paint shadows in watercolour while maintaining transparency SOMETIMES a fairly unremarkable subject can be transformed into an Interesting composition when there's, a strong contrast between light and shadow, asin this painting of an old rural building with the sun shining through the bougainvillea ldescribe how Iset about painting the patterns created by the shadows, » MARGARET MERRY BOD iness Soon Bag) erste t aoutn An Soa Herat Coluge ceartand erst Unersty Margret hasworkedar betapecainein atercrand paste She row pits npn. Pte pd ery Follow these steps. © Paint the base First, Imakea preliminary drawing that's fairly detailed, but omitting, the shadows ~ I'll paint these last. then eliminate most of the white of the paper with a transparent layer of Raw sienna and touches of Burnt sienna, When this base is completely dry. paint the door and the furniture, along with the leaves of the overhanging bougainvillea, leaving blank spaces for the flowers to be painted in later. © Darker shadows © Colour mi When Ive finished painting the first layers of my composition, | imix the grey with which lintend to paint the patterns cast by the shadows. This ‘mixture comprises Ultramarine blue, Alizarin crimson and Raw sienna and with it, by varying the amount of water and the pigments, a wide range of greys canbeachieved, Because|'m using the same pigments for the preliminary painting, I maintain the colour harmony. rm fascinated by old, rural buliings. especialy when they feature colourtul doors, such as this one. The intriguing patterns ofthe shadows were a bonus. © Make the shadows. Shadows need tobe painted rapidly andwith fluidity of paint. It they're overworked then the effect will be spoilt, which fs why | didn't draw them before | began applying the watercolour. The shadows on the walls of the building, are painted frst. allow plenty of clean water toflow into the pant while it's stil wet togive transparency. Notehow the pigments have separateditocreatea ‘more interesting Ipaint the darker shaclaws using the same techniqueas before. crawingthe patterns with single brushstrokes and againallowing clean water to flowintothe stit-wet paint. ‘The advantageof using a imited palette of basic pigmentsisthat you can apply extra layers without the base layer bleeding through, suchasin the shadow on the basket. Ipaintin the bougawvillea lowers with Operarose (Sennelie) as the frishing touch, 26Paint realistic copper effects PAINTING METAL EFFECTS is based ‘on the contrast of light and darkin dcition to environmental reflections, For this example, 'lltake an old copper _gass holder standing on a glass surface, ‘Any form is based on alternating tones: rmidtone-light-midtone-shadow: reflection. But copper also needs to include colour variations, made by ‘combining contrasts and adcitional colours. The most dificult partis tonot get lost inal of those details OLGA STERNYK Kyi, Ukraine Art graduate Olgahas Ilustrated several books, ard has exhibted inEurope. Havingexperimented wt ‘many mediums inher time, she curently works primarly inwatercolour © Add contrast © Layer one Now | add engraving, It ‘© Warm and cold © Get detailed COnthe first ayer! place should contrast toa Here! addwarmand Atthis point take my local colours forthe light part. That's why I paint cold tones. Copper is smallest brush and object and background. theengravingascoldand _—_fullofcolours~itvariesfrom paint thettiny details. tis separatelightfromshadow dark while thelocalcolour —_yellaw, orange, brown, important toassess the andleavethe highlights. if remains warm. But the green. coldgrey and blue, wholepainting again, lad paintaccidentallygetsintoz engraving should not be Highlights may be bright details and boost contrastin highiight, remove it with darker thanthe main white and shadows are the midtonesand shadows. somepaper towel. Afterthat, shadow. Shadows must almost black. Because of But don’t gettoo bogged Iwettheareaanddryitwith alwaysremaindarkerthan these variations, highlights down itisalsoimportantto the towel again. The local anycontraststoalight part. will be warm, midtones are __ignoreunnecessary details, colourfortheglassholderis Also, noengravingshouldbe cold, shadaws are warm, and _becauseit will makethe warm, the backgroundis cold. _visiblein the shadows, reflections are cold, painting more expressive,Createtexturein watercolour withaptastic croditcard LIVING SO NEAR to the wonderful coast of North Cornwall, there are always some interesting textures and ‘shapes to be found in the natural landscape. And | have the found the technique of creating rocks, cliffs and ‘waves using an old credit card (cut in half) to be invaluable. This method is bout TONY HOGAN Cornwall, UK Arts Tony also organises art holidays. Atterart colege, he fembarad ona careerin ‘commercial at. and returned topainting inthe 1970s. wor hoganart.co.uk 28 very effective with watercolours, but With alittle practice, arange of ‘was developed from experimenting with different tyoes of rocks ~ from rounded palette knife and olls backinthe 60s pebbles tothe sharp angles of Cornish atartcollege. slate ~are easily and quickly obtainable, As an artist who works with many like using an old credit card cut in hat, different media, thiscross-referencing _astprovidesa sharp corner, as wellas a oftechniquesis exciting andbringsnew softer one. givinga variety of options ways of achievingunexpected results. _ withthe final marks. ‘The clouds were scratched outusing the credit cards were the crashing waves and ifs paintedin the figures ter.rking fromlight to dark, I quickly pa one ontop of the other, wei wet. Make sure thetop layers dark (the darker its, the bette the result) - often luse indigoat this stage. Importantly, while the three paints are still wet, Igrip the creait cardfirmly and scratch into the surface, cutting back to earlier colours and highlights. © Different edges Here you can saehow I've developed these largerocks ona Cornish beach with justthe Credit card technique. Again, working quickly while th isstil wet, Iturnthe card offthecomers anduse the lat sideto catch thelower part ofthe rocks. In ave what is adelightulreflectionin a pool of water! © Using colours | create the cliffs andheadlands ina similar way, by painting. selection of atleast three colours from light to dark. However.here|'vekept the darks to the lower area, allowing the fresh greens of the headlandto be accentuated. My Selection of colours are determined ezch time by the view and ight on the day. 29Jennifer Branch shows you the secrets behind painting energised water and tealistic reflections in any situation I sinking water can sometimes | _) seem overntining, Water Za JENNIFER Paint still water first ‘moves constantly, so capturing Northwest Georgia, USA Start practising when the water is. moment without the aid of a Watercolour artist ae caimandreflectve, then ater you'l camera may appear impossible, elongisocherJennfer pe able to usethe techniques you develop Branch travels the world with her husband andtwo Sons, tofing nspration for But paintings can convey the constant ‘movement of waterin a way that photos here topaint any other type of water, from aging surt to rippling pond surface. All struggleto, 2s long as youhavea good hornet painting. ofthe wave anclwind action makes the surf ‘water-painting technique that ensures your paintingwatercolorcom seem far more complicated to paint, but pictures are as full of if as the real thing. the princplesare the same as or still wate The folowing top ten tips explain a few HH youlearn to paint reflections and subtle basic skills and techniques you can use ipples on that calm pond, acrashing wave {0 paint water that looks spontaneous atthe beach willbe easy topaint. Awaveis: and vibrant. Although luse watercolours, lusta very bigripple. afterall these tipsalso translate to the medium cof your choice. Practise en plein whenever you can, but you can work {rom photos when you needto. You can't paint the sare water twice, sinceit's ever-changing, Capturing the that movernentiswhat makes zing to paint. lloveto sit by alake or the ifferent ‘sketchbooks to capture these fle scenes. One sketch dries while the othersare in play. Take a photo before you start. so that if the ight changes you Can finish the last wash at home. ‘Water can be opaque. transparent ‘choppy or smooth, but you use t ‘same techniques for painting it. Follow these tips to make sure that ll of your water paintings are vibrant and ively. 30Notice colours Flatten distant water Water is only blue iitsreflecting ‘Water appears fatter as it grows blue! Look at the coloursin the ‘moredistant, nd horizontal ines reflected trees, sky andobjectsanduse can convey this latening ofthe water these colours as your palette for any surface and the shortening of reflections. water that's not whi ven the hull Use a few connecting horizontal dashes, of aboat or sky not seenin your painting to show thedistant water and reflections might stil be seen ina reflection. To from the shore or objects on its surface. connect the water andlandscape, pull —_Streamsand rivers also appear tofia thecolours romthereflectedobjects _ata distance. Almost the same strokes irectlyintothe water reflection, then you use for a reflected squiggl go back andsharpen the shoraline with inthe tip 2picture) can leok liken entire afew strokes of strong darks. river asit snakes away,Make reflections dull Light rays scatter onthe surface of the water, so a reflections never aperfect mirror. Therefore your palette of reflecting colours should be duller than the objects being reflected. Many artists continue thet first wash from the objects into the water, then finish by adding duller washes with ‘more movement on the surface of the water. Most bright whites in water are sunlight reflections. Darker colours usually ook lighter in reflections and, lighter colours darker, Add a touch of ‘complementary colour to your pigment to get very close to the colour, youneed Paint pointed Know your light ovals for waves Yourlight direction ina The shape of awavels scenewiltell you how anoval,curvedin hemiddle darko light the water looks. with sharp points on both ——_—Backlittrees willbe dark but ends,Usea pointedround _theirreflecton wilbe lighter. brushto paint waves. Alat_ Conversely, bright front brush gves yougreat broad ighting wil give you dar strokes, butit fais you onthe reflection onthe water. Th ponts.Startby paintngone light direction wil also pointof the ovalwith thetipof _youwhether the top othe thebrush,add morepressure bottom of the wave should fora broader stroke in the ribet ‘middle, then finish with the tip, ofthe brush. The ovals can be evenly distributed or skewed depending onthe windand your perspective. mes through a wave at the ‘angle. the wave acts as sing bright spots ‘onthe bottom, 32ns Drage lae haovenc ‘ai ‘of techniques fr pturing textured whites. | always white paper than | use arkling white you , but you cannever get the white per back. However, don tlimit yourself st one shade of white. Permanent whites, wax crayon press or tinted gouache in a pale you highlights on the Lifting pigment softens edges. Wait until your painting is dry. then use a damp rag to pull out pigment nile white water surface, Adjust texture Hot press paper fiehcolours and a smoo! forpaintin ona foggy day with no sparks of white rele brush strokes fr blurred edge ress paper gives you dul colours with reflected sparkles andtexture, perfect for the seashore with white reflections sur and rocks. Cold press pape fas between hot press and rough press. giving you ail texture andbeighter colours, which forre yeaceful pond ne with vibrantflowers reflecting RoughMargaret Merry demonstrates how to use watercolour to capture the charm of a summer garden, with its ephemeral light, shade and colour About MARGARET ‘Almeria, Spain Professional artist Margaret lvesinalmerain Spain She has attaining trom Falmouth [Art School Hornsey College ‘of Art andthe West of England College oft, ‘margaetmerryordpresscom Nee Margaret uses tubes of Schmincke ‘waterclour pans, She kes to painton ‘Actes 300gsm paper, approximately ‘ix Sin with afin surface stretched onto @ boar, Thisisher prefered paper because ‘he surface has justthe right amount of resistance to enhance the inherent ‘transparency and brilianca ofthe medium, Margaret uses synthetic round brushes. ince ancientimes, gardonshave been a source of inspiration for artists. However, they canbe ticky subjectsto tackle because wien the eye iscontronted by confusing aray of tone form and colour i's dificult know where ob The answer is ood composition, and the best way to compose agarden paintings to finda point of focus, such asan omament, achair or fountain Old, weathered walls are afavouriteof mine, For my demonstration, chose this quirky, painted sewing machine table, set against the plain background of awhite wal. The dappled light that shines through the trees casts some interesting shadows Forallmy work, luse a limited palette comprising: Ultramarine Blue; Cobalt Blue; Yellow Ochre; Raw Sienna: Burnt Sienna; Burnt Umber: Lemon Yellow, Alzarin Crimson; Cadmium Red. However, when painting flowers or similarly colourful subjects it'susetul to have one or twoextrapigments, such as the Brillant Opera Rose and Cobat Turquoise I've used in my painting Transparent pigments, notopaque ones, are best for painting flowers. Light san important consideration when painting gardens because itis constantly changing. painted this watercolour in strong afternoon light shadedby trees. For amore romantic effect, early morningis the best time because all the colours are softened. Greens the predominant colour ina {garden and to maintain colour harmony. | mix my own using my basic pigments. ODoa preliminary drawing With well-sharpened 2B pencils, Imake fairly detaled drawing of the composttion altering things don’ tike, such as the position of the chair. have included the cypress tree on the right and afew fronds of palm leaves because | lke the sense of enclosure they create, Use soft strokes for drawing and don't be ‘tempted touse an eraser because this willmar the surface of the paper. Know dools ‘When first began to pant wth watercolour |usodt msn tolay fat washes over pon and ink rawings or pen sketches: ni ay faiiied mysef with the medium and dovlopod my tacnique from thor.apply transparent wash of Cobalt Blue forthe sky, usinga synthetic size 12 brush, extendingitover the tree. Witha mix of Cobalt Blue, Yellow Ochre ‘and Rose Madder, | paint the shadows in ‘quick, bold strokes, softening hardlines with the brush loaded with clean water. | allow the water to separate the pigments, ‘to prevent the background from being. toouniform, 2 © Begin painting © Draw with ‘the brush Now that all the unnecessary white has been eliminated, can begin working con the main feature: the sewing machine table. Thisinvalves detail, so | continue Uusingimy size 2 brush, which has a fine point yet s large enough to hold reasonable ‘amount of water. luse Cobalt Blue with a touch of Cobalt Turquoise and | vary the tones by diluting the lighter parts with water. © Continue to apply background shadows I continue painting the shadowed ‘reas with my Cobalt mix and with a smaller synthetic brush (size6) carefully work around all the various ‘objects so that the paper remains white. Ipaint rapidly because! want tofinish this stage before the pigments dry. Lastly, lay a transparent wash of Raw ‘Sienna on the ground. © Finish the background When the Raw Sienna has dried, overpaintit with a mix of Uttramarine Blue, Raw Sienna and Alizarin Crimson, While the paper is still ‘wet, allow some touches of Burnt Sienna toflow into the grey, giving warmth to the foreground. Again Ilet the pigments ‘separate and! use my size2 brush to ‘quickly draw around the various objects before the paint dries.Thellttle metalwork chairis relatively simple to paint as it involves mostly drawing, For this luse my finest synthetic brush, size 0. The chairis painted black but I never use black pigment because it contaminates other pigments. | mix, san alternative, Ultramarine Blue with Burnt Umber. luse less water than before and with @ steady hand, draw the details. With the Ultramarine grey mix, laddmore shadow around and below the chair 7% Draw witha fine brush tarcclouris amediam best ‘suited to rapid spontaneous painting, find that spend ‘oolong on a work. inspiration ‘wanes and im ivarbly Alssotisid withthe result. 36 10 © Create form Tocreate form, Ipaint a second coat using my Ultramarine mix and, as before, my brushstrokes are curved to follow the shape of the pots. like the patterns cast by the shadows and sol make a feature ofthese, but stil keeping the paint very fluid to maintain transparency. | apply the same technique tothe red kettle andfinish by painting the decoration on the pots. and lamp_ Ireturn tomy sie 2 brush to paint the lamp and the flonerpots onthe wall inorder to avoid overworking ther, use plenty of clean water tosoften the outlines and give ust an impression of detail introduce more colour byadding Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Orange for the terracotta pot and the lamp, and Cadmium Red forthe decorationon the ceramic pot. pain the shadows on the pots with awatery grey, using circular brushstrokes for aroundedeffec. 8 © Paint the flowerpots © Work on the terracotta pots My method for tackling terracotta flowerpots isto paint a transparent base coatusing Cadmium Orange, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna, The shiny kettle has transparent coat ‘of Cadmium Red and where the light falls. 've left white patches. Before ‘continue with the second stage, I make sure the base coat is completely dry. 1 As was initially the case with the table, the lampand the pots look as though they're floating, This is fixed by adding shadows around and Underneath them. For this, luse the subtle Cobalt Blue mix with which | began painting the background. Again, I soften some of the hard lines with a brush loaded with clean water. 9 © Embed with shadows.© Paint flowers I give the flowers and the leaves the same treatment asthe pots. The frst task is applying a base coat. l use Cadmium Red, well- diluted, for the flowers and amix of Lemon Yellow and Ultramarine Blue for the leaves. The pink geraniums in the foreground are painted with Brillant Opera Rose mixed with ‘Cadmium Orange. | use two brushes, size 2andsize 4. © Add definition [begin with the leaves, adding atouch of Raw Sienna to the green mixture tomake it darker, Ihave to take care not to paint toomuch detail but, at the same time, | want to make a feature of theleaves. Knowing what to paint and what to leave out comes with experience! Again, the hard lines are softened with water and t's the latter, rather than the brush, that works to blend the greens into each other. Compositions 1 A Finish the flowers Ipaint the darker tones on the flowers as did with the leaves, using ust a hint of Ultramarine to define the shaded parts. When painting flowers, itcan be very easy tolose the freshness and transparency of the medium f they are overworked and for this reason, | keep the pigments as pure aspossible, bearingin mind thatit is, difficult torectify mistakes when painting flowers in watercolour. Legson learned! \Whon I ws anatstudent we once pont ‘nent session painting vertical stipesin ols using just Cobalt uo, Yolow Ochre and ‘Acatn Crimson. The pointes to demonstrate the wide ange of greys that wore possible usingjusthese colours and itsalbsson ve noverforgotten. © Complete it As the painting nears completion its time topaint the cypress tree and the palm fronds to forma trame. or these, | use my basic green mixture (Ultramarine Blue and Lemmon Yellow) darkened with Raw Siennaand Burnt Sienna. For thelightest areas, | drop pure Lemon Yellow into the wet paint and with afine brush, draw the pointed leaves, from base to tip, using aflicking movement. Afewlast touches of shadow complete the painting, 37Jem Bowden used photos, plus a large helping of artistic licence and traditional techniques, to create a harmonious, impressionistic landscape impressionistic ‘styl of watercolour, where details loss importantthan ‘sound composition, good atmosphere anda bitof verve and directness inthe panting process. Inthis way, | try to capture the overall sense of a place, at the sametimeas allowing the medium itself toshine. | paint outdoors - “en plein ir’ ~as often as possible, as like to interpret from life 38 with the influences ofthe weather, sounds and smells, and the compulsion towork quickly. Working from photos, however, allows for abit more reflection, with adifferent element of creativity and fun added to the process, Although this scene was sunny, there was a strong wind that would have blown over my easel, soinstead | walked allaround the scene, snapping it from differentangles, towards the light, away yor About JEM aristol UK Som pants anteaches arrears th osu onlendecapes He fies eonstaton rune ‘workshops, andtutorson residential painting hoidays. httpi/bit.yjembowden from the light. recording as many potential compositions as possible Taking alot of photos willgive you some facts about aplace. From this you ‘can take or leave whatever youneed to create apainting that will work on its own terms. Use “artistic licence’, to move or exclude items, change colours andso (on. t'safun process, and you'l see that even "bad" photos canbe usefulto you. Inthe stages follow, the brushwork Isdone swiftly, with regard for some important aspects of the photographic reference but not restricted by it.Don’t ‘worry about the result when painting, focus onthe process! Enjoying your painting brings good results,ee Materials Jom says worknginthe stu diferent ‘rom psintng outdoors, but these materials ‘sthistratona, impressions sty ‘Winsor & Newton Franch Utramario, Ligit Ped, ndian Red, Cobalt Trqucse, Cdiium Red, Cadmium Yolow Beckingford 2005 (NOT) per (8x28 om) ‘Seuialhair“wash brushes" gatfor covering age arees quickly and easy Mediunvtarge sz (14) synthetic brush with good point— idea fo accurate parting and fine ines Large plastic mixing palette Board and easel Soft pencil (88) Putty ubbor The photohasanice atmosphere, typical ofthe beachat Aldeburgh, | lke the composition in generalbecause it hhas depth. The eyeis ed into and around the sceneby a series of virtual zigzags, {rom foreground todistance. The sky is, interesting, and willbe fun to paint, There are some bright colours wecan makethe ‘mestof,and some things we can change. Have funwith “artistic leence” toimprove ‘on photos. Alter composition, contrast or colours, as necessary, tospice them up. S-_ 1 © The reference photo Idraw out ahorizon line with asoft ‘8B pencil, Having mixed plenty of paint for the sky colours, dive straightin First wash onsome Light Rednear the bottom inarandam fashion with the ‘medium mop brush. Using my largemop brush loaded with French Ultramarine, putinblue-siy sections. Imove the brush fast to cover paper, looking atthe photo forinspiration but not copyingit closely. Isthe general character we're airing for. 3 © The exciting sky! working sketch Fist, lcreated a small watercolour sketch. To lighten up the scene, tried out sunnier sky. 280 increased the sizeof the main boat, moved the cab baskets to the left, and added a couple of figures by the stant bot, to create more of focal point. also changed that boat to aderk ‘onesoit'stands out. Finally, putthe whole backgroundunder the shade of cloud. This could work, but the sky could contribute more. Let's gor t © Work fast with energy Being crefulto keep somewhite paper where sunis catching, | add inagreyish mixof Light Rec French Utra- marine and abitof indian Red (or variety) for shaded parts of clouds. This touches intothe blue-sky areas "wet aganst wet sothe two blendintosoft edges, Where the blue or grey meet whitepaper there arehard edges, Moving downwards work intothe Light Rec areas ifs, which ae silldamp giving mainly soft edges 39‘Thismix of edgesis key toan exciting watercolour technique. You need to work fast, so make sure to have plenty of paint mixed before starting It'sa ‘200d idea to practise ona small scale, on scraps of watercolour paper. | wanted couple of bold “dark against ight” clouds rear where the background boat willbe, to helo draw the eye. Somemarks may look alittle stark, but don't ever lose faith ina sky until youssee it with land added, 5 © The completed sky 40 6 © Sea and beach washes Idrawin the mainshapes of boats etc loosely in pencil. Next | add the s¢@,in a similar blue tothe sky and clouds, adding water to dilute the mix paler on the Tight llet this dry before | paint the beach, starting nthe stance and working down tothe foreground, using frst arixof Light, Red with a touch of blue, then pure Light Red towards the foreground. Before t's dry ladd in some darker patches, Indian ed with French Ultramarine, My techniques are very traditional, Using the white of the paper and the transparency of the medium to capture the light, Using the synthetic brush | take thicker mixes of paint to get darker tones, Tube paints are essential for ths. I's great fun using rally thick paint! Don't be afraid to go dark frst time. Watercolour looks fresher if you don’t overlay more washes than necessary to build up tone. 0. raieerors The shadow is painted inthe samewashasthe boat hull, so they look unified. Strong darks set ifthe lighter tones and put the background into its place. Other details on the boat and inthe background are done loosely, inas few brushstrokes as possible. 7 ©The main boat© Bits of stuff and background shadow Nest paintthepiein the foreground, not worrying aboutwhat itactualy is! What's importantis the brighteolours, which convey the notion offshing gear Iputina fst washfor the baskets onthe let, using fre, fast and random brushwork to suggest ther frm. Neat, a washof grey goes over the whole background area, putting it into shade to draw the eye with addedcontrast. 10 © Adding in detail Next lade marks that suggest detail ~ somedots, some dry brush marks (by dragging a brush quickly nits side), and abitof judicious spatter. Spattering is where you fing spots of paint from yourbrushby tapping it against your other hand while holeing over the paper. Less is more with this. di the line frorn theboat using the pointe tip ofthe syntheticbeush held high up the handle and swiped from the wrist. © Beach grasses and further stuff I move the beach grass section fromthe photo to where itbest balances the compostion inthe painting. Againit israndom shapes, allowing the key turquoise andorange colours tomix wth the greener. swipe a couple of ineer marks with a fingernal, This reveals the pale undertying paper anda be done inrelatively thick paint, when itis just beginning to dry. Giveit go! ' Tocomplete the scene | add a bit mor il Sarat Sa fora key bit of focal interest. When allis dry, lremovethe pencil lines witha putty rubber. loose by resisting details and keeping your eye on the bigger picture. Aim for fresh andPTK"™ watercolour Avisit to Derbyshire's Peak District provides Robert Brindley with the chance to paint a rural springtime scene filled with crisp light and colour pring isa wonderful and exciting ‘ime of year. As we move from the ‘cold, damp, and dll conditions ‘of winter, many artists feel the desire to venture outdoorsto paint the frech colours of the new season. However, many inexperienced painters return tothe studio disappointed by their efforts, Inmany cases, failure comes from their inability tosimpliy the subject matter and also toreduce the ‘overwhelming strength of colour. In this painting, The Bridge at Milldale, [hope to illustrate how clean, transparent colour can be controlled to producea more considered, sympathetic rendering of the British spring light. The importance of a solid drawing, ‘composition, colour and especialy the Use of tone willbe stressed, | was attracted immediately to this ‘subject for a number of reasons. The ‘mast obvious reason was for the quality cof the light and colour, which felt perfectly encapsulated spring. lalso felt that the composition was sound where the banks of the stream provided a gentle a2 Jeadin tothe focal point under the bridge. In my painting | decided to reinforce the focal point with the Introduction of two figures. Ilibe using the controlled wash ‘method for painting atmospheric watercolours, This method begins with anoverallloose and airy wet-into-wet application of colour. When dry, the tonal relationships from light to dark are developed, before adding the final darks and detail, Thereference photographs for this painting were taken on acrisp bright day inmid-Aprilona tripinto the Derbyshire Peak District to gather subject matter. {500 ROBERT Whitby. England ‘Asa member ofthe Royal Society of Marine Artist its Lnsurpisng that Robert loves toilustrate the igtin coastal andlandscape scenes. He ‘counts Venice as a favourite painting destination.Robert uses these colours because theyre perfectly suited replica the subtleties ofthe UKlandscape, Winsorand Newton (Professional Wator Colour ‘ange: Raw Siena, Aureoin, Burt Sienna, RawUbo, Cobalt Biv, Cerdean Utramarine Bue, Permanent Magenta and Cobalt Violet Peper: Arches (S00). Brushes: Escoda Perla (8 and 12).Pro ARTE Acyic(2 and) Pro ARTERigger (2) Masking id Water spray sor Toothbnush 2B pone A carefully considered drawing is essential to enable me to place the initial loose, wet-into-wet washes with confidence and accuracy, To preserve the most important lights and highlights, | use ‘masking fluid applied with a number 2 Pro ARTE Aecrylix brush, | always clean the brush thoroughly, immediately after use 1 © Start with a good initial sketch I prepare pure colour pools using the following: Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Violet and Raw Sienna, These three colours are the basic primaries on which the entire painting is based. In addition, the following colours are also prepared using mixes of Aureolin, Raw Sienna, Cobalt Violet, Burnt Sienna, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean, Permanent Magenta and Viridian, 2 © Prepare colour poolsSy e)alraielg | wet the entire surface and introduce the colours as quickly as possible from light to dark, The result is2 diffused wash. My aim is to place the colour accurately, hopefully replicating the ‘subtle colour and tonal changes inthe scene. allow ‘the colours to mix freely, whileat the same time use the pre-mixed colour poo's to adjust colour and tone as the washes are introduced. 3 © Doa diffused wash | develop the distant diffused trees behind the bridge using the same colour pools. | want to achieve ust the right levelof resolution, so that when the nearer, skeletal trees are painted, the background doesn't compete for attention. 4 © Paint the backdrop 45© Remove masking fluid to reveal the lights Now| emove the majority ofthe masking fui witha clean finger You should never attempt to remove masking ud until the paintings completly dry. then soften afew ofthe harsher edges left by the masking fd tomake thems in natural © Paint the water To ensure that the painting develops as whole, now turn my attention to depicting the ‘water, and introduce wet-into- ‘wet washes of Cerulean, ‘Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Violet and Permanent Magenta, | make aneffort toobserve allof the ‘subtle tonal changes that are present in the water. | purposely createa much darker area at the bottom of the painting = thishelps to push the viewer's eye further into the painting. 46 © Develop tonal relationships I start to develop the middle tonal relationships. Tone basically means how dark or light the colour is, and it's vital for the success of any painting. Without the correct evaluation of how darkor light any particular area of your penting isinrelation to surrounding reas, ‘everything wil fallapart. Tone is king Tone iskey to a successful painting, Colour, poede eae cae! See eeeenee Seanedteresporngon'wetSyelalarale4lg Ta Py ng i 4 Nothing is verlaatrom a successful painting that almost painted tslt Aways bo postive, asfarmore can b leamt fom your flues and mistakes. I start to paint the trees using mixes of Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Violet ‘and Raw Sienna, along with Viridian and Cobalt Violet that together make a ‘wonderful grey/green. Im careful not to ‘overdo the number of branches and ‘twigs in the painting - toomany would detract from the overall effect. also ‘employ a lost-and-found approach, which Ifeel gives amore convincing rendering, From time to time | compare thenumber of branches and twigsin the reference photograph to what's, developing in the painting, 8 © Paint the skeletal trees Osseses the end 10 © Add finishing touches and evaluate Iimoften asked whendo know «paintings finished Time to‘addthe fina ones and deals. Ths, for me's its pretty much agutfeling. At this stage Im aware that the most exiting stage ofthe painting. Homever ‘the finish isn’t too far away and that | must be careful not to without careful evaluation it can be the stage where everything ‘overwork the painting. To complete this stage workmoreon _canberuined. Alay tink wice before committing to any the skeletal trees and other detail together with giving mare adltion. The fine deta for ths painting luce smal twigs consideration tothe darker tones presentinthne bridge. the andfallerblades of grass. also paint the ducks introduce some banks ofthe stream and the cottage. datfois and acd two igures within the focal point a7aw fading flower Julia Trickey creates a translucent watercolour featuring minute detailAbowl JULIA F Bath, England Julia's botanical artist and tutorwholoves panting the detaland beauty ofnature. She's particularly drannto less-than perfect subjects, suchas auturnteaves seed eae and fading flowers. Jullatrickey.co.uk ‘orthis workshop sill adhere tothe basic principle of botanical art—to representmy subject accuratelyand indetail—but have chosen to capture itatthis fading stage forits aesthetic appeal. ve aso enlarged and cropped the {lower somewhat, to focusin onthe detail and to ‘ive the viewer diferent perspective. ‘When starting any new painting I'l think through the stages and techniques | need to accurately capture my subject's key natural characteristics. This may include looking at more complicated parts or textures of the plant, or having atrialrun Here, youll see how | work inlayers ‘of watercolour to capture the ight, ‘shadow and form of the petals, how touse masking fluid to deal with the arrangement of stamens inthe centre of the flower, and how to build up details towards the end of the painting process. Materials ‘Darel Smith Extra Fine Watercolours Fabriano Aristico HP 140tb extra white ‘watercolour paper (ld stock} 2ix21em ‘Jackson's One Pound Sable paintbrush, ‘s2e4(no longer avaliable) ing pen Drawing rib ‘SAAwhite masking fid Minute details Attroction Bofr yauevnickupa ene ake good lok at your subjoct Whatateacts youtot—coburtoxu, etait Tisiswhat yoursed to gotacrossioyourviowne lighting scheme By working from thereal plant material. as wellas Careful taken photographs, youcan keep checking structure and details your painting progresses. Set yur subject up lighting it fromone side (traditionally the left) to give yourselfa ‘00d range of lights and shacows little extra, optional backlight will help to emphasise the translucence nature the petals, 1f Establish your drawing Start witha carefully observed drawing, referring tothe photos that you've taken and the real flower Draw this on tracing or inexpensive paper — thisway you don't need to worry about making mistakes and spoiling the surace ofthe watercolour paper. Scaleup your subject ifyou ike © Transferring the drawing Totranster the drawing tothe watercolour paper! use _raphite transfer paper. This issandwiched between the drawing and the watercolour paper. and works just ike carbon paper. However, you may prefertouse a traditional lightbox and trace the image. or use abright windowinthe someway. 2 © Observational© Masking fluid Before starting to paint decide i any of your imageneeds masking out Masking Using rang pen or cawing mie TI ‘This means youcan protect esyoutrerenisien parts ofyour painting whe pee eees fetimieimnna — NOKOnDIaT pase Laeltae picture. Here, I've decided to Da mask out the stamens inthe. centre of the flower. ‘© Building up shape and form ‘Work on each peta, bulding up the form using wet-in-wet techniques. On subsequent layers carefully retrace your steps when applying the water toavoid developing a double edge to the shape, which would need correcting later. Add new colours and strengthen shadovis as needed. Compare the tonal value of each petal and then adjust them accordingly. 50 Working on one petal ata time, jm to create its form using wet- inswet watercolour techniques. Wet the area untilthoroughly and evenly wet. Wait for a surface sheen (rather than lots of surface water) before dabbing in X colour, adding stronger colours wher you see darks or shadows. Stop once the paper starts to dry, evenif you haven't quite finished. ¥ 5 © Wet-in-wet petals Ifyou don't manage to capture all the colour or form of, 2 petal in one wet-in-wet layer, don't worry. Botanical watercolours are built up over several layers andso youcan revisit areas as many times as needed. However, the absolute golden rules are never fiddle with drying paint, and allow each layer to dry completely before working on the next 7 2p 6 © Working in layersMinute details ‘The back of the anemone petals and stem have quite a hairy texture. These hairs canbe applied witha fine «drawing nib and masking fluid, This enables you to continue with wet-in-wet techniques over these areas, while ignoring thehairs for now. You'll see that the paper remains white where the hairs have been masked out BS Dealing with hairs ‘Now that you've got some shape and form on each petal, it's agoodttime to ook at the centre ofthe flower. Wash greys and other neutral colours over the maskedarea —tryto create some form on thecentral ‘mound’ and background colours behind the masked stamens and filaments, Youcan, also start defining some of the outer stamens, 9 © Tackling the flower centre © More stamens and filaments Once this first layer has driedyoucan use masking fluid again toadd more texture to the central mound and to further define stamens and filaments. In this way ‘youcan create a realistic layered Took; Paint over the area again with, stronger greys. Remember to constantly refer to your photos or the Fealfiower under amagrifying Blass.Worth the risk ‘Thefisttime exited asetofrgrthen- ite fade owe pantngs was aal-iting xpronce wasitsxrshow they woudbo recived Homer he jue ve them and thay wore awarded a oldmada Satimesits worth taking ask © Adding detail While thecentreof the flower ising, youcan startadding detalltothepetals, This done with small amounts of stronger painton the brush, The vein ae then drawn on, following the undulations ofthe petal. Don't ake these marks too strong initaly because they need to bend into the backround. You canstrengthen them lateras you see fit ] 2 © Back to the middle Once youre happy withthe depth of colour behind the masked stamens and this area is ‘thoroughly dry, youcan remove the masking fluid, Rub it off carefully witha clean finger. The white shapes left by the masking fluid will seem quite stark and willed refining. Start this by washing greys and beiges over the white shapes, 52. © Refine the centre The centre ofthe flower is where theeyeis drawn to, so take time studying the detail before attempting torecreateit, ‘onyour painting. Consider each shape and decice it's darker or ighter ‘than the one next tot. yourind this too complicated, focus on getting, ‘the main stamens right, then hint at the ones behind,Minute details tones and detail ‘Continue to buildup the detail ‘on each petal and the flower's centre. Look at your picture at arm's length ‘every now and again, or in amirror, to check the overall balance, It's fine to wash colour aver the detail if you need toeither soften the detallorto ‘strengthen areas of the painting. © Balancing the fl woe Cee oe Aeetecn— ee sd Abigail McDougall shares her passion for using the fluidity of watercolour to describe an atmospheric waterscape at sunsetABIGAIL Bristol. England Growing upinttaly, Canada ‘and Dorset, Abigat has alvays been inspired by the beauty of thelandscape. Watercolours her favourite medium and she 's focusing more and more on painting water scenes. ‘www abigalimedougall.com amgeing talk aout ight one, colour and creating interesting busstokes. always loveto paint outioors whenever an, especialy tdawmor dusk. Te ight ctangesfas.soyoukavetoleamto work ‘icky and spontaneous, Jam alwayscout on my bike locking for subjectmatterto paint treat itasan adventure. take sketches, colour studies and photos to make sure Ihave enough referenceincase went to make larger paintngin the studio. Choosinga subject matter at these extreme times of day means that Ihave thebest chance of creating an atmospheric and relaxing landscape laways work romlight io dark tokeep the colours fresh and avoid smudges. also try and use transparent colours whenever possible Youcan check on the watercolour tube whether itisa transparent or opaque colour The more transparent colours youuse, thebetter thechance of keeping the luminosity of the white paper shining through Painting at dusk means also having afew pinky or pastel shades, |tryandlook forthe colour naturally presentin thescene 55,a0 ela use a very light yellow shade ~ ‘amixoof Naples Yellow and Lemon Yellow (Nickel Titanate) to draw out the main ines of the composition, These will disappear as the painting progresses. like to keep the painting quite spontaneous-looking, without detailed drawn pencil lines showing through. | Use quite loose brushwork togive me an idea of where the main objects ae. ik Draw with paint 56 © Bright areas Asit'sdusk, there aren't soingto be any white details in the picture, the lightest ‘areas are going tobe light yellow fr light blue. fil in the sky, background and the reflection of ‘the sky inlight yellow. Idor'tuse masking fluid: lam careful to preserve the lighter details as ‘work, $01 start marking them outWaterscapes © Block in light areas I block in the lighter details: the light facades of buildings, lighter areas of, detail, or bright areas of detail,such as the red chimney tops. | use fairly diluted colour hues — light blues, ight pinks, yellows and reds where necessary. | always try and use transparent colours rather than the more opaque ones so as to preserve the luminosity ofthe white paper shining through. Lastern delight ‘Watercolour is the perfect medium to paint (tod acon fe aia mesma ie brushstrokes and alow me tahave enaugh _watoron tho brush paint id. © Blend background Ibiockin the background: the Clifton houses, trees, the bridge and the hill ofthe Ashton Courtestate |use a tone that is not much darker than the sky because! want ito look hazy {use a combination of very dlisted colours blue, och, re6,neutra tnt. Iietthembleed into each ather to create ahazy yet colourtul effect 37© Fill in mid-tones se blocks of colour tofillin some of the main areas of the ‘mid-tones. | dor't work with dark colour yet, as 'm saving that for the fend, At this point | use blues, purples, reds and browns. | paint the main buildings and boats, and the main areas of the reflections. lalso start to define where the darker objects will bee, usinga lighter shade than the final colour. AV inspiredion Ines hn yao rar ee one ‘ts delightful to fick through these when fered repepersetiary ‘painting to keep my concentration, © Define deeper tones Idefine some of the slightly darker and deeper areas of colour bringingin ultramarine, cobalt, deeper reds and browns, indigo and turquoise Itis tricky to paint lights next to darks, they will inevitably smear, £0 1am careful that! have already painted inthe lighter ‘objects that the deeper colours will touch, and that these objects are dy. © Create reflections After checking that all the Ighter ~areas of colour in the water have been filled in, start painting the mid tones in the water, | work with the fluidity of the water on the brush to create fluid ‘gestural marks in the water area. The Chinese brush helps me create different kinds of brushstrokes, using the tip of the brush and the middle.iin the darker areas: the shadows on the boats and the dark details on the houses and start painting the darker details, suchas windows and doors. | use the tipof the brush for fine details, such as the masts. © Finishing touches Using ight shades of blue purple and ochre, I suggest some of the windows and details in the background buildings. luse fluid brushstrokes to paint the squigely reflections of masts, water patterns and details in the water, between the reflected objects and the shy. | lay darker patches t the bottom of the water and top of the sky to help contain the image © Blend gradients Iwork with blending, wet-on-wet creating some gradient tones from dark tolight, especialy inthe water areas or in particularly dark areas. I make the shadows between the boats andreflections by laying down a stripof dark colour and then using clean water (not too much) tobiendit into the Bottom (reflection) area, also use this technique for creating the graded shadows onthe buildings On the flip side! | was pining alarge piece cutdoorson a February ‘moring and my paper and board was onthe groundon rmypieric mat, Abouttwo hoursin, avery large, very muy dog eae and rare cverthe whl piel sat ‘thorefor afew minutos bewidered and depctad before decing otuthe per over ad start again, Itdertake metooleng got backtoit andthe paintngis one of myfavouriteshe play flight rom flames, ‘the mystery of shadows, and the elections of fire on ‘transfixed faces arethe main goals ofthis masterelass. Composition is the most important WATCH, part ofa painting. Here, my picture is THE VIDEO. composed of location, people. big areas aa oflight and shadow, and the play of Om contrasts, Myaimis to focus the attention ofthe viewer ontotthe faces, of the people and the light ofthe fre. The rest of the painting willonly be detailed slightly to portray the cold surroundings. The fireside is the main focal point of the composition, with the family being the secondary focal point The candies will create small additional light sources and reflect onto the wooden floor to create sense of warmth, Because | usually paint from nature. {don't use photos in most cases. Butif there's something special or specific that want to create, | willuse a reference photo. Also, when | paint flowers, trees or landscapes, | don't usually make apeneil sketch, However, in scenes with people, proportion s very important, so, when! paint figures, l usually make a sketch first I've used. few photos here. First, Ihave a photo of the famiy near the fireplace, a separate photo of a fireplace that | preterred, and lastly 2 separate detailed photo of fie. If you feel that any details in your reference photo are unnecessary, then feel free toignore them. 20 OLGA Kyiv, Ukraine Artgraduate Oigahas ltustated several books, and hasexhibited in Europe. Having experimentedwith ‘mary mediums, she row ‘works mainly in watercolour wnwsternykcomeRe) ‘oPhoto finish Oiga ignores ary detallsin the photos that could disturb the ompositionaf the panting First, attach my paper to the board with ‘masking tape. Ifyou like, you can grid up your photo, but I prefer measuring by eye. Isketch the fireplace, then find the correct place for the family. Icheck the proportions of the figures, especially the girl, whos on a front plane. Ican now move on tothe additional details. (ga recommends springy static bushes as thoy aro good for wet-n-wo painting, A They make sold stokes and are easy to wash out She ses round brushes with , A. Sf ‘thin tip and a wide base for 7 ae cestadPes GA er a Aur smbelic brushes Found Chinese calgraphic brash Winsor & Newton ‘Cotman Water Colours ] © Start sketching© Prepare the palette and paper "place my paints ona plastic palette f they get dry. wet them with water froma smal spray bottle, The same goes for the paints in pans. then ‘wet my paper onboth sides and placeit flatonto some glass. It wlsit tight until gets dry. Once dry. wet the edges of paper from the back. © Painting shadows {apply the main colour to create the shadows. Thepaperis wet so the paint behaves very nicely - colour flows inevery direction creating great shapes! This wet-or-wet technique looks good when paper has natural tom edges. “This is why Idont tape the paper down at this stag. n case it damages my rice natural edges. lt easiortospotmistatesin ‘your work it you take few stops back omit You ean ‘so tum he picture upside dn, look atithrough the . screen of your phone or even lookthrough sunglasses! © Adding colour It'srow time toaddin the main areas of tone. Here, the intention is tosplitshadow and ight. Because the paper i still very wet, the paints flowing nicely, We are now starting toget a lovely strong sense of the scene. © Fixing mistakes With this technique it’s easy to remove unnecessary paint while things are stil wet. squeeze out any excess water from my brush with my fingers, thenuse the brush to absorb any unwanted panton the paper Youcan also usea lean wet sponge or paper towelNowits time topaint the fre. White paper will ahvays be brighter than ‘any paint, so loftenuseitto show the brightest spots, such as the fire here. t requires some planning to keep these spots clean from the beginning. Icreate the flame as a gradient starting with white Paper, then Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Light Red, Sepia, and Payne's Grey paint in that order. 6 © The fire is white! eRe) Get some airtime Pein painting sessions are grat orinspraton. Event You dn’ fel siled encugh, fresh ai, your desir to paint anda flask oftea will give you ltof post, You right forget to packyour bestbrush but dorforget yourbest oa © Working on 7 ses Wet on wet works great {or shadows oo. To adddepth totheroom Ipainteolé shadows tocreate an opposite tothe warm orange lames | use amixof Indigo and Payne's Grey. tgvesa huge contrast and ihe fre looks mmuchbrighter lead ifthe paper becomes cry at the edge, justwet it again using the water spray.© Christmas tree Ipaint the tree and add tiny reflections inthe window onthe lft, use wet-on-wet forthe branches and remove the dark paint toformthe baubles, using apiece of paper towel. There's noneed toaddintricate details so close to theborder of painting, asitwill only distract the viewer fromthe centre of ‘composition - rough spots for the baubles are enough. self ‘Nomatter how siled you ag its nomaltohave doubts about your work. yeu practise enough and assess your work youwonteven, notice yourtrension from amateur pro. Ever pining helps youblossom,Dorttry to paintbaterthan anathor att, tr toimprove on how you painted yesterday innew tones. First addlight tothe faces. Becauseit is produced by fire, Ise very warm tones of re, orange, yellow. Theseare the same colours asthe textured rug, which I paint witha very thin brush. White paper plus orange fur gives usa white rugiiluminated by direct fre © More detail Icannowstartadding 64.© Flattening 1 1 the painting The paper becomes more wrirkledasit cries, rmakingitunsutable for framing. So,|wetthebackof the painting witha spongeand leaveitfor 15-20 minutes. then spray itwith water until becomes flatter. can niow removeany excess water with paper towel. After, place the painting between clean cloth and covert wth hardboard Iplace some heavy books on toptoactasa weight. © Detail |) fegana" reflections ladded the candles when! painted the fire,sonow I just ‘need to refine them to include the reflection | also add small details and workon the firea bit more, By now. Im painting ‘ondry paper. which makes it easier fr detaling.luse my smallest brush here. My paintingis now done! bat © Ready to frame eave the panting under the books fora hole day,thenremove it. tisrow ry lat and ready for framing! 6sCapture movement witty loose brushstrokes Alex Egan uses her watercolours with the lightest of touches, as she gives depth to a scene featuring koi carp ALEX Norwich, England ‘lex tudledtine art at Bristol, She loves to paint animal, butshe's also inspired ty subjects of beauty nthe natural weld particularly ‘woes, which she considers to bebeings in their oumright wowalexegan.couk ‘atercolous ae my medium of hoice when {paint animals. The {idty ofthe painthelps togivearealsenseot movement and vitality. ‘This particulary applies when painting koi carp. villustrated these beautiulfsha number oftimes andi’ crucial togetthe te Materials ‘composition right They need toflow down the page and it's very dtferentfrom doing, say, a Timusingaligtwoightwatorclou paper Landscape, which has clearer guidlines asto “i thathasa totter buts rough. where the horizon goes for example Itsan Al smshectcutin fall because the {usually startby sketching afew fil megoista bo aprosnaisy 46Gon. __ideas. to see which looks most pleasing. dampen the paper witha ft spray of Vlalso tidy up my work surface, sothat wot andthen stick tino a bos using Ihave clean palettes and plenty of water ~ untae to stretch the papa avays tohand. Once start painting nave to — sotdhthepoperwhonusingwatacslour work fairly quickly otherwise the paint SD vert te panttncty compiatly such SED vecrcstrtrisesertetiidiwing asthe dackground, Ths is when youcan trefecou:hertosinetreslerand _planthe ned step andwhat coburs end . @) Ca ones ike to use arigger brush for deta brushes tohave ready, because Rwenkes whenitgetswet butit can dry and leave amark Im not happy itsheen stetched tl avays ry at. My with, However, there are times when youTutorials © Prepare the paper Fot& loose I cut four strips of gum tape (available in art shops) to size so they'llbe ready touse. Then ike to start with big broad I prepare the watercolour paperby spraying it brushes sothatl dorithave _lightly on both sides (|usea house plant sprayer toomuchcontolseasyto but any well washed out kitchen cleaner or similar verworkthngssoTveleemt spray bottle willdo). Youneed to havea wet sponge tostarta pining veryloosey or cloth ready to wet the gum tape and then apply to develop sricefeeing of quickly to each edge ofthe paper, tostretchitona movement particulary when board. Avoid getting creases down the edges, and pacing carp. note that it look wrinkly while it's still wet © Start sketching Lusually make afew sketchy Grawings to work up the bigger ‘one from. Once the paper has dried Hightly sketch out the final design from my small drawings,© Paint the background Iprepare two colours ~ Prussian Blue and Sepia ~in small dishes, by adding water to each colour to create a very diluted mix. then start painting with some big, broad brushes, using kitchen paper to patoff any excess. | work quickly at this stage and don't worry too much about going. over the edges ofthe fish, which I'm leaving white {or now, While the background paintis still wet, lusea combination of wet and dry brushes to create ripples and watery reflections. | avoid ‘making the water too detailed because I don't want this todetract from the fish. Ithen let the paper dry with a small pug to guard it © Starting on the fish {fm using a limited palette for the koi carp: ‘Winsor Lerion Yellow, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Vermilion and Payne's Gray. I block in fairly diluted colours on each of the fish usinga smaller flat brush and a smallish round sable brush,© Adding depth and shading Tim constantly applying more layers of paint tobuld unthe depth ofcolour. This gives more himinosity tothe final painting, but youl need toletitdry between layers. Istartaddinglight shading to give the fish shape, using dilated applications of Payne's Gray © Putting back the pencil detail Inotice that I've lost quite abit ofthe original sketch from the wet paint, sol decide to add more detail back using 2 soluble pencil tohelp guide me and firm up some ofthe outlines. © Tricks of the trade ‘Sometimes when working quickly, Ihave a clean brush standing by to take offexcess paint that 've put dawn with another brush Watercolour can be unpredictable to work with solve taught myselt afew ways to deal with this Unruly medium. Kitchen paper is useful for dabbing offexcess paint, but this need to bedone with care because it canleave unwanted marks, 70© Standing back © Adding more depth At points throughout the painting to the backgroun it’sagood idea topause and take a {mix up adarker solution of the paint stepback, Thisisalitte tricky totime using the same colours originally used for the recent care bck roma ‘when using watercolour, but when feel background along with some Payne's Gray. [use wonder to Japan and thatl've more oresstinished,|stopand big brushes to cover the area quickly, and then Unanagedto ses many ter take.a good look atmy work. Idecide the smaller brushes for the fiddly bits around the edges increible sights including backgroundneeds tobedarkertomake ofthe ish. Spraying areas ofthe wet paint withthe _quteafewkoicarpin the ish stand out more water bottle creates a pleasing droplet effec. ‘mame gardens so ‘saw sometattional and anc Janes paintings of thefishinoe ofthe museums ‘in Tokyo. Ifind them very inspirational when fm Jacking ides and eong ‘lespondent about on ‘wok Soin some gina. sights my mood and | come away freshiy inspired and oen get ong ein 10 © Finishing touches I mix some white gouache paint to add highlights to the fish and use amedium-size brush to applya few white spatter marks, which creates movementinthe painting. I's time to stop — I feel the painting would become overworkedif Ido any more to it ltsnot always easy toknow when to finish, but ‘less is more’, and experience and practice enables me to know when thetimeisrighta 6, ght ro Cull MOVULDUS Margaret Merry demonstrates how to produce a simple architectural landscape using the clean, vibrant colours that give watercolour its charm Materials ‘Margaretuses tubes of Sohmincke ‘She kes to paint on Arches 300gsm paper witha ie surface, which she prefers as "the surface has the right amount of resistancoto enhance the transparency and brliance ofthe watercolour”, bis workshop shows how a wi 1nge of colours canbe produced {rom a limited palette. This gives ‘colour harmony tothe finished picture and avoids muddy colours resulting from the use oftoo many pigments. I never use black or synthetic greys as they contain pigment that can easily contaminate the purity of the other colours. I'salesson Ilearnt when frst experimented with the medium. It's important to understand how to mix your own greys and greens, and | shall demonstrate this as the painting proceeds. | shallalso talk about the most important component af watercolour painting: water. Before starting, make sure youhave several containers of clean water to hand. 1 7 ‘and keep the water you use to rinse your brushes separate from the water you paint with. On the subject of brushes, although Ihavesable brushes that | keep for best! Imostly work with ‘synthetic brushes, which are cheap ‘enough to replace as soonas they begin tolose their points. ke the flexibility of these brushes and they are particularly .200d for drawing in watercolour, as 'llbe doing in this architectural landscape. Because | wrk on a fairly small scale, my brushes are also small the largest beingro.12, which luse mostly for skies. Ihave experimented with various brands of watercolour andhave decided that the Schmincke range of pigments suits my work best. find ‘tubes are better for working inthe studio, while paintboxes containing little pans of pigment are better suited for ‘sketching outdoors. Watercolour can bea difficult medium andit takes years of practice to become an expert I's ‘worth the perseverance, though, and Hoveit for its ability to perfectly capture light and mood with just a few, rapid brushstrokes. 500) MARGARET Ameria, Spain Profesional artist Margaret Ives in Almeriain Spain. She has art training rom Falmouth ‘nt School, Hornsey Cologe ‘of Artand the West of England Colegeof rt, rmargaretmorryswordpress.com