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How To
December 2011 Mike Neilson – Bold, Sensitive and Versitile
November 2011 Demonstration: “Brass With Blue Flow”
October 2011 Drawing Inside Out
September 2011 Composing and Decomposing
July 2011 A Different Perspective - Rusty Jones
June 2011 Fundamental Lesson Pt. 2
May 2011 Fundamental Lesson Pt. 1
April 2011 Too Loose Lautrec?
March 2011 Interconectedness
February 2011 Aerial Perspective Pt. 2
January 2011 Aerial Perspective
December 2010 Beyond the Boundries
September 2010 Painting the Plan
July & August 2010
"Trees" Part One - Part Two
June 2010 "Structures in Oil"
May 2010 "Structures"
April 2010 "One of a Kind"
March 2010 "Nocturnes"
February 2010 "Let it Snow"
January 2010 Sweet Mystery: Part Two
December 2009 Sweet Mystery: Part One
November 2009 Organizing Chaos
October 2009 Saving the Best for Last
September 2009 Letting the Paint Work for You
August 2009 Watercolor: Teaching the Unteachable
June 2009 "Sketchbooks"
April 2009 "East Meets West"
Feb 2009 “Establishing a Focal Point”
Jan 2009 “Craftsmanship”
Dec 2008 “Another Approach”
Nov 2008 “The Incidence of Angle”
Oct 2008 “Back to the Basics”
Sept 2008 “As Clear as Mud”
Aug 2008 “Compartmentalizing Your Washes”
June 2008 “Lemons to Lemonade”
May 2008 “Las Flores de la Mancha”
March 2008 “Narrative Painting”
Art of the Sketchbook
June 2009 "Sketchbooks"
Musings
August 2011 Conversion of a Purist
April 2010 "One of a Kind"
April 2008 “Who’s Responsible?”
The Business of Art
November 2010 Marketing For Artists Part 2: Web Based Marketing
October 2010 Marketing For Artists Part One
Oct. & Nov 2010
Marketing for Artists
Part 1 Part 2
Art History
March 2010 "Nocturnes"
July 2008 “En Plein Air Painting – Then and Now”
Feb. 2008 “Harvey Dunn and Dean Cornwell – Some insights into their working methods”
Jan 2008 “The Golden Age of Illustration”
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June 2007 - Giving Yourself an Edge
“Someone once said that watercolorists and pilots have much in common:
They’re flying on their own and nothing can help them but their thorough knowledge of the mechanics of their craft”.
John Pike (1911-1979)
Considering all the things that can go wrong when painting a watercolor, it’s a wonder that they ever work out. I find this especially true when I’m painting on location. Because of the sun, the heat, the wind and the bugs, I generally use a direct approach that is, in some ways, more akin to painting an oil painting.
I know that the drying time will be minimal. So rather than trying to work large areas, I tend to compartmentalize the areas of the painting. I work a smaller area, charging in pigment and orchestrating the paint flow until I have an area that is the right value and has interesting gradations (light to dark, warm to cool etc.). One drawback of this approach is that I have to make certain that the area I’m working in will relate appropriately with all the other areas of the painting. This takes a lot of practice, and even then it’s a risky proposition.
Sometimes the subject can also be visually confusing, and I’m forced to do some advanced planning. That’s when I pull out the pad and make a value study.
These small black and white studies help me preview my light, dark and middle values. They also give me an advanced look at my overall design. In short, they provide me with a roadmap that I can follow when I’m working on the color painting.
These black and white value studies can also be of great assistance when planning a large, finished studio work. I don’t always find the need to do a value study, but over the years I’ve learned enough to know when I need some help.
So, if you occasionally struggle with painting the right value in the right spot, this may be a technique that gives you the edge you need to execute that masterpiece.
I’ve included four value studies and the accompanying sketches to give you an example:
These first two black and white studies were executed with Tombow Dual Brush/Pens. I use N25 and N35. Each pen has a flexible brush tip on one end, and a fine point nib on the other. You can draw with them and then dissolve them and manipulate them with a wet brush. Or you can draw with them right into a wet wash, or a combination of both.
For the two following black and white studies I chose Derwent water-soluble pencils No. HB, No. 4 and No. 8.
Both the Tombow Pen/Brushes and the Derwent water-soluble pencils also work well for sketching in cafes, restaurants and other venues that might not be suitable for full-color painting. They are a lot of fun and I hope that this will open up new avenues for exploration in your sketchbooks.
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