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| | Article 3: Watercolour Hints and Tips - Parts 3 and 4.
WATERCOLOUR WORDS
Part Three.
Starting a new picture.
FIRST STEPS.
The initial setup has been discussed in the previous parts of
these notes. Now we assume that the decisions about the subject, how it
is to be painted, and the practical details regarding the  type
of paper and its mounting, have already been made. For the purpose of
discussion here, I will be showing the progress with a smallish landscape, on
12" by 16" 140 pound blocked cold pressed paper. Because the
paper is blocked, no stretching, taping or stapling is required. The
outer edges are masked however, to give a white border for the finished work,
as shown in the illustration on the right.
The initial drawing has been made, using a medium-soft HB
pencil lightly, to lay out the principle parts of the picture. This
particular picture is based upon a site close to my home, where the developer
has not yet encroached upon the raw landscape. I was passing by on a
frosty morning, and my imagination was captured by the rising sun struggling
through the tops of mist enshrouded trees. Fortunately, my camera was
handy for a record shot, which subsequently became woven into the fabric of
this picture. Some slight re-adjustment of the contents, and the
addition of the figures produced a pleasing balance of mass and colours.
I have no compunction about using photographs as reference material in my
work. Field notes and rough sketches usually augment what the camera
sees. The final assembly of parts into a satisfactory layout is
essentially a studio function as far as I am concerned. Blessed are they
who can complete a painting on site and outdoors; I shall never be one of
them.
Before the actual painting gets under way, it's as well to
work out a simple plan of campaign. For example, although  it
is logical to start at the top of the picture and work down, particularly when
painting a landscape, there is no rule to say that it must be done that
way. If a sky is to be the background, then that is a good place to
start. But before that can happen, there is usually some masking to be
done, so that the sky-coloured washes are kept away from places that need to
be light to white, or another colour that a sky wash would spoil. For
small areas, masking fluid would be used, and rubbed off after it has done its
work. (An old, non-critical brush should be kept for masking fluid, as
it may easily get damaged. Before dipping the brush in the fluid, dampen
the hairs with a slightly soapy solution of water. This makes it easier
to remove the drying and probably hardening fluid as soon as the masking is
finished.) Highlights on tree trunks and branches are typical exampled
of places that should be masked. Also, I may finish-paint some items in
the picture first, and mask them before the surroundings are painted. In
the picture that we are using for reference here, I painted the dog first, so
that applying masking protected the featured item from encroachment of nearby
colours and washes. Some edges on the foreground rocks and other items
were protected with masking fluid as well, to retain sharp edges in the
finished work. In some cases, large areas of a picture may need to be
masked, and in such cases, masking tape can be cut to fit to save the cost of
masking fluid. The trunks of the trees in the "Huttonville"
pictures in the gallery section of this Showcase are examples in point of this
technique. When using tape on the picture, be sure to press the edges
down firmly, or paint may slip underneath. The rougher the texture of
the paper, the more likely this is to happen. And don't leave the tape
on the paper for more than a few days if possible, as it may become
permanently attached.
WASHES.
One of the most fundamental and convenient features of
painting in watercolour, is the ability to cover large areas of the paper with
a transparent colour. This may be a single colour across the whole
surface, or a blend of colours. Skies usually require this sort of
treatment. Depending upon the painter's style, portraits may also be
candidates for this technique, although obviously on a smaller
scale.
Various authorities on the subject offer different opinions as
to how washes should be applied. Some insist that no more than a total
of three layers of wash should be applied one over the other, in order to
avoid a "muddy" result. Conversely, other experts maintain
that the best results are obtained with a large number of very thin washes,
carefully graded to produce subtle, soft textures. Examples of the
latter technique may be found at Conrad Mieschke's Web site, accessible from
the "Links" section of this Showcase. Whichever method is
used, it is usually necessary to let each layer dry before applying the next,
otherwise a succeeding layer may loosen the one beneath it, perhaps causing a
blotchy effect. A hair dryer, used cautiously, works well to hasten the
drying. The exception to intermediate drying would be wet-in-wet washes,
where different strengths of colour, or indeed different colours, may be
washed into one another for a particular effect, as in skies. There will
be more to say about painting skies later. But as with most other
aspects of painting, satisfactory results can only be obtained by working at
it.
POTS, PANS AND DISHES.
This is the part of watercolour painting where improvisation
from domestic sources pays off. There are plenty of water trays, paint
pots and other mundane items available from the artists' supply houses.
Some are quite useful. Others can be a nuisance. The lightweight
plastic trays with indents for mixing colours fall into the latter
category. Unless they are anchored to the desktop or tabletop with
adhesive tape, they slip away from the brush as soon as it gets close.
The results can be quite messy. The half-pan watercolours that I use
have their bottoms taped to the inside of their box.
For mixing colours and washes, I prefer white ceramic dishes.
They stack nicely when not in use, and remain where they are supposed to when
doing their duty. They wash out quickly and easily when the contents are
no longer needed, or just become too filthy. A pile of them can just be
seen behind the drawing board in the picture above and on the left. Old
jam jars work well enough as water containers. An old spray bottle, well
and truly washed to remove any trace of the original contents, will be very
useful for wetting large areas of the paper, and for keeping it wet when
necessary for wet-in-wet applications. A roll of paper towelling will be
useful for more than just mopping up messes. For water, I am probably
overly fastidious, but I prefer to use some that has been filtered - just in
case.
LIGHTING.
Not everybody has control over the lighting in which a
painting will be produced or finally viewed. It is perhaps as well to
reflect upon the conditions under which the old masters painted, to accomplish
results that we are privileged to enjoy today. If they were lucky, they
had studios with north light during the day, but at night, they were committed
to using candles or oil lamps, or to not paint until daylight returned.
Nowadays, those of us with the opportunity to do so, will be able to choose
from an extensive range of light sources and fixtures. Like the old
masters, we may need to adjust our palettes, or the colours we appear
to be using, in order that the finished work will look right under the
lighting conditions in which it will eventually be seen. If the final
viewing conditions are unknown when the painting is being made, it is best to
assume that it will be seen in some sort of daylight. I have noticed
some masterful works where the colour balance appeared to be entirely wrong
because they were hung in poor or inappropriate lighting. Hotel corridors
can be typical culprits in this respect.
In the absence of any daylight at all, my basement studio
space has 'daylight' fluorescent background lighting, with mobile lamps of a
warmer colour for fill-in and local emphasis where required. The
florescent lamps do not have a full spectrum of colour at the 'warm' end, and
I must be careful not to overcompensate the reds for that reason.
The human brain is remarkably adept at converting what the eye
sees into what it thinks it should see. Consequently, a wide
range of variable lighting conditions on a subject may be interpreted as
"normal". However, variations from what the brain considers
normalcy in a painting may not be so readily accepted. When I was
studying engineering, our Theory of Structures lecturer's philosophy was;
"If it looks right, it is right". In time,
experience taught me that he would have been more accurate to say; "If it
looks right, it may very well be right". The same
applies to art work.
Paint what you see, not what you
think you see.
Z
"Frosty Morn."
PLANNING.
As the lighting for this picture is contre jour, the
initial approach will be slightly different from normal. Whereas the
light source for the more usual landscape is behind the viewer, in this case
it is right in the picture, toward the top left. The illumination of the
subject is completely suffused by the mist, but nevertheless, the illusion of
depth must be maintained by juxtaposition of contrasting elements, and this
will require falsifying some of the features of the original scene. But
that is why we paint pictures, instead of settling for photographs. When
it looks right, it will be right.
As the viewer's brain will expect to see some blue in the sky,
we can introduce a little in the top right hand corner, and blend it into the
mist. This, by creating a contrast, will also serve to emphasize the
brilliance of the light source.
To be continued . . .
    
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