Painting Demonstration

Thank you very much to the Dublin Art Society for inviting me to give a painting demonstration at their monthly meet up.

In the following section I will document the demonstration I gave in a series of step-by-step photographs.

Here is a list of the materials I was used to create the painting of "Sun Moon and Stars".

Paper The Langton, Rough Grain, Watercolour Paper, 140lb/300gsm weight, Size 20" x 16" .

Brushes Pro Arte Series 100 (a mix of sable and nylon) sizes 18 and 10. I like to use the mix instead of pure sable as the brush has more spring and can take a lot more punishment! It will also last longer and keep its tip, especially when you are using a rough surface.

Paints Winsor and Newton and Daler/Rowney Artist's Watercolours. (The Daler paints are mentioned in brackets) in the following shades:

Aureolin Yellow
Cadmium Yellow
Cadmium Orange (D/R)
Quinacridone Gold
Transparent Turquoise (D/R)
Scarlet Lake
Permanent Rose
Perelyne Maroon
Venetian Red
Phthalo Green (in moderation)
Green Gold (D/R)
Prussian Blue (D/R) in moderation
Cobalt Blue
French Ultramarine

The main drawing was done using the Albrecht Durer, Aquarelle Crayons made by Faber-Castell. They come in a tin, aproximately 21cms x 18cms, and look like regular crayons. However, they disolve on application with water, and the colour is lightfast and translucent. They can be painted on to dry paper, and merged using a wet brush, or alternatively, they can be drawn into a wet wash, or dipped into water for dramatic effects. The use of these crayons gives you the freedom to both draw and paint in loose, large shapes. You can make very effective line drawings with them, or use them on their side (like a conventional pastel) to block in areas. Their effect adds impact and texture, and encourages the artist to draw with colour, rather than just fill in pencil-drawn shapes which can make the image a little stiff.

I also used an alcohol spray to add texture which will be detailed in the Watercolour Techniques.

Sunflower Demonstration Part 1

PRELIMINARY STAGE

This Sunflower painting is done on Langton Watercolour paper, size 20" x 16 ". I stretched the paper onto a board to avoid buckling. I always do this as I like to use a lot of water.

I drew the basic shape of the sunflower with Faber Castell watercolour sticks. These are basically pigments in a stick, that dissolve on contact with water. When drawing it is important to remember to keep the lines flowing. Stand up to do this, and use the arm from the shoulder to avoid getting a cramped up little drawing that you keep having to erase. It is daunting when faced with the bare white of the paper, but if you put on some music, and do some practice runs with a sheet of inexpensive paper (or newspaper) you can get the flow going. Remember, these watercolour crayons will disolve when you put the first washes down, so any lines made are infinitely mobile and always forgiving :-)

STEP ONE

The first wash!

This can be a bit daunting, but there's no escaping the fact that I just have to get in there and go for it. I use a no 18 brush, with full loads of colour. I apply the colour directly to dry paper. This keeps the intensity. I will be applying water directly beside areas of full colour, so the paint will run and give interesting effects. I will also be creating areas, that when sprayed lightly with water or alcohol, will give an interesting texture. If you put a wash on wet paper then the whole thing will fade out and look insipid. I have used the smallest amount of underspray on the top-left-hand corner of the painting where the spiky leaves will be as this is the lightest area of the painting, so I want the effect to be soft and broken. (I will show a close up of these techniques in the follow up).

I started with the yellows first (see earlier blog entry for the list of colours), alternating between light and dark yellow with a touch of orange added in. I left some very light areas for highlights on the petals but didn't get too fussy as I will be lifting out more light areas when this first stage is dry. I suggested leaves with blues and greens in the lower right of the painting. I added a big dash of pink (permanent rose) for no other reason than I really wanted to see pink next to the orange. I just love these two colours together and they remind me very much of my Indian days.

Sunflower Demonstration Part 2

STEP TWO

This is often the hardest part of the painting to step back into. The initial wash is dry. Some areas look lovely and soft and swirly, and some look so exciting that you don't want to mess with them...they're just perfect the way they are. But at this stage the painting has no form.

What is required is to look at the different effects that have been made in the earlier wash, and enhance or highlight these areas while bringing up the shapes and forms of the flower.

I start working on the texture of the yellow petals with cadmium yellow and cadmium orange. What I'm aiming to do is add substance while outlining some of the petals. The underlying watercolour crayon will have added some texture already. I added permanent rose and perelyne maroon to the gaps between the petals and I let the paint run, sometimes tilting the board to add the effect of gravity. I started painting darker areas behind the leaves too, so the first wash shows up as a highlight. I also dropped some splashes of ultramarine blue on the pale leaf shapes and forced the blobs to run by blowing them with a straw. This is great for getting spontaneous lines which look like the veins on the leaves. In the background darks I spattered and sprayed with both paint and alcohol to give a mottled texture. One thing I like to do is to add many layers of paint. With watercolour you can be quite bold and add as many layers as you like, so long as you wait for each layer to dry and use a good quality translucent paint with good quality paper. (Remember not to add white as this will muddy the effects).

This part of the painting establishes the basic shapes. The overlay can look a bit awkward and rough until I wait for this second layer of paint to dry and I can start to merge the first layer with the second by softly smudging the hard edges of the second wash. This, I think, is where the experience comes in and it can often take quite a bit of time to go over each area. I will take my time doing this and pick out highlights with an old brush which is first made wet with clean water, blotted on a painting cloth, and then used to softly scrub some of the paint off to reveal a lighter underpainting. I wash the brush frequently with clean water to keep the layers fresh. When I'm happy that the petals look soft, and the shapes blend well and fit together as part of a whole, I move onto the next stage.

Sunflower Demonstration Part 3

STEP THREE

This stage is where the whole balance of the painting comes together. It is time to paint the centre of the flower head. I use strong washes of ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and perelyne red in the following way...beside the petals I start with the blue and as I work my way to the centre of the flower I make the mix more red/purple. After letting this dry a little, I drop some water back into the wash to make some backruns. This adds highlights as well as volume and texture to the wash. I also spray some paint in there to vary the colour. Spraying with a toothbrush loaded with paint will give a fine spatter, while a brush flicked against the side of a palette knife will give larger, more random marks.

When the sunflower centre is dry I start to strengthen the shapes of the petals even more by accentuating where they meet the flower head. Some spattering is done also on the leaves, and I may do several layers, as well as spraying with some water to keep on adding the layers. It is important to work on the painting as a whole so it looks well balanced.

Sunflower Demonstration Part 4

FINISHED PAINTING

The previous stage showed the sunflower in all its glory but it was still a little rough looking. This final stage just dots the "i's" and crosses the "t's". The underwork is all done; the textures all added...what more could the painting need? I think this is my favourite part. I do more intricate spattering with gouache (opaque paint) and gold ink. I also lift out some areas in the sunflower centre which gives the impression of seeds, but in a stylized way. The opaque paint added at this time gives the impression of small jewels. (You will remember I cautioned against using opaque paint earlier...but this is completely different here. It is added only onto a dry area, and no mixing with the underpainting occurs). I also add some painted gold areas to accentuate some of the petals. It gives a designed effect to the overall look of the completed painting. And there we are. I will go over some of the techniques in more detail in the next part.

Watercolour Techniques

This is the first wash where pigment goes on strong onto dry paper.

The granular effect in the blue is achieved by spraying alcohol onto an area that is almost dry.

I sprayed the top-left-hand corner of the paper with clear water and then added some paint by rolling the side of the brush into the area to achieve a mottled effect. I want this part of the picture to be soft and airy.

This is the second stage of painting over the initial wash. I have added some water into the second layer to give some highlights to to blue, and spattered some blue paint to help to break up the blocks. It helps to link the two layers together.

Paint blots are spattered onto the leaves and then blown with a straw to make stylized veins.

This is where the petals and leaves are outlined to give the painting form. Some darks are added to the background to help the lighter coloured leaves stand out. The shapes have a sort of stained glass effect.

The crisp clean shapes are broken up by adding texture by spattering. Here, I used a paintbrush which was loaded with paint and flicked it off the side of a palette knife. The dots are varied in size and random.

This is showing a close up of softening the petals using an old brush which has been dampened with clean water. I used it to lift out some areas of paint from a dry surface. It's nice to keep some edges sharp, while softening others to give a lost and found effect.

After painting the centre of the sunflower, I let the wash dry a little before dabbing clean water back into the painted areas. It makes little starbursts of lighter areas.

When the centre was dry, I lifted out some oval shapes to give the impression of seeds. I then spattered with gouache (opaque paint) with a toothbrush to achieve small jewel-like speckles. The overlapping petals were highlighted with gold ink to give variety and add an extra layer of depth to the painting.