"Annie" (watercolor on paper; 12" x 9")

"Annie" (watercolor, 12" x 9")

 

I decided to blog about my online Zoom classes with the Art League School in Alexandria, VA. This is what we did in the eighth week of the fall term, 2021 for my "Watercolor from Start to Finish" class. 

First, I finished "Siberian Tiger" by glazing using the same colors as the last week to make the painting more vibrant and model the form a little bit.

 

"Siberian Tiger" (pen and watercolor, 9" x 12")

 The main business of the day was painting "Annie" in sepia. To make sepia, we used only burnt sienna (my favorite is Daniel Smith) and cobalt blue. The below is the value scales and color swatches I made to test values. The value 1 is the white of the paper (highlights). The value 7 is as dark as it gets with the mixture of the two colors. The value 9 is black.  

"Values Scales and Color Swatches"

Many beginners have trouble reading values and translating them into colors. By using a sepia (or black and white) reference, we can remove the puzzle; by using only one neutral color (sepia in this case), we can remove the difficulty of reading colors in values. This value exercise is invaluable and used by many instructors. We are trying a portrait, which is a whole new ball game with its snares and pitfalls, but here we go. You can do it!

I first painted the background wet on wet with the value 3 wash (slightly bluer than the subject). When the paper dried, I started with the lightest wash, covering the entire area of the subject, except the lightest parts (highlights, including the catch light of her left eye). Don't make this layer too dark!

In between layers, dry the paper thoroughly. We are glazing, so paper should be bone dry. At each stage, we mixed a slightly darker batch; mix more than you think necessary. By the fourth layer, we got everything done, except the pupils. The darkest bits in the face are usually the upper lash lines, nostrils, and the line between lips. The pupils are black (or near black in this case).

The biggest challenge in a value study is to read values correctly, of course. With a soft and round face of a young girl, it is not easy, but I believe the exercise forces you to be decisive in your value reading. Do your best to preserve the white of the paper for the highlights at the beginning and don't forget to put in some darks at the end. As you can see, the majority of the painting was done in mid-tones. Most paintings require five to six values and you rarely need full nine scales. Without the highlights and darks, however, the painting will lose its impact.

Let's revisit "Holmes Run Rocks" of three weeks ago. I turned my class demo into a black and white and it still reads, doesn't it? From now on, if you are having trouble reading the values of your reference or your work in progress, do the same. Things will be much clearer to you! 

"Holmes Run Rocks in Black and White"

"Homes Run Rocks" (watercolor, 12" x 9")

"Siberian Tiger" (pen and watercolor on paper; 9" x 12")

 

"Siberian Tiger" (pen and watercolor; 9" x 12")

 

I decided to blog about my online Zoom classes with the Art League School in Alexandria, VA. This is what we did in the seventh week of the fall term, 2021 for my "Watercolor from Start to Finish" class. 

The first business of the week was finishing up "Storm Moving In". We continued the painting with the top panel on the left. First we wetted the paper and painted the glowing sky shape with the pale mixture of Winsor lemon and cadmium red pale. When the paper was dry, we wetted the paper again and dropped the blues in the clouds with the blue mixture of cobalt blue and burnt sienna. 

When the first layer (which took two separate steps to avoid contaminating the blue and pale peachy yellow shapes) was dry, we glazed the clouds with a little darker mixtures to create some edges and drama. When this layer was dry, we painted the seagull with the dark mixture of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.

The last panel (the one at the left bottom) was painted with the same colors and same techniques as the first panel, except here it starts with the yellow and alternates with blue, yellow and dark shape. The sea shape is slightly larger than in the first long panel and has layers of waves; make sure you don't paint over the waves in the first wet-on-wet stage to keep it light and foamy-looking.

 

"Storm Moving In Demo"

 

The main business of the week was "Siberian Tiger" done in the pen-and-wash technique. We did the line work with the quill nib pen and the black India ink. If you press the nib a little bit, the lines become thicker. This thin and thick line quality is called the varied line weight, something you will never achieve with the markers such as the Micron or Sharpie pens. If you are brave and you know the fortune favors the brave, you can also try the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. This sensational pen with waterproof ink makes drawing with the varied line weight portable and fun. It has a steep learning curve, but once you get used to it, you will never go back!

When the line work was done, we switched to a brush to fill in the fabulous patterns on the tiger with the India ink. With the inking finished and totally dry, we went to play! When you introduce line work to your painting, it does most of the work so watercolor takes the second stage. Thus less layering is required. That's why the pen and wash technique is so popular among the travel journal artists. Quickly put down the lines and whip out your watercolor box to add some color notes. Voila, you are ready to enjoy the next site!

I painted the blurry background on dry paper with quinacridone gold, cadmium yellow pale and cobalt blue to suggest the vegetation in the sun. When this was dry, I began to drop paints on the face, making sure I leave some white areas untouched. I used the yellows, cadmium red, permanent rose (on the pink nose), and the purple mixture (cobalt blue and rose) over the shadow areas. I didn't get to finish this fun part, but it won't take long to finish the painting next week! 

 

"Siberian Tiger" demo in progress