Landrover Discovery

I'm about three hours in with this piece, including the longed out coffee and chat when I began on Tuesday and the pot of Assam B.O.P. when I revisited the artwork this afternoon.

ArtRba Photograph: ink pencil on watercolour paper 

It's intended as a gift, so I hope that the recipient likes it when it's done.  I'm using Daler Rowney 300gsm A4 size Cold Pressed watercolour paper.  I drew a grid using a watercolour pencil to lay out the design with an intention to wash away the grid lines as I construct the image. The dust cloud is a tad heavy at the moment, but I'm looking to soften that by applying an Inktense wash using a brush, and or a white Pablo colouring pencil.  It doesn't really matter whether that works or not, as it's all about learning and experience. Art is for enjoyment and relaxation; we mustn't get too hung up over techniques and outcomes. 

Elephant using various Mark-Making Techniques

Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolours on Winsor & Newton Artists' 300gsm acid free A5 size watercolour paper.  Original idea taken from an old edition of 'the artist' magazine' and three tester versions subsequently worked up by yours truly using Derwent Inktense pencil over this Summer. 

ArtRba Photograph: Elephant, Watercolour on watercolour paper 

(Click on the image to open full size)

This is the first time that I've painted this image in watercolour albeit I've put together a similar image with Inktense Pencils over the summer.  But the Inktense ones were more about brilliance of colour, speed of work, and mark-making through pencil strokes.

In terms of Mark-Making this image has:

* Masking fluid lines to preserve the white of the paper

* Masking fluid dots again to preserve the white

* Dry brushing on rough paper to achieve broken edges

* Wet surface and then wet on wet watercolour painting

* Dry surface and then wet on wet watercolour painting 

* Wet to dry and wet over dry watercolour painting

* Brushed lines including some overlayed on the previous line

* Splatter technique using a brush 

This particular painting is intended as a gift for some African friends who live in North America.  As I have four black African friends now living in the USA and Canada, I'm loathe to say which country; as that will spoil the surprise of having the painting land on the carpet or deposited in the post box outside of their home.

I've now sketched out and laid down the masking fluid on another version using 12 x 16 Arches paper.  On that example I've gone for a two tone yellow background using the wet on wet technique applied to a wet surface.  This 'on the go' painting is also a gift.  This time for a Greek friend who's partner is Nigerian.    

Watercolour Paper

Buying watercolour paper can, for the uninformed; be a tad confusing. So this little post is my humble attempt to sort of help you out.

In very broad terms there are three different kinds of watercolour paper.  Yes, we can talk about acid free, and mould free, and cotton, and whatever, which is all very good when you understand the basics and find some stuff that you like.  But for now, let's just keep it simples.  In no particular order of merit nor importance, the types of watercolour paper are;

(Type 1)

COLD PRESSED

CP

NOT

[They all mean the same]

The ideal stuff to paint a landscape or seascape in watercolour paint, or using watercolour pencils.  The 'NOT' stands for 'Not Hot Pressed', so watch out if you're in a class and a particular watercolour paper is recommended. You could mishear what's being said.  

(Type 2)

ROUGH

Great for a nocturnal scene, or a landscape or seascape where you want texture. This may be (but is not restricted to) imaging a rusty old fishing boat in part of the scene. The 'Rough' surface of this Cold Pressed/CP/NOT paper, catches the watercolour pigment when you are 'dry brushing' over a particular area of the paper.  This can also be beneficial when using watercolour pencils.

(Type 3)

HOT

HOT PRESSED

HP

Again they all mean the same thing.  I think that this is dreadful paper for landscaping and seascaping.  The paper simply dries out too fast and leads to cauliflowering. But of course it is great paper for botanical illustration.  The smooth surface of the paper aids the botanical artist to provide detail.  The rapid drying becomes irrelevant, as the artist is working on one area of the sheet, rather than right across the sheet. 

The quality of the manufactured paper can vary greatly between manufacturers.  Some are so badly treated that the surface is more akin to blotting paper, whereas others are a dream to use.  In all instances you can buy these papers; (i) loose, (ii) in a tear out pad, (iii) in a spiral binder, or (iv) with all four sides glued in a block, whereby you slit the edge to remove a dried sheet, in order to expose the next sheet for painting. 

Memories

. . . and today's art memory is of Venice.  It is an image of the Basicica di Santa Maria della Salute shown from the main arterial waterway (not the Grand Canal) to the South of the Church.  

I created the image using Inktense pencils on circa A5 size watercolour paper over two enjoyable sessions in Caffé Néro in Aberystwyth after returning from our summer holiday in the Meditaerean. I used a reference photograph that I took while we were being ferried by water taxi to and from the cruise ship into the city.  Some of my Venetian images were created in situ (one of a church while relaxing under the shade of a tree), but the majority of them will come from reference photos that were taken while we were visiting Venice.  These photographs were taken for the purpose of creating the art rather than as holiday 'snaps'.  The down side being the restriction of carrying the lightweight 40mm 'pancake' lens with its limited fixed focal length rather than the heavier by more adaptable 24-105 lens.  But everything in life is a trade off, and during a hot day in Venice, you carry what you can manage.  

This is probably why I am moving towards Inktense Pencils being my holiday art media of choice. It's a clean product that can provide pleasing and sometimes stunning results.  You don't need to carry water or a water container; as you can choose to wash in the image when you get back to your hotel or cruise ship. The tin is large enough to take postcard size watercolour paper held on the outside without bending.  So if you stitch a piece of elastic to secure the tin, then that paper size can be slipped between the elastic and the tin and thereby supported when it's all carried in your bag.  If you want more detail in your images, then you can work on the smoother 'Hot' watercolour paper, rather than using 'Cold' or 'Rough' paper, or you could combine 'pigment liner' pens, or 'Graphite Pencils' with Inktense pencils.