Chris Campbell Watercolors

Friday, March 6, 2026

HAVING FUN WITH COLOR SCHEMES

With a little tape and a well chosen color scheme, you can have a lot of fun and make an abstract.

On the picture below, I began with the steps below and had an abstract. In November, I had just a few days to come up with a painting of a river boat to put in our local art show. I picked up this abstract, added a riverboat into the background, and changed my abstract to this.

In one of these, I created an abstract of some cats. I had this page of yellow, and I put some vertical strips of masking tape. You place them at odd intervals and make the tape different widths. You can use different widths of tape or make it smaller by cutting it with a craft knife.

(IN class everyone started with white paper)

I used a craft knife to cut cat ears in the tape.

I painted the background in blue bc I decided to have a complementary color scheme of orange and blue.

When it dried, I removed all the tape. and to my dismay, some of the washi tape bled through. Lesson learned: just use regular masking tape on the cold press paper.

I started painting in some more cats. I changed my original idea of complementary to a tetrad that included green and magenta. I added some black. Blacks and browns don't change your overall color scheme, since they are neutrals.

Then I used Posca Pens to add details to my cats.

For one like the trees, just place tape from top to bottom, not evenly spaced, different widths . I chose an analogous color scheme with magenta, blue, and violet. I used salt and spattered water to create some textures, plus a bit of bubble wrap.

I removed the tape.

I could have done a lot of things, such as paint in silhouette, draw in a scene, etc. My daughter thought it looked like an undersea scene, and wanted me to put in some jelly fish. I decided to keep it simple, and painted the taped areas as trees. Then painted with black some thin branches in the background. Here is how I started it. I used a cut credit card point to scratch bark not the trees.

This student work is in different stages of completion, but shows the versatility of the project. Each person tried hard to utilize the color wheel to choose a color scheme.

Here is Angie's pour.

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Finishing Touches

Finishing touches to the pour

Here is what the painting looked like after I removed all the masking fluid and the contact paper.

I was really pleased with the way the contact paper responded on this hot press paper. Very little of the color was accidentally lifted, as it often is with masking fluid, and the paint bled just a little under the edges to give it a realistic, not too hard edged, feel.

So here are some things you can do to improve your pour. (Sometimes you don't need to do a thing)

#1: For edges that seem too light or hard, you can just brush lightly over the area with water, and let the loosened paint flow over those edges. (Like in some of the hexagons in the background.)

#2: Soften edges with a lifting brush to push them more in the background. Or use the lifting brush to lighten an area, such as the leaf below. When that was dry, I also darkened the area behind the leaf to make it stand out better.

#3: Paint over an area to make the paint brighter, suh as the yellow and pink added to this leaf.

#4: Paint some shadows into the veins of the leaves to make it more realistic. Also in the picture above.

#5: Paint some small soft edges into glaring whites, so they don't look so flat. (see the white flowers)

Before and after:

Hot Press Paper

Below is a description of hot press paper. I wanted to use it on this project because the colors will stain the paper a bit more, and there is less paint seaping through tape and contact paper. The edges are very crisp., and the colors a bit more vibrant. Floral painters often use it, and it's amazing for pen and wash...the surface is much easier on pens.

I usually use cold press for every day because it is such a workhorse, and it takes any kind of technique I want to try.

Hot press watercolor paper is a smooth, hot-rolled surface with no tooth, allowing for precise, detailed work, vibrant colors, and easy lifting. Ideal for illustration, calligraphy, and mixed media (ink/pencil), it dries slower and keeps pigments on the surface, requiring careful blending. It is best used for high-detail, graphic, or scanned, digital-ready artwork.

Key Characteristics & Best Uses:

Surface: Extremely smooth (similar to Bristol paper or hot-pressed cotton).
Painting Behavior: Water and pigments sit on top, resulting in brighter, more intense colors.
Best For: Detailed illustrations, pen and ink, technical, and high-detail botanical art.
Techniques: Excellent for lifting color, creating hard edges, and dry brush techniques.
Considerations: Difficult for beginners to achieve smooth, large washes without streaks.

Using a color wheel

Here is a video on using a color wheel that is really helpful. It outlines what it is, how to use it to find a color scheme, how to use it to mix color.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfKx7MjSEK0

Friday, February 20, 2026

Sweet Potato leaves in a Pour

More About Pouring--a demo

I decided to use the same photo of sweet potato leaves for this pour as I used for the negative painting. This would give a fair comparison of the two methods. (Also I've had a crazy week and didn't have time to look for something new.)

I redrew the picture. This time I used HOT PRESS paper for several reasons. I have heard that the smooth texture makes the masking have fewer gaps. (because of the bumpy texture of cold press.) I also wanted to experiment with contact paper to see if it masks better without the bumps.

Here is the drawing with the first masking.

The colors I chose for the first pour are Pthalo blue, Hansa Yellow medium, and Quinacridone Rose, which is a cooler red. I tried to use more staining colors so they wouldn't tend to lift as much when the masking is removed. I used very little blue in this first pour.

Tape the paper down. Wet the paper. Tilt the board toe mix the colors on the paper. Remember to wipe excess off the taped borders. This is so you don't get back-runs.

Second masking and pouring. I wanted to experiment with contact paper (usually I'd use clear contact paper, but this is all I could find...see the black and white leaf?) You can also experiment with tape, but some tapes don't handle more than 1 pour. Then I wet the paper and poured a second time, using the same colors as before with a bit more blue.

Third mask: I masked in four leaves and a few hexagon shapes in the background.

The third pour: I still wet everything, still used the same colors.

Fourth mask

Fourth pour. This time I changed colors to only blue and red. The blue is indanthrene, which is a very dark blue.

Now comes the hard part: WAITING. It has to be completely dry to remove the masking.

Next week I'll show how to make adjustments to your pour.

5 things to remember for a successful pour:

1. Use good paper, 100% cotton, either hot press or cold press.

2. tape/staple your paper down to a board so you can move it around and it doesn't curl up on you while your are working on it. Very small projects can just be taped.

3. Your first layers should be staining or quinacridone colors. Sedimentary and earthy colors lift more under the masking. However, feel free to experiment. I haven't tried it with some of the primateks.

4. BE PATIENT. Let the masking completely dry. Let the pour completely dry between masking.

5. You can use only 2 colors in a pour if you choose not to use 3. More than 3 at a time can lead to mud very quickly. You can also re-do a pour after it is dry if color is not what you want or not where you want it.

Thursday, February 12, 2026

What to Know before starting a "pour"

Today we worked some more on finishing the negative paintings.

It's a matter of building up the background layer by layer, darkening the values with each new layer.

Here are the steps I took to finish the sweet potato vine:

On some of the leaves, I created some veins, negative painting on each side of the veins.

Some of the flowers needed to stand out more because the original background was too dark. I used Bleed Proof White to give it a boost.

I made a few enhancements, adding some color on leaves that looked dull, adding some color to the grasses. I completed creating some hexagon shapes in the background to unify the painting. I think I am going to call it finished.

Here are just a few of the negative paintings the class created:

And one more Sarah is doing for a competition:

UNDERSTANDING POURING

This was our practice to understand pouring.

Basic supplies:

masking fluid and brush dedicated for masking

(I also showed how to used contact paper or tape for some masking)

100% cotton 140 pound paper

a board to attach paper to

3 primary colors in tubes (quinacridones, pthalo, reds, Hansa yellows, are good for the first pour)

3 small containers for mixing (Dixie cup, yogurt cup, etc)

large brush for wetting the surface

pad to absorb dripping paint

cup or container for draining off excess paint

Prepare 3 small jars of primary colors. Put a little tube paint in a container, such as a yogurt cup or bathroom sized Dixie cup, and add a little water to completely dilute it. Test the diluted paint on a piece of paper to be sure it is the right value. If it's too dark, add a bit of water; if too thin, add a bit of paint.

I use a dog training pad to absorb the mess as I go along.

First make a copy of your drawing and create a "map" for masking. (Just on some drawing paper) Copy it onto your watercolor paper also. Mark the 1's first, to indicate that those shapes remain white; then mark #2's next, for your 2nd masking; mark #3's next, to indicate what will be the last masking.

Draw the simple picture on watercolor paper. Then mask off those shapes you want to keep white and are #1 on your map.

When the masking is dry, wet the entire paper and pour your colors. POUR YELLOW

first, because yellow has the least TINTING STRENGTH. In fast, yellow mixes will need less water in them for pouring. You can tilt the paper back and forth to get a good blend. When the colors look good to you, lay the painting flat and let it dry naturally, no blow dryer. (IT will glue the masking fluid to your painting if you dry it on hight)

Mask off your #2's; let the masking dry; then pour your next layer, increasing the amount of paint to water in your mixes.

After it is dry, mask off shapes with #3 on them. Dry the mask, then do a third pour,

this time with the paint darker.

When dry, remove all the masking fluid. You'll note that some of the first layers are not as colorful as they were at first. The masking fluid can remove some of the paint.