Pen and Wash project

WHY LINE & WASH?

Previously we'd always call it pen and ink and watercolor. But for several reasons, it is now referred to as Line and Wash. First, because the "line" can be pen, pencil, watercolor pencil, etc. Second, because the "wash" can be watercolor, acrylic ink, watercolor pencil, stains, etc. I am focusing here on waterproof ink with watercolor washes.

Ink and watercolor are super compatible for almost any subject. It is especially nice for highly textured surfaces, such as trees, rocks, etc. It combines the best of both worlds--the soft, airiness of watercolor and the precision of a pen.

Using this photo from Facebook's Reference Photos for Artists by Kepi Hurt

I added some embellishments to make the picture look less "boxed in."

Transfer your sketch onto paper. If you are doing wet washes, watercolor paper, either hot or cold press, is best. Hot press is smooth and easier on the pens. Cold press gives texture and more broken lines. 

If you are only planning one layer of color, you can use less expensive watercolor paper, such as Canson XL, or even Bristol board.

SIZE: Choose a size that suits your goal. If you go too big, you may become discouraged from all the line work. If too small, you may not be able to experiment with line and texture. For this project, I am choosing a 7 x 11 size. 

Watercolor first? Or INK first?

Some purists insist on using pen first; but since I don't consider myself a purist, I just do what I feel like. I am going to teach this pen first just because I want people to familiarize themselves and get comfortable with the line work. At the end I've included a tutorial by Karen Rice that illustrates the watercolor done first.

WHAT KIND OF PEN DO I USE?

Generally speaking, any pen that is waterproof. However, one that is not waterproof can be used to create special effects. 

Here is Mind of Watercolor's review on pens:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snu-A21f33k&list=PLiMPR1KaCr-kWhvPYCWTycnEqXvVBNyDZ&index=3

For my purposes, I intend to use the Micron pens, different sizes.

The line work may not have as much "character," but this is for a class, and I don't want to risk knocking over ink.

Pen Strokes

Here is a basic video on pen strokes. There are 7 basic strokes: hatching, cross hatching, stippling, scribbling, wavy lines, contour lines, and crisscross lines.

When inking, you don't want to combine too many of these techniques in one picture. You DO want to vary the width and lengths of lines to create the feeling you want to express. 

The closer the lines (or dots) or the more they overlap, the darker value you create. Thin lines can indicate more distant objects. Broken lines can create soft effects. 

Pen and ink basics drawing and painting Virtual Instructor

This video describes basic strokes and tips to be successful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoyFjDK6GII&list=PLW-5Pa-fZ-c9u9ENT0VKOYjKuhAxnr6h9&index=2

Painting the Fall Scene

First sketch your picture. You can do it in pencil first, then go over it with ink.

I use a very fine pen (.03 or .05) to outline the sketch first. Then gently erase any unwanted pencil lines.

I started with a .05 and .1 pen and began to ink in the darkest parts: the inside of the pad, the shadows on the rear pumpkin, dark areas. I used cross hatching in these very dark areas. Mostly I used contour lines on the pumpkins.

For the pot, I used contour lines to indicate the round area at the bottom. I keep the lines thin, parallel, and broken to indicate a smooth surface with reflection. They are also not as close together as the darker lines. One the spout, I used parallel hatching going in the direction of the metal. I also did the shadows around the handle. There is a tiny bit of stippling on the tip of the spout.

I continued mostly with contour lines around the pumpkins, using heavier marks in deep shadows. I used a very thin (.03) pen for shadow areas that are very light. Also used .03 on the leaves to indicate the direction of the veins. (not on all)

Finally ready for color. I washed the pumpkins with a bit of yellow and some green in some areas of the back pumpkin and stems.

I put a gray/blue wet in wet on the watering can, and used my favorite Transparent Pyrrol Orange on the pumpkins. 

I added a little orange reflection on the can, and added some turquoise to the can's color. I colored in the leaves on the right and painted the handle of the can with purple .

then I decided the left side needed a lift, so I painted in the leaves, dried them, then inked afterward. The twiggy branches are painted with just that--a twiggy branch from my backyard, dipped in dark brown watercolor.

I have to say, I am really happy with the results. There's something relaxing about inking, and I love watching the values bring it to life. And then the magic of washing in color. Perfect.

BOOKS AND VIDEOS USED IN THIS SERIES

Below are some excellent instructors on using pen and Wash (or line and wash). My favorite, of course, is Mind of Watercolor. He has several inspiring YouTube's. He has done some Inktober projects in the past, so simply Google Mind of Watercolor Ink and Wash.

Anne Kerr - discusses 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZavpmIXQ-rU

Karen Rice beginners - flowers--a beginning ink and watercolor tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONO17FVws3s

Karen Rice beginners WC and wash (includes a review of a travel palette)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5_LpK1BhFQ

Karen Rice does a loose street scene in WC first, then using pen for details

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThUPmia1DxA

The Art of Beatrix Potter by Mind of Watercolor  15 minutes--loved this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbLlbe-qJVE

For books on line and wash, I am referring often to Claudia Nice's books, Creating Textures in Pen and Ink in Watercolor  and Painting with Watercolor, Pen, and Ink. The first 100 pages of each book are nearly identical, but the second half of the books cover different subjects.  Painting with Watercolor, Pen, and Ink includes some patterns in the lessons.. 

Workshop: Integrating Paper and Paint

 Diane Johannigman's Workshop

On Sep 27th SIAG (our art guild) hosted a workshop by Diane Johannigman, a Cincinnati artist who experiments combining paper with acrylic paints. Here are some of her recent paintings:

About Diane:

Diane  was born into an artistic family, with her mother, a Cincinnati artist herself, ensuring she had lots of opportunity to learn and express herself. She graduated with an art degree from Houston, Texas. However, traditional methods and "rules" seemed too confining for her, and she decided she wasn't going to make a living at it. 

Just before Diane retired from Costco as a manager, she decided to re-explore her innate desire to create art. She started attending Sandy Maudlin's open studio, working with water color and yupo, taking every opportunity to expand her vision. The environment of Sandy's open studio encouraged risk taking, especially when Sandy invited artists to do workshops at her studio.

You might say that workshops with popular Canadian artist, Jean Pedersen, opened the creative doors that led to Diane's current work. More about Jean can be read here:

https://www.jeanpederson.com/artist/

You can discover more about Diane on her Instagram account.

https://www.instagram.com/dianejohanni/?hl=en

About the process:

You can do this either on watercolor paper or canvas. Most of us began with putting drops of heavy body acrylic paint from the tube directly on the canvas. (3 colors) Some of us used canvas with previous unsuccessful paintings as a first layer, but we still did this step. With a large flat tool--a squeegie, credit card, etc.--we scraped the paint in several directions. Then we let it dry, which didn't take a long time.

When dry, we tore pieces of collage papers into various sizes. These could be napkins, wrapping paper, tissue, newspaper, magazines. So fun to pick out papers. Then we used matte medium (or Modge Podge) to randomly apply these papers to our painted surface.

Then we used stencils, often trying to unify the painting with these stencils. That part was also fun.

Then we took a single watered down color (usually with Fluid acrylic instead of heavy body) and washed over all the painting. This sometimes unifies the painting or calms down areas.

You can continue this process--paint/collage/stencil--until you are satisfied.

Here are some of the pictures just after the first layers and before adding an image.

Next, dry the painting completely. We used this step to check out the local restaurants for lunch.

The final step is to take a picture we had drawn or enlarged from a drawing, and traced it onto our ground.

**(Ground just means a surface you have created to put a painting on.)

You can use dark or colored graphite paper, since gray will probably not show up much. Some of us freehanded the picture.

Either lighten the background space so the picture comes forward, or lighten where you want to paint the picture. 

Then use a combination of paint/collage/stenciling to bring your image to life. You can add inks, Posca pen, anything you need to enhance your image. 

Here are some of the results:

    

 

Painting mouths, ears, hair, etc.

I use a white 3 x 5 card with a hole punched in it to look at skin color and value. I have to use devices like this because it forces me to see things I easily could miss. By laying it against a flesh color, I can more easily see if it is yellowish, orange, pink, blue, or even green. It's surprisingly useful. 

I forgot last week to include info on painting a mouth. Here is Yong Chen's video on painting a mouth, including an open smile. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkXLkcHu7wQ&t=188s

To paint an open-mouth smile, teeth showing, there are a few tips.

1. to do teeth, paint the gum line around the teeth

2. the inside of the mouth is warm, not gray or blue

3. the lower lip is almost always wider than the upper lip, and lighter in color.

4. Paint the midline of the lip first.

5. The upper lip is thinner and darker because it is more shadowed and it has more blood vessels.

6. The teeth are usually not pure white. And the further back in the mouth they recede, the darker they are. Otherwise they make the mouth look quite flat and clown like.

Painting ears

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhR9TIgB0uE

Painting hair. Basically, you start with the lightest value, dry; next value, dry; and finally darkest values.

It is surprising how dark blonde hair can be in the shadows, and how much color can be reflected.

Kirsty Partridge Art

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7aiE8cQCSs

Yong Chen's video on hair

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxZC60siH4Q

Try not to get overwhelmed with the hair. Leave highlights, even in very dark hair. I usually paint the skin color right into the scalp before painting the hair. Most hair is a combination of 2 colors, burnt sienna and blue. The darker and more burnt sienna, the browner. Even blonde hair is shadowed with a light version of these colors. Black hair, if it has blue highlights, can have undertones of blue. I still don't usually use a black paint, but a dark versions of burnt sienna and French ultramarine.

If a highlight is white, I will mask out some curls or highlights. But not much.

FINISHING THE LOOSE PAINTING

Now that you have a background, you basically need to find the darkest spots and paint those shadows in.

First I paint in things I want to be flesh tones, so I don't lose that color. You'll see there is a lot of yellow on the left side. I painted in the nostrils and lifted a little on the tip, then added a red on the very tip of the nose. 

Then I concentrate on shadows and deeper tones. You don't necessarily use flesh tones in these areas, depending on the age of the person.I darkened beneath the chin. 

On the hair, I just painted in some shadows. 

FINISHING THE REALISTIC

I wet the skin again, and paint in shadows around the eyes, paying attention to my cools and warms.

I gradually build up the forms wet into wet for the first few rounds, especially the largest shapes.

Here I've rewet the face and put in a more dense version of the skin color.

Focused on putting a more dense paint of the basic skin tone around the nose and areas of shadow.

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I put in some blue shadows around the shadowed cheek, under the hat, etc. I also began painting around the eyes.

I painted in the base color for the hat. I put a layer of yellow paint on the entire face. Dried and painted in the lips.I started putting in details of the ear. 

Then I made a dark background of deep green (made from sap green and purple), and painted in the lips.

I painted eyebrows and nostril and darkened around the hair. I repaired the eye on the right.

 Then I used a lifting brush around highlighted areas: the lips, nose tip and outer nostril, and repaired the eye. Then I put in a highlight in the eyes and hair wisps. 

Favorite watercolor portrait youtubers

Here are a few youtube artists that give great suggestions on painting portraits. If you have any others that you admire, let me know so I can add them to my list.

The artist I learned the most about portraits from is named Chris Stubbs.  (See the above portrait) She doesn't do YouTube, but travels doing workshops. I need to give her credit for what I know about facial structure. But the following can give you some simple instructions that will lead to better portraits painting.

 Eric Yi Lin

While he mostly paints landscapes/city scapes, I love his gentle approach to portrait painting. Here he discusses several things about preparing the painting, and mixing flesh tones. 33 minutes. His portraits are looser than most.

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

Jordan Rhodes

Dark skin with the undertones painted first. about 25 minutes. I don't "follow" him consistently, but I like the simplicity in this painting.

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

Jane-Beata

Very realistic. I love how she keeps to just 4 colors. About 55 minutes. But worth watching for sure! She emphasizes tilting the board, softening edges. She has several tutorials, each one using different combinations for skin tones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peJcRuJ0qz8

 Yong Chen 

painting blonde child...27 minutes. Pay attention to how he does blonde hair...you will be surprised. OK, surprised is mild.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRuhWCPym7c&list=PLL7LdMfGvoxpRaZSvolvGWCszVOKA5_hy&index=2

Emily Olsen

Doing a baby's face

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlnCxtHxaL8

Color Portrait and making paint

 Making your own paint from pigment and binder:

Please see my NOv. 5, 2020 post on creating your own watercolor paints.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8812132386157895665/2181838827245295013

instructions from Jackson's 

https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2020/09/25/making-handmade-watercolours-with-jacksons-artist-pigments/#:~:text=With%20a%20glass%20muller%2C%20I,was%20happy%20with%20the%20result.

Painting a loose portrait

I am attempting to show two ways of painting a portrait, one loose and one more my normal style.

For the loose one, I am using a photo of my youngest grandson, Owen, who is 2 1/2. This can be tricky because it is SOOO easy to age a child so they look older.

Here is the color photo

Photo turned into 3 values on notanizer

Photo turned to 4 values on NOtanizer

I made my drawing using both of these because I wanted the hair to show up better, as it does in the 2nd photo of the Notanizer.

When I was happy with the drawing, I wet the paper (except where I wanted pure whites), and began putting color into the background. This is a very blond little boy, so I used some blues and greens in the background. The face has some blues in the shadow areas, yellows on the sunlit side. I get some back runs, but they are not in important parts, so I just leave them. I want this to look like he is just stepping out from the background.

When it was dry, I began using actual skin tones, starting with the shadow areas.I'm painting in some shadow areas of the hair. The tip of the nose gets some warm red, but it fades, as you can see. Don't like the chin, but I will fix this later. My goal isl to touch it as little as possible. 

For the color painting, I am again using the cowboy hat photo of daughter #2. This time I will need to refer to the color photo also to get warms and cools and skin tones. I am also going to use hot press paper, which will be a little harder for me, since I don't use it much.

The beginning step is to find a skin tone mix that you like. Make plenty of a paint mix. Also prepare a cool and a warm to add when you need to. I covered the entire face, wet into wet, with a pale skin tone. While wet, I put the cooler magenta on the right side of the nose, on the neck, under the chin. I put a warmer color on the cheek bones and left side of the nose. This has to dry.

Here are some results from one-color portraits so far.

I am pretty impressed!!!