Two Christmas Cards

 True confessions: I used ideas from two YouTubers, Ellen Crimi-Trent for a loose card, and Julia Lis Art for the black and white card.

This loose painting comes from Ellen Crimi-Trent. It's a method I would call construct-deconstruct-reconstruct. You paint some general forms and dry the painting. Then, with a brush and water, you loosen the paint and allow it to run in different directions, occasionally adding in some other color. Then, after you have "deconstructed" and loosened the paint, you dry it. Then you "reconstruct" by adding paint, using metallic paints, spattering, making more hard edges, etc. 

The full tutorial is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY2IM5jVi-o

The second card, the deer in a forest by Julia Lis Art,  is actually much easier than I expected. I did a few things differently than the video. Here are a few things you might change up:

1. For the oval, instead of drawing it, I slightly scored around an oval shape. No erasing necessary, and the paint stays inside the oval. You might also consider cutting the oval out of a piece of contact paper and applying the frame to the paper. This will keep your outer paper clean while painting. (Especially if you tend to make a mess, like me.)

2. You do not have to make a deer. You can just do the trees or add another forest critter...squirrel, cardinal, fox, or even a couple walking hand in hand. 

3. You could also have one small part of it a different color, such as red.

4. The tutorial colors the deer silhouette all the same value. I left a rear leg a lighter value to make it seem a little more distant.

The full tutorial for this is Watercolor deer in forest painting for beginners » EASY step by step winter painting tutorial - YouTube

If you do a picture inside a circle instead of an oval, it would look very much like a snow globe, which would also be cool.

color version using value study as a guide

 

Colorizing a value study

This will be fairly short and not as explanatory as I'd like, as I haven't felt well lately.

To go to the next level after value study, I now have to consider colors. What colors do I want to add to create the feeling I am after?

I know that yellows have the lightest values; reds can get up to medium values; and blues and purples can get very dark. Browns also. So the main thing I have to decide is the colors I want in the clothing, because everything is else is a warm, dusty color except for the skin.

I did the sky first. I wet it, though you don't have to, to get a very light color of blue. (I used cerulean). I wanted to leave some clouds for extra contrast of the women. 

 I did the road and the background color using a combination of magenta and burnt umber. (you can also use magenta and green, its complement). ON THE ROAD, I was careful to paint in the direction of the hill. This adds to the uphill feeling. Also I was careful to leave the top of the road white, and the bottom a bit darker. Now I have all my first values in.

I chose 3 or 4 colors to do my first values on the women. I chose quin burnt orange, a yellow, and a blue.

Starting at the very top  of the basket on her head, I painted each woman wet into wet as all one shape. 

For example, on the woman on the far left, I painted some pale blue into the basket, moved to quin burnt orange on the skin, some yellow on the shirt, moving to some blue on the skirt, and orange on the legs, and some blues and oranges in the shadows. These were all connected, not painted as individual shapes. This is just a light value underpainting.  (Sorry I don't have a picture of that stage) I then dried the painting.

The picture above shows the next stage, where I have begun to define some of the details. Before I put details in the clothing, I put in the folds with a #4 brush. I was careful to keep in mind that the sun is on the right, so the darkest shadows would be on the left side of the bodies.

The skin is a combination of quin burnt orange and burnt umber. I put in the general skin tones, then made a darker brown for the shadows. Even tho the painting isn't very large, you still need to use value changes in the legs and arms so they don't look flat. 

We'll be finishing this next week. The main thing for this week is to get your lightest values in: the sky, road, background. And then get at least a light base on your figures and shadow, as if they are one shape. If colors run together, that's just fine; in fact, it's perfect.

The Value of a Value Study

 

There are so many reasons to do a value study before a final color painting.

1. It's an easy and gradual process

2. You are getting used to the painting process--brush strokes against the type of paper you are using, etc. -- (instead of penciling in)

3. You are getting familiar with the subject

4. You can make your composition changes ahead of time, making many of your decisions before you add color.

5. If you choose a looser style, you understand which details can be left out, and which shapes are most important.

6. You can practice techniques you are less familiar with.

7. You are only worried about one thing at a time: value. You paint with one color only.

7. It's fun.

I am using a photo reference by Jack Ninno, Jr. found on unsplash.

You can use your Notanizer to find values, or print it in black and white.

I experimented a little with the composition, and decided I wanted a portrait layout, and I cropped off the left side to put the focus on the 3 women. 

The first one I did using only Payne's Gray. I wanted to see how it would look with warmer tones, so I used burnt umber in this demo. You can choose any color you want, as long as it can cover a wide range of values. I don't usually choose black, although I might add black as a final value. Another reason for using burnt umber is that I like to be able to lift, and Payne's Gray is hard to lift. (if you made your color from burnt sienna and French ultramarine, it would be gray or brown, but you can lift it more than Payne's Gray.)

Below you can see my "palette." It's a tiny Altoids box that hold 5 half-pans. One is burnt umber. I used the lid to mix my paint with water. For the very pale first layer, I made a light, watery version, and tested it on scrap paper to be sure it was pale enough.

Starting at the top, I wet the sky area. I saturated my round brush with watery burnt umber, and painted in what will be blue sky, leaving the clouds the white of the paper.

Then,using the same pale consistency, I painted everything that will not be white of the paper. This is so easy, because you just paint from one object to another, connecting them all, not worrying about any details. So I started with the basket and painted straight down the body of each woman, then into the shadows.  I want the top of the road to be much lighter than the very bottom, so avoided painting that. You can see some small whites I left. (no masking) I am also adding some directional strokes at the bottom to indicate the direction of the hill. This is not in the original photograph, but I think it will add to the feeling I want to express--the uphill struggle of their daily lives.

This dries pretty quickly, so it's usually ready for the next layer of value. I just added more burnt umber to my puddle, and tested it next to the first value to be sure it was the right shade.

Then I painted this next value over everything except what I want to leave white or light. (I left the sky, some of the road, parts of the clothing, highlights on the baskets, etc.) I darkened some of the bottom road, using strokes that indicate the direction of the hill. (be careful to follow the general rules of perspective here so your road is believable.)

I added some more burnt umber to my puddle, and tested it next to the other two values on a scrap of paper to be sure there was enough value change. Then I painted everything that I wanted darker, and left everything that was white, pale, or the last value. You can see their skin, folds in clothing, and legs are getting more definition. I now have 4 values: white, pale, medium pale, and medium dark. There are still 2 more values to go, but it is already shaping up.

Here is the scrap of paper I used to determine how dark to make each value.

Deepen the values on some areas....this further separates details, like the shadow under legs, clothing folds, etc.

To get the values deep enough for the final one, I added a dark green, which made

a nice warm black/brown. I added a few details on the skirts, deepened the shadows, 

Because I used a liftable color, I lifted a little on the skirt on the right; I spattered some on the road. If you want something lighter, add a little white gouache. 

I said before that you can use these to help with composition. I did this 3 times, changing the elevation each time. 

About Color Cubes

 Using Color Cubes from Sarah Renae Clark

Color Cubes is all about color inspiration: using color combinations that you have never thought to use before. It's like using a box to think "outside of the box."

Color Cubes come in two boxes, each holding 250 heavy-weight cards.

Each card has a photograph reference, with the main colors in it shown at the bottom.

These photographs are copyright free, so you can try to copy the reference if you like. On the back of each card the colors are shown and listed with a generic name (usually from a colored pencil collection), with a digital number (called a hex code) for that color for those who do digital coloring. On the right the same color is shown with a 20% tint and a 20% shade. The colors go right to the edge of the card to make it easier to match. She names the colors with color pencil names.

The color catalog and color companion (which comes as part of the catalog) are digital apps that make it easier to use the color cubes. The catalog was actually developed before the cubes. I originally bought just the cards because I am not a "digital" girl, and I love just browsing through them. But I wanted some more flexibility, so I finally got the digital catalog to go with it. (OK, my husband got it for me, because he was sure I'd need it, and he was right.)

Using the catalog, you can search for a combination by color, by subject (birds, animals, buildings, etc.) or by theme (mood, holidays, etc.) I like picking a color that I'm dying to use, then search for color and it will give me the numbers of all the cards that have that color in it, giving a variety of color combinations.

For class, I chose card #187. I went to the color catalog and printed out that card. The printout has information that is more useful if you are not a pencil artist.

The printout again shows the photo reference and the color combinations. But at the bottom the colors are printed out with 3 rectangles underneath each color. This is for you to match your colors to the color on the card. You can write down what paints you used to create those colors. Since watercolor doesn't work well on printer paper, I taped a strip of watercolor paper across this so I could try out what watercolors make those color combinations.

What interests me is the codes above each color. There are RGB (red/green/blue) codes and CYMK codes. THE CYMK stands for cyan-yellow-magenta-black, the colors in your color printer. I may not get a perfect match, but it gives me an idea of what and how much of each color is used to create that color. I try to begin with a color in my palette that most matches, then add cyan, magenta, or yellow to it to try to create a match. (I have to mention that a few years ago I purchased Lucas colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow for creating a color wheel, so they are very helpful in color matching)

For example, on card 187, the first color is a blue that they call mint. The CMYK numbers show a predominance of cyan (80), a smidge of magenta (18) and some yellow (53).  Everyone has something different in their palette. One person found that Mayan blue was just about perfect. Someone else mixed turquoise and a bit of magenta. 

The second color, Kelly green, shows no magenta or black. It uses cyan and yellow. You'll also notice that the more saturated and dark the color, the higher the number. In watercolor, this just translates as "less water, please." Some people found that their Hookers green was a good match even without changes.

So my final color choices from my palette, trying to match the colors on the card, were turquoise with a bit of magenta; cyan and magenta for the purplish red; Magenta with a bit of orange for the pink; and cerulean for the final blue. (some people have quin magenta, which is more purple)

To do a loose version of this picture, I spattered Miskit in an arch across the paper, trying to get some larger drops for the water drops. I used a fine liner and Miskit to make some white flower strands. 

When the Miskit was dry, I wet the paper and applied cerulean with a pit of turquoise in it, dropping some magenta into areas. I used the magenta and cyan for the area where the centers of the flowers were, then moving to the bottom left, added other colors for a fun colorful wash.

After all was dried, I used a fine brush dipped in the magenta to make flower clusters. I also used some purple and some blue to get a variety of colors in the flowers.

When I was happy with the flower clusters, I put in the stems. I thought they were too harsh, so I spritzed the stems to soften them a little. When I liked it, I dried it all and removed the masking fluid. 

To finish I used a circle stencil to get some larger white droplets. 

I used my watercolor pencils (magenta, purple, and blue) to make darker stems and a few more flowers. I like that I have some stems that seem to be in the background in addition to the sharper ones in the foreground.

Here are some youtubes to show some ways to use the color cubes.

Emma LeFabre 16 min. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qhlXULSm8c

Denise Love: she has a series of youtubes on this bc she has given herself the challenge of eventually using all 500 of the cards, and she doesn't really use the catalog, just the cards in the cubes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whw8F6-f_x0

Info on Color Cubes is on Sarahrenaeclark.com website.

Masa Paper Pumpkin Basket

 The reference photo for this was from Jen Green on Paint My Photo. I also had students look at other pictures of pumpkins, gourds, for inspiration for their individual paintings.

I drew this on masa paper. Draw on the rough, not smooth, side. Make sure your pencil marks are dark enough to see. This is different from other papers. You WANT to see your drawing, because, as you wet the paper, the graphite will disappear. (sometimes I have done the drawing with fine pen)

I made several changes. I took out the barn in the background. I wanted to keep it simple so that people could add their own elements--gourds, other veggies, etc. -- to personalize it. 

I began this as I do most of my masa paper paintings: first drawing while it's flat; second, wrinkle and wad up the paper; third, soak the paper. I lay it on a towel to soak up excess water--then on a paper towel while I am painting wet on wet. (A doggie pad is great)

Then I lay in wet washes of color, trying not to get caught up on what object is blue, what is orange, etc.  Usually I begin with one of every primary and let the colors mingle on the paper.

I try to be very free with color, to allow it all to blend together. (you can see how blue got onto two of the pumpkins. I like doing that.)  I only get specific with color if one area MUST be white or yellow. 

I blew it all dry, then started painting some of the positive shapes.

I haven't glued down my work yet. You can see I've improvised on the objects...some small gourds on the bottom left; changing apples and leaves to green gourds in the basket. I do as much painting as possible before mounting on a piece of paper or board. 

This paper tends to "pill", so be gentle with it. I made a field of flowers where the barn was.

Those are made by negative painting greens around spots where there was already some background pinks and yellows (from my original washes.).

YOU HAVE TO DRY the painting each time you want to work on it. Otherwise you will rip it, or the layers will never get darker. 

I noticed that the area of flowers seemed too thick and unyielding. I thought of my stencils

that we used on the printing project. So I lay one of the stencils over the flower area, gently rubbed some damp Mr. Clean sponge, and picked up some new white areas. 

Gluing the painting down:

My favorite glue of choice is YES paste, but you can use matte medium, which is archival, or any white glue if you don't care if it is archival or acid free. Glue it to paper, board that has been gessoed, or your choice. I put glue on the board, then lay the painting over it. Cover it with wax paper, then start pressing it down, beginning at the center and working outward to the ends. 

When it is completely dry, you can continue working on this. Some people prefer to work on it after the bumps are worked out and it feels flatter. You will be able to get some detail work in, or add some pastels  or pen if you like.

After I glued this down, I did a few enhancements with pastel: Highlights on some of the pumpkins; pumping up some of the flower colors; making some straw on the bottom.

John's finished work. I like how the background layer comes through and gives a looser look.

The less you paint on this, generally the better it will look.

Here are some other masa paper projects I've done in this blog:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8812132386157895665/2357452782375511562

Watercolor Canvas

Painting on Watercolor Canvas

Painting on watercolor canvas is completely different from most other surfaces I've used. (This is high quality canvas treated with a ground that accepts watercolor.) The paint sits on top of the canvas instead of being absorbed into the paper, so it stays bright. You don't get backruns. The paint can be lifted over and over again. But I have to admit, it feels weird at first.

I can't say I'd use it for a lot of the things I paint, in particular portraits. But landscapes, sunsets, and still life would be my choices for this.

I made the mistake of buying a PAD of Fredrix watercolor canvas instead of board.

Loose canvas DOES NOT act at all like paper. The minute a brush touches the canvas, it curls and warps. A LOT. It's impossible to paint on.  So...you either have to attach it to a gatorboard .....(see below)...with staples...

Or glue it to some heavy surface. I tried gluing it to the heavy board from the back of an empty watercolor block, and also to some wood board.

To stretch it to a gatorboard, wet the canvas -- I mean soak it for 15-20 min-- and staple it to the board. Dry –you can use a hair dryer.

Or dampen the canvas and glue to a panel with YES paste, or heavy gel, which is more archival. You can also try matte medium, but that won't be as permanent a glue as gel. You will need to flatten it and dry it overnight before using.

*I also tried some of the spray glues....you would not have to wet the canvas before gluing it to a board. It seemed pretty successful, and I didn't have to wait for it to dry.

I purchased the pad because I thought it would be more economical for a class project. (About $22 for a pad of 10 12x16 pieces....about $10 for one 11 x 14 board...and about $18 for a 12 x 16 stretched canvas) So even with the glue and board support, it was still more economical. Just more work than I anticipated.

Watercolor Tips and Tricks from Tom Lynch

Tom Lynch is a watercolor artist who has been experimenting with watercolor canvas from Fredrix for at least 15 years now. Below is a link to several pages of tips to make your experience with canvas a lot easier. (not a video, although you can find some of his videos on youtube)

https://fredrixartistcanvas.com/archives/1874

The ones you most need to remember are:

1. If you are using a canvas pad, you MUST stretch it onto a gatorboard or glue it to a hard surface. By itself, it buckles and curls too much to be used.

2. After stretching (or attaching to board) Wipe it down with water and a cloth rag before painting on it. This will also help lighten your pencil lines. Then dry with hair dryer or air dry for 10 minutes.

The first thing you will notice about painting with this is that you can remove paint easily. This is a plus for removing mistakes or making changes; a negative for glazing processes. So if you want to glaze, you have to use a soft brush and very few strokes, otherwise the lower paint layer will lift.

Wet on wet acts a little differently. You still get blends, but it's just different.

You don't have to worry about hard lines that much. They are easy to soften and lift.

It seems to "pill" when you paint on it. That is lessened if you wipe it down with water and a rag before painting. 

FINISHING: After the painting is dry, it should be varnished if you don't want to put it under glass. I use Krylon's Kamar Varnish, which is a spray made for watercolor, acrylic, or oil. To apply it, spray lightly for a first coat. This sets the watercolor. A heavier first coat could rewet the paint and cause it to run or smear. After the first light coat has dried, you can apply one or two more coats. Dry and pop into a frame.

Here are some results from class:

Here is one more result from the board with watercolor ground last week:

How to prepare a regular canvas to use watercolor (using ground)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=IOuCvW9Ws88

A short demo of using canvas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6LVcnwhdIU

Tom LYnch using wc canvas:

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

Board coated with Watercolor Ground

 

Watercolor on Watercolor Ground

You can purchase an archival treated board (Ampersand Aquabord) from Dick Blick or other art outlets. However, you can also make your own from a wood board and some Watercolor Ground.

A "ground" is simply a medium that makes a surface capable of absorbing whatever paint you want to use, in this case watercolor. QoR makes a ground, as does Daniel Smith. Daniel Smith makes it in 6 colors: White, Buff Titanium, Transparent, Black, Pearlescent, and Gold. I've used Daniel Smith before, but wanted to try QoR (by Golden) brand. 

A ground like this can be added to many surfaces: wood, glass, plexiglas, metal, mat board, plastic, etc. 

To prepare the wood, I first put two layers of gesso on it. To apply it so that the surface is fairly smooth: Brush it on, then roll it with small sponge paint roller. After the gesso dried, I applied 3 layers of watercolor ground, with the same technique: brush it on, roll with small paint roller, dry completely.

After 3 layers, I dried it for at least 48 hours. (Instructions say 24-48, but I like to be certain it is completely dry.)

Cost-wise, this is much more economical than purchasing aquabord, especially if you have access to a lot of wood. I did 12 8x8 boards with half a jar of ground. I got QoR ground on sale at Blicks for around $12...Amazon also sells it for about $14 for 8 oz. (237 ml) But a jar will make about 20 8 x 8 boards. 

For this project, I wanted students to experience several things: How does it absorb the paint? How well does it glaze? How well does it lift? Can you do wet into wet? The feel of brush against surface is very different than paper.

First, everyone copied the subject with Saral, since you obviously can't use a light box.

Be careful not to smudge or copy too dark. GRAPHITE DOES NOT ERASE WELL on this surface. If you are drawing you can use watercolor pencil, as it will erase with water.

For my reference I used a photo by Stuart Swain from Paint My Photo.

The first technique I wanted to show was how it performs wet on dry. The middle bit of foliage is done first. Using a medium green (like sap) and a dark green (I used green apatite genuine) and a yellow, I applied dabs of paint, alternating the colors and leaving tiny bits of WHITE. It's a very impressionistic method and look.

(If your greens are limited, you can make a medium green look darker and shadowy by adding purple to it.)

You will notice that it doesn't take long for this to dry.

Next I used a flower color (in one I used magenta and violet, and in the one above I used coral and orange). I used the same process, making clusters of flower color, NOT POLKA DOTS. After the flowers dried, I used a lighter green (medium green with yellow) to put in the foliage. I still left tiny bits of white. At the same time, I used the green in a negative painting way to shape the flowers more. Then I added a few tiny bits of darker color in some centers.

The umbrellas used a glazing technique. For each one, I glazed over with a pale shade. (for example, with this first one, I used pale yellow). I dried it. Then I left the first row yellow, then painted all the others pale orange. Dry. Finally, I painted the top section a dark orange, adding in a very dark at the very top.

I did this process with each successive umbrella.

All that is left is a cerulean wash for the sky, lifting some clouds if you want it while paint is wet.

I blushed over the tops of the poles with a wet brush, dragging some of the dark paint over the pole tops. 

(The sun would reflect some of the umbrella color onto the poles) When dry, I shaded the left side of the poles. I used a very fine liner brush to paint in the umbrella ribs. I also shade one side of the umbrella to give a little depth.

I had everyone try to lift some paint. Watercolor lifts easily from the ground. If you only want to lighten a color, just wet the area in the shape you want; if you want it back to white, wet it and blot it to lift. You do not need a stiff brush to lift.

IF I WERE TO DO THIS AGAIN, I would paint in the umbrellas before some of the foliage that goes in front of it so I wasn't having to avoid the greens while I painted. I could have just lifted off parts of the umbrella where I wanted to paint green, since it's so easy to lift)

Positives:

1. Lifts back to white easily. Therefore, easy to correct mistakes. And the lifting does not damage the surface, so I can paint over it as much as I like. 

2. Colors sit on top a little more, so look vibrant.

3. You can do some glazing, as long as you use a soft brush and don't accidentally lift the lower layer of paint.

4. You can take the entire board back to white, but not over and over again.

5. You do not need to mat or frame under glass. You can just use a spray varnish (like Kamar) to protect it.

Negatives:

1. Pencil marks do not erase.

2. Sometimes it is TOO easy to lift.

Below is the painting on regular paper.  Since this painting is so small (8x8) I didn't do some of the shading and details I might have if it were larger.