Materials, Processes & Techniques
It’s such a warm weekend that I thought I would set myself up in the garden to write this blog whilst my 3 crazies play (noisily, with some arguing, but generally nicely) in the paddling pool. I realised as I started, that this is my eleventh Blog; I’ve almost continued to write these for a year, a whole year!!!!
One of the areas I haven’t written about is my favourite materials, the processes I follow and the techniques I use, so that is what I’ll be writing about this month!
Materials
In the pic are my most FAVOURITE materials. At the moment I am loving my metallic paints and will quite often use them with my standard Van Gogh watercolours (which I also love!). I currently have two sets of the metallic watercolours; Arteza and a cheaper set Guca. The Arteza metallic watercolours have a lovely creamy consistency, strong pigment and a shimmery sparkle. Whereas, although the Guca metallic watercolours have a great selection
of colours they are grainier, patchy and can be less intense depending on which colour you use. You definitely pay for quality. I would recommend playing around with them as they do behave differently to standard watercolours.
I currently use Uni Pin fine liners which are water resistant and fade proof. They are great pens and come in a variety of different sized nibs and colours. However, I am very aware that once they run out they are thrown away and so I am currently looking into reusable and refillable pens. My favourite so far is from Toms Studio. They are an investment so I want to make the right decision and I am currently investigating - I will let you know!
Finally, I did want to mention the surfaces I prefer and why. I know many artists are happy to stretch watercolour paper to prevent the bubbling, however I find it a big faff. So, I use watercolour block which is instant, easy to use and there is no prep for when you are time pressured. I have A5, A4 and A3 Windsor & Newton hot pressed watercolour block and A2 Arches Hot pressed watercolour block. Arches is much more expensive, whereas Windsor & Newton is middle of the road and to be honest I don’t think there is much difference apart from the sizes available and the price! I personally prefer the hot pressed rather than the cold pressed as it is less textured for when I apply the pen detail.
I have also started playing around with adding watercolour and pen detail to wooden panel boards. It’s early days but I am enjoying experimenting with another surface and the different ways the materials behave. I think it is really important to continue to experiment and play with materials in order to develop skills, progress and keep work fresh.
Processes & Techniques
To demonstrate the processes and techniques I use when making a piece of work I thought I would go through each step I took when creating ‘Flying Jewels’ which I recently completed.
Step 1: Once I finished roughly planning out this idea in my sketchbook and decided on the colour pallet I lightly sketched it out on to the watercolour block. I try to keep the sketch minimal, focusing on position, shape and form. For this piece I used the Arches Block as I wanted to work on A2 paper.
Step 2: When I was happy with the light sketch I then re-drew it using a light grey pen adding all the detail and information I needed for adding the colour. I then rubbed out the pencil so the paper was clean with clear pen lines.
(I love this part; its where you can really see the composition and get a sense of what it is going to look like when finished.)
Step 3: The next stage is to add the colour. I tend to keep it very basic and treat it as a base colour layer working from the background to the foreground. I add very little detail with the colour so it’s quite blocky. I always think it looks messy and child-like at this stage!
Step 4: Once it was thoroughly dry I went in with the pen, the background first. This is the part that takes many hours and lots of concentration, but it is also the part I love the most. Adding texture and marks, building up the shadow areas to create shape and movement brings the piece alive.
Step 5: After I finished the background, I started on the foreground, and suddenly sections of the piece are complete.
‘Flying Jewels’ took many hours, I loved the process and I am really happy with the end result..…so much so that I am already working on another large piece!!
‘Flying Jewels’ A2, Van Gogh Watersolours, Azteca metallic watercolours, uni pin fine liners in black, dark grey and light grey, on Arches hot pressed watercolour block.
That’s it from me! I hope you have enjoyed this months blog, ping me if you would like to ask a question or make a comment. See you in July!!!!