I’ve been subscribed to this community because I love the way watercolors look and I’ve been admiring your posts greatly.
I was wondering what your approach to these paintings is? For example, what prompted you to create this image? When you begin, do you see them in your mind’s eye just like they come out? Do you make rough outlines in pencil or light colors before you flesh then out?
Keep up the good work and good luck moving your house.
Thank you! So, I usually browse a lot, and I also have a large collection of (mostly vintage) children’s books that I use for inspiration. Other times, it’s just learning to do things. So for example for my recent knight illustration, I thought to myself that I never played with reflected metal before, and I should try to illustrate it.
I use pencil on paper to sketch it, then I use a waterproof gray-colored ink pen to create the clean lines (usually 0.3mm Copic Multiliner or 0.5mm Uni Pin Fineline – sometimes a Winsor & Newton sepia-colored ink pen), rub out the pencil, and then I color it, usually using very muted colors or a limited palette of just 2-4 colors (otherwise they come out too garish).
After coloring it, I will use a white gel pen, white posca pen, Caran D’Ache Luminance white pencil, or white gouache to create extra highlights. Sometimes a Faber Castel white soft pastel pencil too. Anything to provide highlights, that make the painting look more dynamic. I find this is needed with watercolor, even if I leave empty regions unpainted to provide highlights. There are some very small highlights that you just can’t paint around (or use masking fluid that usually makes its edges ugly), so I add these highlights at the end.
For more texture, or to give some more emphasis somewhere, or to create patterns that are difficult to actually paint, I’d also add some muted colored pencils too. Never too colorful colored pencils, because they will jump out too much.
Thanks! I have already an idea for a book for children that I can write and illustrate, but the problem is that now with AI, that market has disappeared.
I love your work! The watercolors you post here on Lemmy are worthy of an art gallery or illustrations in a children’s book, really anywhere!! They need to be published in some form. Please tell me you are getting recognized for your work!
Oh, wow, thank you! I have plans for a book, but so far, not much recognition exists. I started painting you see when the enshitiffication of instagram started, and so I didn’t go far with normal social media. I had more luck at the federated Pixelfed!
The first one I saw which is still my favorite is the collage-type one that you posted a few weeks back where you cut and pasted each individual piece of the picture together. That is a super unique looking style that I feel like I haven’t really seen before. Really beautiful piece, I just love it!
Oh, thank you so much! I might do some more watercolor collages again in the future. I’m currently moving back to Europe (that’s why I have anxiety with our move), and all my gear and supplies are all packed. I’ve kept out with me only a palette of 24 watercolors, a small sketchbook, 2 brushes, a posca pen, and a few colored pencils.
Depends what type of painting you want to do. If you’re after narrative illustration or decorative art, then watercolor and gouache are better options (especially acryla gouache, that is very common now among pro illustrators). If you’re after landscapes, portraits, or otherwise more classic subjects, then oils or acrylic are best. For abstract art, acrylic is best. Of course, you can do anything with anything, but some mediums require more work than others to make something look good, depending on the genre.
For acrylic, start with cheaper paints, and as you learn, you can move to better brands that are light fast. Consider acrylic paper in the beginning, if you find it cheaper than canvas in your area. Let me know if you have any questions.
Never heard of acryla gouache before. I’ve tried water color once and I love how it just does its own thing. It’s so tender too and I’d love to combine it with black ink.
I’d also like to try more Indian ink. I have some pencils but I’m thinking of getting some pots. Any tips there? I was thinking it allows for intense colors but also you can water it down and use it more like water color.
Oil I don’t know where to start. It sounds very involved and that I might need access to an oven and stuff?
I’ll look into acrylic paper. I have a bunch of canvas because I found a cute little store stuffed to the brim with everything and it was very affordable. It was owned by some artist. But paper I could just tape to some wood on the easel.
Currently I’m working on something that is rather challenging. It’s a night scene that’s partly city and partly nature and it has light. I’m not sure if I should mix gradients, say the color of what the light is on, and the light itself. Or if I should let the background dry and then use ample water so it becomes transparent? I could use some white yellow as light on top.
watercolor
Hot
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.