MASTERCLASS
- Dampen the paper
It’s important to understand if your paper is
still wet or not at this stage. If you want to
work in a wet-on-wet technique, you need to
re-wet your paper sometimes.
I had been painting for nearly 30 minutes,
so my paper was starting to dry a little. I like
to work with my paper quite wet so I added a
little bit of water on to it, so that I could keep
on working wet-on-wet. You can add water to
the paper with a plant spray bottle or you can
load a brush with some water and re-wet the
area you are working on.
- Cast some shadows
Avoid black or flat greys for shadows: instead,
try to mix mid-to-dark blues with earth
colours (such as siennas or umbers) to
create a colourful grey that will add interest.
Here I used a mix of Burnt Sienna and
Ultramarine Violet with a size 8 round brush
to paint the shadowy edge of the vase,
spreading so that it was darker close to the
vase and softer as it stretched away.
- Add more contrast
Using a larger round brush, I added darker
values to the background just to enhance the
main flowers (the focal point) with a few hard
edges. I used a size 4 round brush loaded
with a thick mix of Burnt Sienna plus Shadow
Violet and French Ultramarine. I want the
foreground of my painting to be more
detailed – it means adding darker marks
close to the flowers that are part of the
foreground. Think of it this way: if you want
something to appear more distant, use less
contrast, less detail and more soft edges.- Lift out unwanted colour
I wanted to restore the lighter areas now
so I started lifting out some pigment from
the paper. It’s important to lift out with a
synthetic brush (here I use two flat brushes:
the 1/2” and 3/4”) because they are stiffer,
so the pigment will be lifted more easily. Note
that that the brush shouldn’t be loaded with
too much water – it needs to be a bit thirsty
to absorb the pigment.- Finishing touches
I used a rigger brush to add all the lines and dots to my composition. These are the
calligraphic elements that will define some shapes, directions and attract the viewer’s eyes.
They will also define a few hard edges, making a few shapes appear closer. At this point, some
areas are still a little bit humid – it’s a wet-on-wet work, after all. Keep in mind that plenty of
the calligraphic work should be on your focal point or used to enhance something, don’t just
add things for the sake of it. Too many lines and marks will result inanoverworkedpainting.
Artists & Illustrators 47