66 artistMay 2020 http://www.painters-online.co.uk
LINE & WASH
t STAGE FOUR
I started to add the green of the foliage and, most
importantly, some of the more dominant shadows falling
across the building. I try to fill the shadows in before the
main colour of the walls as I prefer the look this creates. I find
that by adding the larger block shadows after the colour of
the walls, the whole painting can start to look at bit murky.
This order seems to give the artwork more depth whilst
maintaining a ‘clean’ lookq STAGE FIVE
I added a very pale wash to depict the colours of the brick.
For the lighter areas I just added more water, I didn’t use any
white. I find that the white pan of Schmincke paint is a little
too opaque and some of the ink detail can be lost under it. It’s
great for carefully depicting some highlights as a final touch,
but not beforep STAGE SIX
Once I had blocked in all the main colours, I went back over the image, again and again, building
up shadow, tone and texture. I like the effect of shadows on an artwork, especially for a building,
so I like to layer these up to highlight the contrast between the areas in shadow and in sunlightMILLY’S TOP TEN TIPS
l Stay very loose with your mark
making.
l Try to be as confident and expressive
as possible.
l Make sure you’re completely happy
with the ink drawing before starting
with the watercolour wash.
l Don’t use white to lighten your
colours, use water – the white is too
opaque and will ruin your ink lines.
l Do use the white at the end with a
fine brush to add flashes of light to any
highlights – sometimes I might even
use a white gouache for this to create a
contrast that really lifts the image.
l Use a mixture of ink and dark paint
to create your shadows – this forms a
lovely bond between these media and
makes the painting flow.
l Don’t worry too much about the
detail surrounding the building – the
looser this is, the more the detail on the
actual building will jump out.
l Test your chosen ink or ink pen on
your chosen paper, with your chosen
watercolours, before you start. Sounds
obvious but the materials I’ve used are
my personal favourite combination,
and a change of paper can make any
waterproof pen not so waterproof!
l If you’re sketching in pencil first, rub
your lines out as early as possible in the
process so that your painting maintains
an organic look.
l Work upright if you can so that the
perspective of the building is still clear
as the artwork develops.