Artists & Illustrators — June 2017

64 Artists & Illustrators

brush, then added grass leaves with a Daniel Smith

watercolour stick, which introduces different textures.

The sword brush is a favourite: it is a lovely responsive

drawing tool that is perfect for describing finer stems and

leaves, as well as the veins in the bees wings. I added the

bumblebees last to give the painting focus and narrative.

Printed bees of this size can look a bit clunky so, instead,

they are painted directly, and kept simple and delicate

with a minimum of detail.

LOOSE WATERCOLOUR

My allotment prints, such as Allotment, Autumn (below),

demonstrate another approach to monoprinting that

reverses the process used in my prints of borders.

Instead of printing first, I start by painting a very loose

watercolour onto paper, allowing colourfields to merge

wet-in-wet. Once dry, I monoprint over the top. A way to

avoid the first areas of gouache drying is to print one

small area at a time, for example, the wheelbarrow, then

the watering can and so on, making sure that the glass

or acrylic is wiped clean between each printing. If I feel

the painting needs more work, it is usually a few brush

strokes, such as stalks and leaves. The underpainting

with watercolour stitches the composition together

and provides a good backdrop for printing.

I would recommend monoprinting if you are stuck

in a rut, feel you are repeating yourself or want to

experiment with a technique. It creates opportunities

to have a ‘conversation’ with your artwork,

responding to each stage rather than attempting

to impose a premeditated idea onto the paper.

http://www.kateosborneart.com

painted on the acrylic. All kinds of textures, broken areas

and splodges emerge. Next there is the question of what

to do with the resulting image. Sometimes it needs hardly

anything – the picture speaks for itself, and additions and

improvements can kill it. Sometimes I feel nothing is

needed, as with Still Life with Lemon (inset). And, at other

times, just the tiniest of brush, crayon or watercolour

stick mark is all it takes, as with Bumblebees and

Nasturtiums (above). Sometimes it needs more: for

instance, going back into the painting with off-white

gouache and defining some shapes: it’s one of the

advantages of working with opaque paint.

If you paint, especially with watercolour, you know

one of the biggest challenges is knowing when to

stop. It’s a judgement that I’ve found becomes

easier with experience, but it’s still a call that needs

careful thought with every painting. I felt Autumn

Border (previous page) needed more definition. The

flowers were persicaria with various grasses; I darkened

one or two of the flower heads and loosely drew the

individual flowers and some grass stems with a sword

Top tip

A sword brush is a

responsive drawing

tool that is perfect

for describing

fine detail

ABOVE Bumblebees

and Nasturtiums,

monoprint, gouache

and watercolour,

25x20cm INSET Still

Life with Lemon,

monoprint, gouache

12x15cm

RIGHT Allotment,

Autumn,

monoprint,

gouache and

watercolour,

18x20cm

63 Watercolour_Kate Osborne.indd 64 06/04/2017 12:44