http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistMay 2020 51
PRACTICAL
Negative spaces
I also feel planning and sequencing
in water-based work requires an
awareness of negative spaces. When
we draw this is a strategy we frequently
employ. I think of both watercolour and
ink work as a wet form of drawing and
I often use my awareness of negative
spaces – it helps me to defi ne different
areas on the paper. Describing the
space around something may describe
the item better than representing the
thing itself, as it does with dry drawing.
This month’s demonstration includes
a variety of strategies for mark making,
use of larger white areas, negative
spaces and tonal variety. To follow this
you will need a washing line, some
white cloths, eg towels and pillow cases,
and some foliage. If you’re working
indoors a pot plant will do. I worked
outside and perched in the bushes!
Please take this idea as a starting
point. You can develop something
very similar and working from life
will give you so much more visual
reference. Originally I thought about
using a patterned blanket with the
white items but eventually decided to
use just white things. Once you’re set
up, do some drawing, decide on your
composition and then make a plan.
How to plan a work on paper
A plan really can help you reach a
successful painting outcome. If you can,
talk your plan through with a painting
buddy, as verbalising the plan is a great
way of fi nding out if anything has been
omitted.
A plan will concentrate your painting
into bursts of activity: you will know
what you are going to do; you will do
it, leave that part to dry, then do the
next part. It can become quite logical
and methodical. Remember, if you are
tackling more than one version of the
same piece, the drying periods can
u STAGE ONE
I treated the hanging cloths as negative spaces and
retained the white by working around them. Using a
mid-tone and water with a fi lbert, I worked wet-in-wet
to suggest foliage on a far bush, then with a variety of
round brushes and mixed ink tones I established some
of the vegetation on the closest plant. Next I started
working on the negative space between the laundry,
working wet-in-wet, tackling the picture in naturally
occurring sections so that the wet area remained
manageable. Random shapes, suggestive of the
dark areas I perceived between the vine leaves in the
bottom right corner, were placed using a large brush,
which made large marks. Before it dried I dropped
darker ink into areas where shadow was greatest, then
blotted with blotting paper
be spent working on the next version.
Here’s a general plan I use with my
students:
1 Establish your composition with
thumbnail sketches, transfer your
preferred composition onto a larger
format, select an appropriate paper
thickness and, depending on the
overall size of the piece, do consider
making two or three. If the work is a full-
sized sheet of watercolour paper this
may not be necessary but I defi nitely
recommend working in parallel.
2 Identify the white areas, however tiny,
then decide your strategy to preserve
them – wax, resist, masking or just leave
blank?
3 Identify the darkest tones. If it helps
you when judging the mid-tones these
may be completed reasonably soon
during the execution of the work.4 Identify any large areas of tone. It is
really helpful to get these fi lled in, and
allowed to dry, reasonably early on.
In general it is a good idea to work on
larger areas and progress down to the
more specifi c areas of detail.
5 Think about hard edges and soft
edges. Plan to let any hard edges dry
thoroughly.
6 Will there be any wet-in-wet work?
7 Think about pattern, textures and
mark making. How will the different
component parts of your picture be
built up? Try out, experiment and fi nd
the correct implement to make your
mark making as effi cient as possible.
8 Think about the brushes you will
need. Will you use a fl at, a round, a
fi lbert or rigger? Will you use a pencil
to press in, a pencil or pen to dip? Will
you blot?DEMONSTRATIONSummer Laundry
YOU WILL NEED
� A selection of brushes or
implements to suit your plan
� Ink
� Appropriate thickness paper,
fastened to a board
� Water
� Pots and mixing areas
� Blotting paper
� Tissue or cloth
� Pencil and sketchbook
� Your completed plan