I have been requested to post a little tutorial to give people an idea of how I work.
So here's one!
First off! Here's today's setup:
You'll see I have a wooden board on top of the drawing board where I stick my paintings. It took a bit of slapping from my Uni tutors before I turned to these boards and I've never looked back. The main issue with watercolour is the crinkling of the paper. You really need to keep it flat to be able to work properly!
So what I will use when painting is a type of tape called 'gumstrip'. You wet one side of it (which has glue) and then flatten it against the edges of the sketch. (the sketch on the right is another painting I'm doing atm)
With this particular speedpaint sketch, I haven't been able to stick it down to the board for the simple reason that I can't scan the progress once it's stuck.
I have been called a filthy painter. Here is the reason why:
Normal watercolour artists would not mud up their colours like this. I've had a lot of stick from Uni tutors because of the way I treat paint. :P
Here's an example of a tube paint I use:
Right! And a final tip before the painting starts:
Use tepid water (ie: water that has been boiled in a kettle). For some reason, this works lots better. I also tend to paint with freshly boiled water. You'll find the paint behaves a bit differently.
ENOUGH RAMBLAGE.
Here's the speedpaint!
I present to you, the first sketch of Zabahiev's face. Another character from my story.
I will start off with a pencil sketch. I used to work with pen-linework about a year ago or so, but soon found it way too restricting. Felt like I was just doing a sort of childrens colour-in book thing.. (DONT GO OUTSIDE THE LINE AAAAGH) But now when ditching the solid lines, my paintings can sometimes look really rough and messy instead. Guess it all really is about your preference. :)
I add the first layer.
(You can see I got into the groove and started adding the second layer on the collar by habit, then had to stop myself to scan)
Many watercolour artists tend to wet the entire paper before applying colour. It all depends on what you aim to do, but as a general rule, I -never- wet the paper when doing characters.
First layer needs to cover a lot, so you will need a lot of water together with the paint and spread it out quickly before it dries. (I also happen to LOVE chaotic watermarks that you have no control over :D)
Second layer:
Always important to leave it between layers to it is allowed to dry.
Third layer:
Notice how I begun the entire painting with a light tone and now just keep on adding the darker bits!
Fourth layer:
Here you might be able to see that I've used some tissue to remove colour on the top of his head, around his eye and a bit on his nose. It's fun to just dab a bit while the paint is wet. Also works as an eraser if you've done something wrong.
Fifth layer:
It being a speedpaint, I'll prolly leave it here and just go on to something else. A more 'serious' painting would have many more layers. On this particular layer though, I've focused on adding the more refined details around the eye.
I like being selectively detailed. You can leave one area really rough and then have one bit that's super detailed. It draws the eye in as well!
After the fifth layer, this sketch was really crinkled up due to me not being able to stick it down properly, but hopefully you get an idea of the process.
