Working with Watercolors

[Hungry_Wombat]

Alright I'm working on a watercolor piece right now and I need some advice how to go about it. So far I only have the sketch drawn out in pen. Will water colors smudge the ink? How well do they blend? And typically are they easy to use with precision?

[Nickillus]

A lot depends on the ink you've used. Some will some won't. Try it out on a scrap piece of paper so you're prepared for the possible results.

Watercolours blend beautifully and often erratically, especially on wet paper. You have control by deciding how wet the paper is, how much paint/water is loaded on the brush and by how steep an angle you set the drawing board. The texture of the paper, the specific pigment used (some are more granular than others, some actually stain the paper) and the brushes you use will all affect the outcome too.

There's a really nice book about the work of Sir William Russell Flint, with a good break down of how he laid his glazes to build up rich and subtle paintings. I'll be darned if I can remember the exact name of the book or spot it on Amazon for sure - but keep his name in mind and ask at your local book store.

Watercolour was described to me at college as pushing a puddle round the paper, and that's a pretty good description of what you actually do. I'd tend to work light to dark, buliding up slowly, laying down the lightest tones first. If you lay down intense pigment early on you will find it shifts when you paint anything across it and if you want it crisp, you end up repainting it. You can also use the shifting to your advantage later on though, once you understand the paint better.

Play with the paint on on something not too precious first, before tackling this picture, if it's important to you. Warm yoursef up a bit. Enjoy. It's a lovely medium.

There's a ton of really good 'how to' books out there that can fill you in much more fully. Treat yourslef to an hour browsing in that same local bookstore where that Flint book may be lurking if you're lucky.

[erinel]

I actually disagree with Nickillus here.
You have to remember when you watercolor that it's very different from everything else. I would not layer up the color, because that's the way you'd paint with any other medium, but I would not suggest it with watercolor because then the colors can get very muddle very fast and they lost the watercolor-ness that makes them cool! I always say that you should put down colors as you want them to be in one go, and then don't touch it. I'd suggest reading a Charles Reid book. He knows his stuff.
To answer your real question. With practice, you can get precision.

[Nickillus]

You're absolutely right Erinel. You are talking about the fresh and beautiful qualities of the medium. Good point.

I was coming at it from an old fashioned perspective, having used it for twenty years as an illustrator. Flint was very methodical. If you want that sort of look, his is one way to get to it.

As with any meduim, there are any number of ways to use it. You will quickly find out what works and what does not for you. It's freshness is definitely one of its great glories and I'm so glad Erinel stepped in and reminded me. Slap my legs for only giving a partial answer.

[Viridis]

You can definitely layer watercolor, but you need to handle it in thin glazes and washes, instead of dumping tons of paint. There's only so much paint the paper can hold; after that it will start to lift up into other colors and get muddy. I tend to work wet on dry, so I have fewer problems... it really depends on how wet you like to work your media.

You can paint over waterproof ink (like India ink or Pitt pens) and it won't smear, but normal ballpoint pen will run everywhere, and so will Microns. Like someone else said, test first to be sure.

Also remember: always preserve your whites! It's very difficult to lift up watercolor once it's down, so if you have to use masking fluid or something to keep your whites until you're nearly done.

[RyerOrdStar]

Actually Bic Crystal pens don't run when watercolour is applied, at least on illustration board and watercolour paper.

[CCThrom]

India ink will not bleed if it dries before you apply watercolor. marking pens and "fount" inks are likely to bleed. But especially with marking pens, you need to experiment... some are ok.

If you want precision in watercolor, you will probably want to work in thin glaze layers light-to-dark... make sure the paper dries in between each layer.

One trick to get the paint to go where you want it to is to first paint plain water onto the area you want to color. The color will "run" to the edges of the wet area leaving a hard edge. This will allow you to have a balance between the cool runny water effects and a crisp edge.

[Baron Impossible]

I can't tell you about watercolours because I haven't a clue but I was just looking at David Curtis' watercolours this morning and if you ever need inspiration then check out his gallery.

http://www.djcurtis.co.uk/DAVIDC~1/watercolour_gx.html

[Nickillus]

Great call BaronImpossible. Gorgeous artwork. Thanks for that.
If I remember correctly Paul Bonner uses a lot of watercolour too.
Pau Bonner (http://www.paulbonner.net/)

[Baron Impossible]

That's right, Nick, Paul's supernatural when it comes to what he can do with watercolour. I think I first saw his work in Spectrum and thought, Clearly that's a misprint, it says Watercolour and must mean Oils! Amazing stuff.

[Nickillus]

I felt exactly the same when I read the word 'watercolour' next to his sumptuous artwork, Si. Jaw droppingly good. Kind of lifts your spirits and depresses you at same time doesn't it, realising what can be done and how far there is to go?

In a totally different style, but just as gorgeous in my eyes is the work of Carl Larson (http://www.clg.se/encarl.aspx)

Tha clarity of his lines is wonderful

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Since no one has really mentioned it yet...if you're worried about screwing up don't forget you can always scan and/or trace your linework if you don't like the result. I usually do this for any non-practice piece, which has additional benefits such as allowing you to test out color schemes in digital beforehand if you so desire.

Another handy thing to have: graphite transfer paper which is a cheap solution if you don't have a lightbox available, or your paper is too thick to use one well. Just be forewarned that some of those don't erase as well as pencils do.

[Flake]

Zorn did some mad watercolours, it's kinda funny that they look much the same as his oils and gouache work in an artist > medium sorta way.

666212

[Hungry_Wombat]

Wow, thanks for all the help everyone. The piece I'm working on is pretty important to me so I guess I'll experiment a bit before I go at it. I'm pretty inexperienced at painting in general seeing as up until this point I've only worked with ink, graphite and charcoal. I guess this'll be a fun project and once again, thanks for all the help I appreciate it greatly.