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pat1940
06-11-2018, 05:44 AM
I thought I would give watercolor a try, not too good but will keep trying, any advice is welcome

D Akey
06-11-2018, 11:15 AM
Good first go using a challenging medium. The approach is a bit different since it's all about transparency.

What you might want to think about is thinking in terms of your overall light and dark in the original and then you can get loose with less focus on precision and later tighten areas up with some clever marks that define edges and so on. But that's just one approach that I find kind of fun and the interaction with the medium is more about working with what the painting says it wants from you.

Digital watercolor is rather different (I think) from actual real world watercolor. In the real world one can use puddles and insert paint and let it flow to expand within the are of the puddle in interesting ways. In digital there are ways to approximate that but it handles differently. So it's a matter of trying to match preconceived notions of what a watercolor should do and end up looking like.

If you have no preconception, I think in some ways you're ahead of the game because you will see what it does and just run with it.

I'm not a digital watercolor guy (yet) so I have no techniques to offer. But this is cool what you've done. And you will evolve a technique based on what you're experiencing in the process. There's bunches of watercolors out there in the world, many digital. Looking at them will give you far more ideas than you might imagine.

pat1940
06-12-2018, 03:20 AM
Thanks DAkey for your comments, I am going to watch more watercolor videos, I get so confused with all the layers you have to do, do you think I should watch traditional watercolor videos or stick with digital so I dont get more confused lol

D Akey
06-12-2018, 05:39 AM
Understand that there are too many ways to approach watercolor. So select what you like as a starting point. Some are very big on spontaneity with splashy marks and wet into wet. Some are tight and precise. The approach is different. So see what you like in a painting first.

Generally what the digital world is trying to emulate is all that. Just look at the painting at first and how they approached the image they're making. See what you like about it. That will help you to focus and it's not a big jumble. A step at a time. Check whether there's strong lighting or not and how they broke the picture down into areas. They then worked shapes (probably) and let the water flow the paint where it wanted to go. You can control a shape fairly easily. Then it's about the steps to add bits. Slow and steady.

Once you kinda get an idea of what's involved. Then you can learn how to do it digitally. Some things you will be able to replicate and others not. But if you know ahead of time generally your break down of elements -- the big picture, you then know what you will be putting down and see if you can get it to.

The caution about just learning the digital mechanics first is that one doesn't know why and thus one can't see what the point is. The digital side of it comes in as a solution to knowing what step after step is.

And of course that's just until you "get it". Then it all makes sense and it's less overwhelming.

Pick something really simple and have a play. It all makes sense in a little while. It's like learning a language. At first nothing makes sense. But when you know what you want to say, you can learn that little bit and see the point and build outward from there.

Have fun like working a puzzle. That will make all this much easier to sort.

pat1940
06-13-2018, 04:12 AM
WOW thanks so much DAkey for taking the time to coach me, I will keep all of this in mind and now I am just going to check out the net and pick a simple one that I like and do the challenge lol