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Thread: Watercolor WIPs- Sharing and Learning

  1. #1
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    Watercolor WIPs- Sharing and Learning

    After some discussion earlier in September, I'm starting this thread as an attempt at sort of making a home for watercolor works on these forums. I'll be posting my attempts here, and I'm really very interested in seeing how others might be working in Artrage as well. A lot of the art and tutorials I see here are focused on the oils and pencil tools, which is cool. I just figured a place where we could learn, experiment, and teach each other about the watecolor tool, as well as techniques adapted from some of the other tools, might be helpful.

    I'll start it off by sharing something I've been working on tonight. "Blue Haze". In this piece, I wanted to experiment with using the sticker spray and PS brushes, imported textures, and the Smear blender brush. After I had lay down and spread around a lot of color, I went in and carved out a picture with the pencil too. I then went back in and did more highlights and shadows with the watercolor tool to emphasize the composition. Lots of fun, and perhaps something relatively watery in parts- particularly the "clouds" up above. Thoughts?
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  2. #2
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    Your mind never cease to add discoveries to the aim of producing the most credible watercolors effects ... and You do succeed, one way or the other!
    Panta rei (everything flows)!

  3. #3
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    Good work, Steve, I like it.

  4. #4
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    I too! Great lesson.

  5. #5
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    This is so nice and so well painted. The sky is beautiful, well done Steve
    Sometimes...I remember better with my eyes closed

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  6. #6
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    SteveB.. I applaud your efforts to establish a place for watercolors...as that was my medium of choice for over 30 years I am always looking at your experiments although I have not really tried much your continued great successes are an inspiration to give it a go. This one in particular has that great wet in wet look to the background and then establishing the forms in a drybrush style over it really gives an authentic look.. just needs a few more splatters and drips.....

  7. #7
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    You're right about the occasional splatter and drip adding authenticity. It's hard, even when being careful not to have a few. I find sometimes that digital artists sometimes overdo this though and really splatter that mofo. It's really just a drip or two, and often disguised under one or two additional layerings of paint, so the color's muted. That's probably how I should try it in these.

    Re: dry brush strokes over wet into wet stuff- I agree about the feeling of authenticity that comes from that process in particular. This is something I think is often missing from some of the pieces that I see here. When doing natural media, there's often a stepped process of wetting and drying depending on the amount of control and bleed you want, and this is shown visually in your brush strokes. Digitally, it's so easy to have total control that you really have to work at giving it up and letting the paint "play" before you go back over it and work in the detail.

    Also, I've definitely been using the Airbrush for some of the very soft sort of color washes, where you're just adding a gentle hue over something. You can see this most in the rosy hue in the upper right, for example, which pushed forward over the more dominant blue when I lay it down. I'm also sometimes moving layers up and down, or trying out some of the more radical layer blending modes, in order to get different effects.

    *****

    Btw, I really do mean that I hope others will post their own watercolor works here. In an effort to sort of build a "portfolio" of techniques and examples, I might re-upload some of my earlier images from the summer up into this thread. Is that ok?

    If anyone has any questions, etc about process, ask away. If you post stuff, I'm sure I'll be asking you. I've definitely picked up some nice stuff that way.
    Last edited by Steve B; 10-14-2011 at 04:43 AM.

  8. #8
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    Very nice I like the light feel
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  9. #9
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    Steve, love your wc, and so glad you started this thread, as my last paintings have all been in wc and love the medium, so looking forward to this thread

  10. #10
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    One of the unique WC painting indeed. Beautiful.

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