MEDIA OPTIONS: ***Please just use these for reference but substitute your own paints or pencils. There is no need to match mine exactly. Ask me for ideas if you are having trouble substituting colors. All watercolor pencils are Albrecht Durer by Faber-Castell unless I specify something else on the list.
***IMPORTANT COLOR NOTE: The tinted UArt paper does not photograph true to actual color. Because of this I’m just including a few different views of these color swatches under a few kinds of light. If you are doing a drawing using the tinted paper please just make your own color swatch and choose the colors you like. Sorry I’m not able to give you better swatches on this one.
Watercolor Paint washes for Onion
MAPLE TRIO
Goal: to pair dry graphite or brown colored pencil for definition and detail with vibrant, autumn watery washes.
You can choose one dry media (Graphite or Colored Pencils) and one wet media (watercolor paints or pencils) for washes if you want to try my technique.
DRY MEDIA OPTIONS: Graphite Pencil 2H or 4H or a combination of Prismacolor Burnt Ochre (a warmer orange-brown) and Caran d’Ache Olive Brown (cooler greener-brown)
WET MEDIA OPTIONS:
Watercolor Paints: Aureolin, New Gamboge, Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Red, Quinacridone Pink, Burnt Sienna, Sepia, and Sap Green
Watercolor Pencils: Light Yellow Glaze, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Dark Cadmium Orange, Pale Geranium Lake, Fuchsia, Burnt Ochre, Derwent Inktense Dark Chocolate, and Earth Green Yellow
ONION
Goal: to pair graphite pencil for contour, definition, and texture with soft washes for low intensity color and interest.
DRY MEDIA OPTIONS: 2H or 4H Graphite pencil and an HB or B. You can also just use the colored pencils if you prefer.
WET MEDIA OPTIONS:
Watercolor Paints: Aureolin, Quinacridone Red, Sap Green, Cobalt Blue, Light Red, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna
Watercolor Pencils: any lower intensity watercolor pencils or complementary colors will work fine. I’ve just included my swatch for ideas. You don’t need to use all these. On my swatch ideas I’ve listed Cream, Ivory, Burnt Ochre, Raw Umber, Olive Green Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Middle Purple Pink, Derwent Graphitint Juniper, Earth Green Yellow, Light Green, Light Yellow Glaze, Helio-blue Reddish.
*Again, you definitely don’t need all these colors, I’m just showing color combination suggestions, which I’ll show in class. You can just pick a few.
AUTUMN LANDSCAPES:
Watercolor Paints: Aureolin, New Gamboge, Quinacridone Gold, Sap, Quinacridone Red, Light Red, Burnt Sienna, Cobalt Blue, Winsor Blue Red Shade
Watercolor Pencils: Cold Gray I, Cream, Dark Flesh, Fuchsia, Red Violet, Burnt Ochre, Raw Umber, Derwent Inktense Leaf, Derwent Inktense Bark or Dark Chocolate
Permanent Colored Pencils: Derwent Colorsoft Grey Lavendar, Colorsoft Cloud Blue, Prismacolor Terra Cotta, Prismacolor or Verithin Goldenrod, and Prismacolor White.
PAPER: I will demonstrate on white watercolor paper Arches 300 lb Hot Press and on Tinted Sanded UART 600 grade Pastel Paper. You can substitute your own white or tinted paper. If you have any questions, just let me know.
COLOR TEMPERATURE OF SOME WATERCOLOR PAINTS WE OFTEN USE
I just wanted to explain a little bit about color temperature based on Carolyn’s question today. This is a very involved subject, so I’m going to really simplify here. I don’t want to get super detailed (which I’m afraid will also be super confusing!) here. Color theory is not a simple topic so excuse the over-simplification. If you want a more accurate, but more involved discussion, we can do that in a future class.
Some colors are warmer than other colors.
--Yellow, Red, and Blue are the three primary colors, which just means that you can’t mix any other colors to get them.
--Orange=Red+Yellow.
Green=Blue+Yellow.
Violet/Purple/Magenta=Blue+Red (depending if there is more blue or more red in your mixture).
--Blue is the coolest primary. Any blue is cooler than any other red or yellow.
--Yellow and Red are warm primaries.
Within each color, you will find some versions that are warmer and some cooler than other versions of the same color. That is because the paint is actually made using bits of other colors. Here’s a list of some of the colors we often use in class.
--Red - Quinacridone Pink is a bit cooler (looks a little more blue) then Quinacridone Red, which is a little cooler than Scarlet Lake (more orange).
--Yellow - Aureolin is a bit cooler (looks a little greener) than New Gamboge (looks a little more orange).
--Green - Phthalo Green is usually a bit cooler (a little bluer) than Sap Green (looks a bit more yellow).
--Blue - Winsor Blue Green Shade is more yellow and Winsor Blue Red Shade is more red. (Okay, that’s pretty obvious!)
There are several reasons you may care about color temperature. I’m going to just bring up a few here.
--When you mix your colors together, paints which lean closer to each other on the color wheel mix really well. For example, if you mix Sap Green with Yellow, it looks very clear and bright. If you mix Scarlet Lake with Yellow it looks clear and bright.
If you mix Quinacridone Pink with Yellow, it will look fine, but it won’t be as bright as mixing Scarlet Lake with that same yellow. If you mix Quinacridone Pink with blue, though, it will look nice and bright, more than if you chose Scarlet Lake with your blue.
Why? Scarlet Lake mixes easily with yellow, because there’s more yellow (warm) in the Scarlet Lake paint. That’s just the way they mix the paint. Quinacridone Pink mixes easily with blue, because there’s more blue (cool) in the paint mixture of Quinacridone Pink.
--If you want to portray highlights or suggest the sun is hitting a certain part of your painting, use a bit more of a warm color. If you want to portray a shaded section, with lots of shadows, use a bit more cool colors.
This description is very much over-simplified, but hopefully it gives you a bit of an idea. I used watercolor paints because I think that’s what Carolyn asked. If anyone wants me to give them information on watercolor pencils, just let me know.
I love autumn leaves! I placed these maple leaves in a simple arrangement and just enjoyed painting warm watercolor paint washes for the autumn color. I added watercolor pencils for a bit of texture. This painting can easily be done using either media alone, and I will demonstrate each. You can then choose your media.
Just add a few more layers the same way we started in class in order to finish.
Upper: Watercolor pencil and graphite first stage Lower: Watercolor pencil and graphite second stage
Watercolor Paint washes and graphite first stage
Watercolor wash and pencil stage #1 and stage #2. I will continue in class.
Onion after class
Different demo close up of textured skin after class. See above for finished version.
I loved the subtle color and texture on this onion, which began to sprout in my pantry. I let the leaves grow so I could use it as the basis for a painting. I will demonstrate using a hard graphite pencil (a 2H or 4H) to convey the texture of the onion and completing the piece by adding color in watercolor pencil or watercolor washes for subtle, muted low intensity coloring on the onion and brighter fresh growth on the leaves.
Watercolor paint with watercolor pencil accents
WATERCOLOR PAINT with WATERCOLOR PENCIL ACCENTS
The following shows my step-by-step process. I began with a sketch. I masked some of the grasses, followed by a series of watercolor washes (or use watercolor pencils). I continued with accents using watercolor paints and watercolor pencils (or just use one or the other media).
I altered the photo quite a bit but used it as an inspiration for this piece. I wanted to focus on grasses in the foreground on the lower right and give them subtle detail with muted autumn color. I added a backdrop of water as in the photo and a line of trees, as in the photo, but chose to add a bit of autumn color in my tree line. I also choice to alter the composition a bit by showing the edge to the water on the left.
This painting uses primarily watercolor washes. I added some fun detail on the grasses with a combination of watercolor paints and watercolor pencil. I will demonstrate using each media so you can choose your favorite for your painting.
MY PROCEDURE ON WATERCOLOR PAPER:
Initial washes on the pastel paper
Continuing to define grasses and the water’s edge
Watercolor pencil and watercolor paint on pastel board
I chose to use more watercolor pencil in this but also used a bit of watercolor paint in initial washes.
My paper is a sanded pastel paper by Uart in 600 grade. This paper is great with watercolor pencils and also accepts enough water for some watercolor paint washes.
This paper is tinted. You can easily choose to do this project on white paper or on any tinted paper as long as it accepts a bit of water. Stonehenge tinted paper is a fine choice, but I would limit the amount of water you use on that to just the amount necessary. Choose your tinted paper carefully. Experiment with how it would look with the colors you want to choose for your piece. It’s surprising how much of a difference the tone of paper can either enhance or take away from the overall look of your piece. Just take a little scratch piece or corner of your paper to try some color and see how these look together.
You can choose to do this using either watercolor paints or watercolor pencil alone. I chose to use a combination but I’ll talk you through using each, so your media is just your choice.
Watercolor Paints: Aureolin, New Gamboge, Quinacridone Gold, Sap Green, Winsor Blue Red Shade, Winsor Blue Green Shad
Watercolor Pencils: There are many excellent watercolor pencils you can choose here. I’ll list a few by color groups, but just use whatever you have already.
White Permanent Pencil and/or Watercolor Pencil
Low intensity light value color: cold gray I, warm gray I, cream.
Blues: Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue, Light Cobalt turquoise, Helio-blue Red, and/or Indigo
Reds: Dark Flesh, Pale Geranium Lake, Venetian Red, and/or Inktense Poppy
Browns: Raw Umber, Burnt Ochre, Derwent Watercolor Pencil Walnut, Inktense Baked Earth, Inktense Dark Chocolate or Inktense Bark.
Accenting Green: Olive Green Yellow
Ink Option:
If you want to use a micron pen for detail and texture you can use a black or brown pen. An 08 thickness would be great.
My liquid inks are FW Acrylic Artist Inks by Daler Rawney: Sepia, Burnt Umber, Scarlet, Crimson, Indigo, Cerulean, and/or Marine Blue
Dr. PH Martin Bombay India Ink: Yellow Ochre.
Any of the media I mentioned here would be great. Just substitute your own similarly colored media. There is no need to add anything you don’t already have. Ask me for substitutes if you’re stumped
I think pheasants are so special for several reasons and I want to focus on a few of these in our painting—the gorgeous color and interesting patterning on the feathers in this regal bird.
I will continue techniques I used in the other demonstrations this autumn, focusing on a combination of washes with a transparent water-based medium to achieve rich color, supplemented with a dry media to achieve detail and texture.
There are many excellent media choices which would be wonderful in your pheasant painting and I’ll suggest several here. You can pick whatever media you prefer. In my demonstrations I will use watercolor paint and watercolor pencil for the washes (you can choose either) and watercolor pencil for the dry media.
In case you want to add ink for your piece I will discuss using an ink pen such as a micron pen for the dry media and/or liquid artist inks for the color washes.
Please see some color swatches in the various media below. You can choose any of these you prefer or a combination if you feel adventurous.
Pheasant stage 1
PL McGahan Art
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