Spring Zoom Art

In  this series of two classes I am exploring drawing and painting small  paintings on a variety of surfaces.  My subjects will be some different  colored alstroemeria, also called Peruvian Lily.  I chose these small  bright flowers to explore using different surfaces with a variety of  media for some bright springlike mini art pieces.  

Surfaces  used in my demonstrations: Watercolor or Bristol Paper, Claybord  surface by Ampersand, and specially prepared Canvas.  You can choose  paper alone or can experiment with one of the other surfaces.  

 Featured  Surfaces:  Hot or Cold Press Watercolor Paper.  I will use Hot Press in  my demonstration.  If you are using watercolor pencil alone you can  either use the watercolor paper or choose Bristol Paper with a vellum  surface if you prefer.

Claybord:  I will use a 6”x6” ¾” cradled Claybord Museum Series Multi-Media Panel  by Ampersand.  It’s a very smooth surface.  You can use any size and it  need not be cradled.  

Canvas:  I will use a 6”x6” regular canvas, which I have prepared in the  following way—I coated the canvas with a thin layer of gesso.  Once the  gesso dried I lightly sanded the surface.  If you get a Watercolor  Canvas instead you don’t need to prepare the surface at all except to  lightly wipe it down with a damp cloth and wait for it to dry before  painting.

Remember—you can just paint all these on paper.  There is no need to purchase or use another surface unless you want to.

Media:  I will primarily demonstrate using Watercolor Paint and Watercolor  Pencils.  I will also discuss adding touches of Liquid Ink if anyone is  interested.

WATERCOLOR PAINTS 

          RED FLOWER: Quinacridone Red,  Quinacridone Pink, Burnt Sienna, Aureolin, Sap Green, touches of French  Ultramarine

          PINK FLOWER: Quinacridone Pink, Quinacridone Red, Aureolin, New Gamboge, Sap Green, touches of Burnt Sienna

         VIOLET PURPLE FLOWER: Cobalt Violet, Winsor Blue Red Shade, Aureolin,  Sap Green, possible touches of Quinacridone Pink and French Ultramarine

WATERCOLOR  PENCILS 

           RED FLOWER: Light Purple Pink, Middle Purple Pink, Pale  Geranium Lake, Derwent Watercolor Pencil Madder Carmine, Earth Green  Yellow, Chrome Oxide

            PINK FLOWER: Light Purple Pink, Red Violet, Derwent Watercolor Pencil  Madder Carmine, Burnt Ochre, Light Yellow Glaze, Cadmium Yellow AND/OR Cadmium Orange, Permanent Green Olive

            VIOLET PURPLE FLOWER: Middle Purple Pink, Red-Violet, Purple Violet,  Helioblue Reddish AND/OR Ultramarine, Light Yellow Glaze, Earth Green  Yellow

 Several  people have expressed interest in drawing or painting different water  surfaces.  In this series of two classes I will demonstrate drawing and  painting the surface of a pond which includes plants and other objects.

Surface: I used Hot Press Watercolor Paper for my demonstration.  Cold Press  would be fine, too.  I will use a lot of water in this piece, so, even  if you work in watercolor pencil alone I still think watercolor paper  would be best to use.

Media: You can choose to work in Watercolor Paint or Watercolor Pencil.  I will add a hard Graphite Pencil, too (2H, 3H, or 4H).  

 WATER LILY SWATCH

***NOTE:  Truthfully, you could use many, many different combinations of color in  the brown, red/pink, green, blue, and yellow ranges.  Just make sure  your choices combine with each other in a pleasing way.  I’m just  listing the main colors I used in the demonstrations here.

Watercolor  Paint Option: Quinacridone Red, Quinacridone Pink, Sap Green, Winsor  Blue Red Shade, Burnt Sienna, New Gamboge, Sepia, Quinacridone Gold

Watercolor  Pencil Option: Pale Geranium Lake, Light Purple Pink, Earth Green  Yellow, Ultramarine, Helioblue Reddish, Burnt Ochre, Raw Umber, Inktense  Dark Chocolate, Cadmium Yellow, Derwent Watercolor Madder Carmine

Graphite Pencil: I used a 2H or 4H pencil to sketch the drawing and enhance the detail.

PROCEDURE—Initial Stages:

--Make a black&white copy (if you choose to).

--Determine color palette.

--Draw your composition, including water lily, leaves, pebbles and rocks if you want to add.

--Paint flower, leaves, and background in any order. 

   Each element will be painted in layers, allowing each layer to dry before applying the next.

--Initial Background layers:

         *Use diluted yellow, red, blue, green colors, avoiding the leaves, flower, and any rocks or pebbles.

          *Continue to deepen values, adding some lower intensity colors such as  burnt sienna or burnt ochre.  I can add more detailed

           shapes in the background if I want as I go.

--Initial Water Lily layers:  Paint each petal individually, leaving lots of white of the paper.  

                 Paint the center with a diluted yellow, with a bit of white shining through.

--Initial  Leaves layers:  Leaving lots of white, paint a diluted amount of  aureolin watercolor or light yellow glaze watercolor pencil.

           Once that dries, add a little sap green watercolor paint or watercolor pencil in earth green yellow.

--Add more areas of rocks, stones, or groups of little pebbles to increase interest and balance in the background.

--Apply  more layers of both bright color blocks in the background and more low  intensity color such as burnt sienna until you have built up the value  where you’d like it.  You can add more later if you decide to.

--Become drier with your media and targeted in applying color and value.

--The  value may be darker in the area next to the water lily and other focal  leaves because that will draw attention to those areas.

--Contour the water lily and leaves with layers of paint or watercolor pencil.

--Add  more burnt sienna paint or burnt ochre & raw umber watercolor  pencil to the leaves, including whatever detail you want in green or the  browns.  

--Add  graphite to further define and crisp up the background rocks, stones,  and pebbles, to the degree you choose.  You can use graphite in the  leaves, too.

--Add detail to the water lily center.

The link to the May 28th Zoom class is here: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/c5Rmow8Y4mGaplsioO1x6eqwdYGgAoVhRHcBkN1eJv5d5gzWsC916e19ZQw6gTw.jwIxOmerkLPxmxKP 

Passcode: K6e0.2mM