I decide to have a go at painting with watercolours whilst recovering from shoulder surgery and unable to work. I had always veered away from watercolours as I had been told that they were a difficult medium to use. Well I have really enjoyed playing around with them and get lots of encouragement, support and inspiration from the @artsygang here on 365 Project
I'm from Tulbagh, Western Cape, South Africa. Tulbagh is a small farming community.
Get Pushed Challenge: I have been doing this challenge on and off...
Wow! Sally! This is amazing. Really lovely details!
The 'difficulty' of watercolours consists in the less control you have on the colours. Otherwise, there's nothing complicated. Ah, and you must always paint from light to dark, which sort of complicates things. But otherwise, each medium has it's own difficulties.
What i would suggest, would be to really take advantage of the transparency of watercolours. In this particular instance, the transparency of the poppy could well benefit from the transparency of the more diluted colours. Of course, the effect will be different. But you would be able to add the details in darker tones over a more transparent first layer.
Still painting with the left hand?
@monikozi thanks for your feedback, Monika. Each time I use the watercolours I learn something new. Having always used acrylics or oils I think I put too much paint on my brush (and probably not enough water). I could of course use the excuse that this is a detailed watercolour using a wet on dry technique...... Plus I need to have more patience and allow the layers to dry.
I'm painting using mostly my right hand but if I work for more than 15 to 20 minutes I do suffer.
Sally, any excuse is perfectly acceptable for picking up the brush!
Yes, if you use more water, you need to wait for layers to dry before you add details. I envisage this poppy as a watery base layer with thosr details added to the watery layer (after drying). Although, you might want to experiment adding details on a perfectly dry surface, as well as on an almost dry surface. You get different effects altogether.
And perhaps you won't even like the watery effect. Which is totally fine. As long as you enjoy what you are doing and take care of that shoulder.
The 'difficulty' of watercolours consists in the less control you have on the colours. Otherwise, there's nothing complicated. Ah, and you must always paint from light to dark, which sort of complicates things. But otherwise, each medium has it's own difficulties.
What i would suggest, would be to really take advantage of the transparency of watercolours. In this particular instance, the transparency of the poppy could well benefit from the transparency of the more diluted colours. Of course, the effect will be different. But you would be able to add the details in darker tones over a more transparent first layer.
Still painting with the left hand?
I'm painting using mostly my right hand but if I work for more than 15 to 20 minutes I do suffer.
Yes, if you use more water, you need to wait for layers to dry before you add details. I envisage this poppy as a watery base layer with thosr details added to the watery layer (after drying). Although, you might want to experiment adding details on a perfectly dry surface, as well as on an almost dry surface. You get different effects altogether.
And perhaps you won't even like the watery effect. Which is totally fine. As long as you enjoy what you are doing and take care of that shoulder.