Art by Wendy: using molding paste with watercolours

Showing posts with label using molding paste with watercolours. Show all posts

Nov 14, 2019

The Creation Process: Idea + Effort = Success NOT!! - Painting & Drawing Tips

As Artists we are all familiar with the Creative Journey, it is one we travel often. And with a great deal of enjoyment.

However, the Creative Journey is not always filled with joy . . .

Organized my colours, clean my water and I am READY TO PAINT!!!

You know what I mean. Every Creative Journey starts with a Big Idea. It is tossed about in your mind until the urge to follow through can no longer be ignored. Then you begin. . .

Everyone's journey is different. Some fast. Some slow. Some methodical. Some haphazard. There is no right or wrong. We each have our own method.

As you know I started my picture of the Ring-Necked Pheasants 2 weeks ago and I blogged about the planning stage. (See here to read more) I did more planning than usual because I was trying something new, molding paste.

Close Up of painting on the molding paste. See how the colours are changed by the paste. Lines forming where there are ridges in the paste. Does make for interesting texture.

Well, I am here to tell you, the Creative Journey is not always filled with joy . . .

There can be challenges.

1. I was really being good and first did colour swaths to make sure of my colours. Well, that didn't work as I soon found out. The paste tends to grab the pigment sometimes making it more opaque than when just on paper. Colours didn't mix on the pasted area properly. Sometimes they ran along the lines created by the molding paste and showed up somewhere else.

Tried out different colour combinations to see what I liked. Little did I know that they would not look like this when I painted them.

It took awhile but I learned: no big wet washes. For a real splash of colour, brush had to be fairly dry.

After Painting the background I was excited but a little worried. (Blue edge on birds is the frisket)

2. The foreground just seemed to be a out of control.

I took a picture and changed it to the grayscales to see if it followed my Notan sketch. It did but still . . .(See Notan sketch on other post here )

I really found I had to be patient. I needed to work with the patterns of grasses in the foreground but I needed my pheasant painted in before I dealt with them. The foreground would not make sense until the pheasant were there to give it some meaning. But it was hard to leave it alone...

As the birds began to appear the foreground begins to make more sense. I have started to add a few darks in places to suggest grasses and small bushes.

3. Glazing colour over another colour, something I love to do, was very hard. It was easy to lift pigment off the molding paste so that really helped in making corrections and changes. But when it came time to glaze over an area to create depth there were problems. Brush too wet, colour underneath lifted. Worked an area too much, colour underneath lifted. Underlying pigments not dry when glazing, colour underneath lifted. Fiddle with a spot (not that any of us would do that), colour underneath lifted. Needless to say I painted several areas more than once.

Yes, I did have moments when I was frustrated and discouraged. The joy was not with me. However, my idea was still burning in my head. Once I painted that first pheasant in the back I was hooked. I was determined to finish. I wanted to see how my idea would play out.

RING-NECKED PHEASANT IN THE FIELD - Matted 16 x 20, watercolour.
Very pleased at how it turned out. Lots of interesting things happening in the foreground, glazed several times to change the colours. (note around the head of the middle Pheasant) even reshaped the background a bit.

I really started to listen and pay attention to my materials and try and learn how to work with them instead of fighting them. That lifting thing turned out to be really great. I was able to lift off lots of pigment and really start again in parts of the background that I felt had gotten too dark. I did glaze. A lot. I made sure things were really dry before moving into an area. I was patient. (sometimes it is best to just take Max for a walk and let things get good and dry. Max loved that part). I tested my brush constantly to monitor how wet/dry it was. I even started to feel the joy again.

Black & White Study of RING-NECKED PHEASANT IN THE FIELD
Always intersting to see the finished picture in black and white. I can really see that there are lots of interesting shapes to balance with my Pheasants.

And best of all, I finished it.

Are your Creative Journeys full of turmoil and challenge or do they run smoothly?

Next up, my Intober Tangles 2019 Collage - didn't quite finish it in October, but Wow! Wait until you see it.

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Oct 31, 2019

OMG! You have to Plan FIRST!! Painting & Drawing Tips

Don't you just want to Fling Paint?

You know, grab a brush, drop it in paint and "Go For It". It seems so loose and free. Sounds wonderful.

Unfortunately it is not the Real World.

A few of my picture from my sighting of the Ring-necked Pheasants

Planning needs to happen. I don't mean happy mistakes aren't possible. And yes you can throw all the paint around you want. But at some point, you will step back. You will study what happened and you will plan your next move. For some this happens very early in the process of creation. For others it may not happen till near the end. Instinct will keep you moving. But isn't that just planning on your feet.

I like to paint and draw wildlife. I definitely find that requires planning. Especially at the beginning. I find the more planning and decision making I make at the beginning the better I am able to relax and go with the flow once I get working - the Loose and Free stage.

So what do I do?

Find my reference Material

I wanted to paint a picture of the Ring-necked Pheasant. I saw some in the fall and got great pictures when I was out at Riefel Bird Sanctuary last year. The idea has been percolating in my head ever since.

Once I gather together a group of pictures I study them for a ideas as to what I can do. Unfortunately, birds and animals do not pose in interesting ways and in good lighting for me. I usually end up taking ideas from 3 or 4 pictures and putting them together. I picked the side view of the pheasant in the top picture and the front view of the two together in the second picture.

I went for a walk in our local park with Max looking for a bit more to include in the foreground. I felt 'just grass' for such a large area might be pushing it. I may suggest a few dead leaves and in the background I would like to suggest a few branches and foliage.

This sketch is only about 2 x 4 inches. It doesn't need to be large but it does need to be in the same proportion as your painting.

Next I turned to a few No-tan Sketches to test my layouts. Here is the one I liked. When I make the sketch I try and make it the same proportions as the original will be. I look at what is happening in my picture on each side of center. I also divide the length and width into thirds to see what is happening at those intersecting points.

Now it is time to put my birds on the paper. I like to use transfer paper to place my drawings. That way I can "test" my layout without any erasing. (See The Tears Free way to Transfer your Image)

I liked the feel of this layout. It looks like an interesting arrangement and interesting shapes.

Just about ready to paint but first . . .
I need to decide how I would paint it. What order I wanted to do things. I decided that I wanted to try some molding paste to break up the large grassy shape in the foreground and the dark background. Also I wanted to be sure to save the heads of the birds and a few strong lines so I put frisket on them. This allows me to be free and easy with the background/foreground colours and still preserve my important lines. I know, you are wondering if I will ever get to be Loose and Free with my paint.

Birds with molding paste on the foreground and background and birds with a bit of frisket.

Ok!!!While waiting for the molding paste to dry I can mix my paints. Finally, I am Ready to Fling Paint!! See you in my next post.

This is the paste I used. It depends on how thick you put it on as to how long it takes to dry.

For More on Planning Your Composition See:

How Many Planes does your Painting Have?