Enchanting Watercolor - Meganne Forbes Visionary Artist



Enchanting Watercolor

Learn how to paint

For the beginning to advanced watercolorist

All the techniques I use in my paintings-revealed!

By Meganne Forbes, Visionary Artist

I am so happy to be able to show you all the techniques I use in my paintings. I’ve been painting for about thirty-five years and I love it. If this e-book brings you just a part of the joy that I feel, I am fulfilled.

I love watercolor because of the liquid, fluid, gorgeous colors and because it is like life-- transparent, vibrant, and full of light.

Come with me on this journey. Right now, please take a few deep, slow breaths and let go. Relax. Your life may never be the same as you dive into your calling as an artist. Open up to receive something new. Let these words move you and inspire you. Imagine yourself painting.

Supplies

You will find a list of watercolor supplies at the end of this section (or on my website ). I put it on a separate page so you can print it and take it with you to the art supply store, or use it for easy reference when ordering supplies online. Are you someone that gets very happy in an art supply store? Enjoy the colors, the smells, and joy of buying paint and paper and brushes- all to create with. A wonderful gift for yourself.

Paints

Beautiful colors……… flowing one into another……….overlapping making new hues. Watercolor paint is compelling. You’ll want to play with it and watch the transparent overlays.

I use tubes of transparent watercolor paint. There are a few brands to choose from: Daniel Smith, Grumbacher, or Winsor and Newton or others. I order online from Daniel Smith Art Supplies, . They will have everything on this list.

The tubes of paint come in different sizes. I use .5 fluid oz. paints. These will last quite awhile unless you use your paint really thick (which is not recommended).

Notice five paints are underlined on the supplies list. If you are on a tight budget or want to stay very simple these are all you need to begin painting. They will mix to make all the colors that you will need. Many people like to mix their colors instead of buying them already mixed. Others love the thrill of buying all of the latest hues. This list, including both the underlined and not underlined, is what I use for all of my paintings. They are mostly ‘non-fugitive’ which means that they won’t fade. This is important when selling art. Buyers want to know their investment will last. And we want to have our paintings vibrant for a long time.

Brushes

All of my art is done with these three brush sizes. I keep it simple. The brushes I use are ‘watercolor’ brushes, round barrel (the barrel is the metal part of the brush that holds the bristles), and are generally short (between 7” and 9” in length) including the wooden handle. You may purchase synthetic or non-synthetic. I like synthetic best because they seem to be a little stiffer.

The bristle brush or ‘scrub brushes’ on the list are mostly to help you fix mistakes. I have found them wonderful also for creating ‘light’ and special effects. If you use good paper, like I do, scrubbing will give you ‘another chance’ if you change your mind about a color. More on that later!

Paper

Great, handmade paper is so beautiful. It really helps your painting look good. Save your money and try some. I use Arches 300# (that is 300 pound). It comes in ‘cold press’ which is rough, and ‘hot press’ which is smooth. The way I remember that is a hot iron would make it smooth. When it comes in sheets, they are 22 X 30” (standard size) and one sheet can be cut up to make many small paintings, or just one big work of art. I buy it by the package of 25 sheets from Daniel Smith, . You can purchase single sheets or packages. It is a very strong, thick sheet of paper which provides a surface that can be scrubbed and ‘worked’ a lot, and it won’t buckle. That is why I use 300# paper-- it stays flat and dries flat.

When you use heavy watercolor paper like this, you can cut it to the sizes you want with an exacto blade. Use a ruler to measure the size you would like. Mark it with a pencil and then align these two marks you make with a metal ruler. I then ‘score’ the paper two or three times, not cutting all the way through. Then it’s easy to bend and fold the paper at this line you made. It will come apart after you fold it a few times. The edges are a bit rough like the natural ‘deckle’ edges the paper comes with.

Student grade paper is most of the papers that come in tablet form. The price will reflect the quality. Buy this and practice all the techniques listed in the next few pages. Experiment with color-mixing, gradation and washes.

Palette

There are so many palettes to choose from. Again, I use one of the simplest: ten inches round with twelve ‘wells’ for paint. You may choose whichever one appeals to you, just as long as it is white. One that has a lid for traveling may suit your needs. If you need to clean up after every painting session, a lid is handy. If you are on a tight budget, use a white dinner plate.

We are almost ready to paint. Fill up a jar or yogurt container with water. A larger size will allow you to paint longer without changing water so often. A rag or paper towel is good to have. The pencil I have found most helpful is a number two. And a ‘kneaded eraser’ is really a fun object. It works well with erasing sketches before painting because it doesn’t leave any bits of the eraser behind. So it is lint-free. Just remember not to erase when your painting is wet. Always wait until it is very dry. Also, sometimes pencil lines won’t erase if they have been painted over.

Setting up your work table

When you set out your paints, brushes, and water, put them on the side you paint with. If you are right-handed, put them to the right of your paper. This just makes your life easier.

Also remember that you may turn your paper in any direction to get at ‘hard to reach’ areas. Stand up if you want. Change your posture so your body stays relaxed and happy.

We are now ready to dive in!

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Refer to my website for many more paintings where I have used these techniques.

Watercolor Supplies

Paints (transparent watercolor)

Cadmium Yellow medium

Alizarin Crimson

Hooker’s Green

Ultramarine Blue

Black

Cadmium red

Thalo Green

Thalo Blue

Violet

Payne’s Gray

Sepia

Burnt Sienna

(no white!)

Brushes

#2 and #6 and #12 round barrel-watercolor brushes. One stiff bristle brush or a set of scrub brushes

Paper

Arches 300lb watercolor paper (cold press is rough, hot press is smooth)

Student grade paper

Palette

Large enough (white with or without cover)

Jar for water, rags, pencils (#2), kneaded eraser

Getting Started

It’s time to put some paint on your palette and begin. The paint you put on your palette will remain fresh until you use it up. It could last for years and still be good. You never have to clean your palette. It doesn’t smell and is not toxic to be around. Just take off the cap and squeeze from the bottom of the tube, putting paint, the size of a pea, at the top of the well of your palette. This way the bottom part of the well can be used to mix water with the paint to create the intensity you would like. I like to arrange the colors like a rainbow, with warm colors (red, yellow, orange) on one side moving into cool colors (green, blue, violet) on the other. Black and Paynes gray are at the end or wherever you wish. Arrange the colors in a way that makes sense to you, or in a pleasing way. It doesn’t matter where they are.

Notice that there is no white paint. The way you will make white, is by leaving the paper unpainted. The way you lighten a color is by adding water. Watercolor painting without using white is called the ‘traditional method’.

Let us begin by reviewing watercolor techniques. Let’s just take one at a time. I really want to make this easy and fun. These are all the techniques I use in my paintings. I am not hiding anything. It’s all here.

Watercolor Techniques

1 Using the brush and rag

2- Mixing colors three ways

3- The Color wheel

4- Wash -flat wash

5-Gradation (light to dark, dark to light)

6-Salt

7- Wet into wet

8- Plastic bag

9- Negative space- painting the background first

10- Positive Space- painting the subject

11- Fixing mistakes -changing a color

12- Feathering

The Techniques

Let’s begin with the first technique listed above. I’ll continue to explain each technique, one at a time. Feel free to try each one after reading its description. It’s challenging to write about watercolor, so begin to open your mind by visualizing your paints and the brilliance of each color as it mixes with water and flows into the next. Feel the paper and experience the colors. Imagine that you are dancing with the paints as you brush on color. Now that’s what I am talking about!

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1-Using the Brush and Rags

Here are just a few quick comments about brush use, cleaning and care. It’s simple and easy to care for your brushes, and they will remain your faithful friends. Clean them often with water. When you dip your brush in the container of water, use the side of the container and gently lift your brush upward against the side. This motion, as you slightly twirl your brush will get out all the pigment if you do this a few times. The bristles will bend and break if you press them downward. This is the reason not to let your brushes rest in the water jar; bristles will remain bent. Brushes, like pencils get dull and lose their pointed shape. When this happens, buy new ones.

I always have one or two rags handy. Some of the ways I use mine are to help clean brushes when color is stuck deeply in the bristles, especially close to the barrel. When my brush has too much watery pigment in it and it will drip, the rag is also helpful to use before painting with it. When I need a finer line when painting, I draw the brush across the rag to release some of the paint and mold the brush bristles into a point.

Rags can be used like large brushes when a large area of paper needs to be covered with water. Just dip a clean rag into a container of water and drag it across the paper. Repeat as many times as needed to cover the space.

Rags are also helpful when you make a mistake. Just daub it with a rag. Clean up spilled water or paint with it or take off some pigment, if you applied too much. Lighten an area with a rag. Clean up your space and your fingers and hands with it.

Hint: I can help the environment by washing and reusing rags instead of using paper towels and throwing them away. They also hold a lot more water.

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2-Mixing colors three ways

What joy it is to see one color blend into another! This is one reason I love painting with watercolor: to watch the colors flow and mix and merge and change. How beautiful!

There are three ways I mix color.

1- Mixing paint on the palette.

2- Mixing paint on the paper.

3- Layering paint on the paper.

1. Mixing paint on the palette is most often used by artists. This is where you fill your brush with one color and mix it into another color. The well of a palette is designed to hold and mix paint. Begin with one color. Let’s try Thalo green. Add water until the well is partly full of watery paint. Then draw your brush across Thalo blue and dip it into the Thalo green. Notice how quickly (or how slowly) the color mixes and changes into a new color. Each pigment will react differently. Add more color if you want a bluer green, less, if you want a greener blue. This sounds really easy, and it will get easier if you practice with all of your colors often. You will get to know them intimately.

2. Mixing paint on the paper. If you’d like to quickly change a color you just applied to your painting, simply add another color directly on top of it. This will only work if the first color is still wet. If you don’t move your brush around much, the paint will stay looking vital and luminous.

3. Layering paint on the paper is a great way to change and mix new colors. Make sure the first layer is dry and then you can add another. Remember that watercolor is transparent and that the paint underneath will show through the top layer. Begin by painting an area of ultramarine blue pigment. Let it dry. Then mix some Cadmium yellow deep (do this with water and layer it over the dry ultramarine blue. The result will be green. If the blue is dominant, then it will be a blue-green tint. If yellow is dominant, then it will look yellow-green. Continue layering (when the paint underneath dries) until you get the color you want.

Hint: When layering paint, always let the first layer dry completely before you paint the next. You may build up many layers of paint this way.

Sometimes I will have five or more layers of paint. There is something luminous about an area made with many layers. The light that reflects from each one creates a rich effect. Holes or windows in a layer allow the underneath color to shine through. Light effects are made this way. Experiment with layering.

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3- The Color Wheel

When we understand a bit about color, painting will be easier and more fun. Let’s start with the three primary colors: red, yellow and blue. They are primary because you can make all colors from these. Secondary colors result from mixing any two of the primaries: red and yellow make orange, yellow and blue make green, and blue and red make violet. Such a beautiful circle of color!

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Complementary colors (secondary colors)

Notice that red is directly opposite from green. So red is the complement of green. Opposing colors on the color wheel are complements. Blue, then is the complement of orange, and yellow is the complement of violet. Why is this important to know? There are at least four ways you will use this information when painting. One, when two complements are next to each other, the painting will zing. Notice the red hibiscus on a green background here and then other examples of complements next to each other.

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Two, if you want your subject to stand out and not blend into the background, use a complementary color around it. For example, a green cactus will pop out much more if there is some red in the sky or earth around it. An orange sunflower will show up beautifully when surrounded by hues of blue.

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Three, when mixing colors, use a complement when you want to tone down a color. An example of this is when painting green foliage, mix red with green to make different tones and shades of green. The more red you add, the less greenish tone you get. Here is an example of my painting called, Bird of Paradise. The large leaves are a mixture of Hookers green and Alizarin crimson, which are complementary colors. Experiment by mixing a few different proportions to get the exact color you want.

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Four, when mixing any two complements, you can make brown. I usually use red and green when making earth tones, because it works the best for me. This painting of an African Woman (next) shows lots of variations of the color brown, which was also made by mixing Hookers green with Alizarin crimson.

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Warm and cool colors

Warm colors make up one side of the color wheel and cool colors make up the other side. The warm ones are the ones that look like heat, fire, and sunlight. They are the reds, oranges and yellows. Cool ones look like sea, sky and ice. They are blues, greens and violets. You can feel color. When you use it, try to feel it. Can you use it to express what you want? Like complements, warm colors used next to cool colors, pop out and zing. Also, warm colors will tend to come forward in a painting and cool colors will recede. What does this mean? If you paint a landscape with deep violet clouds in the background and yellow mountains in the foreground, the yellows will appear to be right where they should be, in front. And the violet clouds will drop into the background and recede. This helps to convey a feeling of perspective and three-dimensionality and will look to the viewer like there are many miles between the foreground and the distant clouds.

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Another example of the use of warm and cool colors in a painting is the following painting of a woman with flowers all around her. Her dress is a warm red and she’s surrounded by dark and light yellow flowers. These warm colors help her and the flowers to come into the foreground. The deep greens in the background recede.

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4- Wash

Washes are large areas of color. They may represent a sky, sea, or field of green. They may also be a background for a new painting you are beginning. Smaller washes of color could represent a leaf, piece of fruit, tree trunk, or negative space. (See technique number 8.) I like to begin by making some washes with bold strokes. It loosens me up.

First make enough of one color in the bottom of the well on your palette so that the area you are painting will be able to be covered with color. If you run out of paint, you’ll have to mix more. If you want a ‘flat’ wash, which is all one color, you will want to have enough paint, so that as you are painting, it doesn’t dry while you are mixing more. I like to begin by knowing where I’m painting. How big is the area? What is its shape? Is it a sky, sea, or small shape, like a leaf? Look at the area and begin to fill it with wet color. Keep adding more watery paint to your brush as you continue. Draw the paint with your brush down the whole area by moving it from the right to the left. Don’t go over the painted area again. Changes can be made once it has dried. If you keep it really wet with the paint you are applying, it will all dry uniformly as one flat color. If one part dries before another part, uneven watermarks happen that may, or may not be wanted. As you practice this technique of the ‘wash’ you will perfect it.

Hint: Avoid watermarks by planning ahead. Mix enough paint so that you won’t have to stop to mix more. If part of it dries before you are ready to paint the next part, you will see a definite line. And you may not want this to happen.

Hint: Apply the color and leave it alone. Stroking an area of color over and over with the brush will deaden it. Vibrant watercolor paintings have not been ‘over-worked’. Decide that you will wait to make any changes until after it has dried.

Hint: Remember to use lots of water when mixing paint. Often beginning watercolorists don’t use enough water.

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5- Gradation

A ‘flat’ wash is not as common as a ‘graded’ wash; also known as ‘gradation’. This is an area of color that goes from light to dark, or dark to light. Visualize a deep red brush full of alizarin crimson paint being drawn across the paper. Adding water little by little to the brush as you draw it across the paper will change the deep red into red and then into pink and eventually into white, which is made from clear, clean water only. The area will then go from deep red to white gradually. So beautiful!

Beginning with clear, clean water on your brush, draw it across the paper a few times. Then add just a touch of red so that it makes the palest of pinks and continue with the strokes. Each time add a little more color until you end with deep red only. This is the gradation, light to dark.

Hint: When making a ‘wash’ usually a ‘graded wash’ is much more effective, interesting, and depicts the natural world better than a ‘flat wash’. Try this and see. You will begin to use this knowledge in all of your paintings.

Gradation can also be the flow of one color into another. Let’s take ultramarine blue to begin with. Fill your brush with this color. Begin to paint an area stroking your brush in lines from right to left, adding color as needed. You will know when to add color if you can see any of the paper showing through under your brush strokes. Slowly begin to add some alizarin crimson and water. When you want the alizarin to be dominant, wash your brush and begin with just the alizarin. Continue with this color until the area is filled. Practice will allow for controlled gradations.

Gradation can include a wash of two or more colors. For this I make enough watery paint to cover the area on my paper that needs to be covered. Let’s say we are making a wash depicting the ocean. As I see the ocean today, it is mostly green changing into blue and then purple near the horizon. I will mix more green than blue because it needs to cover a larger area. It’s good to plan ahead, so I mix the color of blue that I see in the ocean also. The shade of violet I need can be used right out of the tube. Not much is needed so I don’t mix any of that.

Hint: It’s important to plan ahead when mixing colors. If a large amount of paint is required, mix enough so you won’t have to during the painting process. In other words, mix enough to fill the section you are working on. If you take time to mix in the middle of painting a section, your paint may dry on your paper, leaving streaks.

I begin by painting the violet and then quickly the blue area of water near the horizon. Adding green to the blue creates the teal color I want. I’m using ’ultramarine blue’ merging into ‘hookers green’. I love the way this looks and it’s always different. In watercolor you will almost always be surprised!

Hint: It’s helpful to let go of control and be amazed at how the painting guides you. If you have a strong idea of how it is going to go, you may be frustrated. Let your painting guide you.

Continue painting the green sea until you finish. It may not be the color you want. After it dries, you may paint another layer. If the color is not too dark, it will not be muddy.

Hint: Many layers, painted after each one dries, can create a gemlike luminosity that is the trademark of a beautiful watercolor painting.

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6- Salt

Of all the wonderful patterns and explosions that watercolor can make, the salt technique is one of my favorites. I seem to go through periods of using salt on each painting and then go years of not using it. It gives a spontaneous effect that can evoke a night sky, a snowfall, water cascading into a pool, animals, flower petals or a field of poppies. All of this from salt!

To try this technique, begin by making a wash of color on your paper. While it is still wet, drop some salt onto the wet wash on your paper. Let it alone now because adding more paint, water or brushstrokes may lesson the way the salt works. Walk away from it if you need to. When you come back in a few minutes, notice any changes you see. I want you to be surprised so I will not say too much until you try it.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh………..magnificent! It’s always a new experience, a surprise, a wonder!

Practice this as many times as you wish. You’ll notice that it’s a great way to begin painting, especially when you don’t know what to paint. It’s a fun method for loosening up. Each painting exercise you make will be different. Notice that wetter paper will make the salt marks less articulate and less detailed. The patterns made will seem to flow. When you apply the salt while your wash is a bit dryer, the effects will be strong in contrast and detailed. Also notice which colors work best to show off this technique. I find that cooler colors, like blue and violet will give strong demonstrations, while yellow reflects too much light and doesn’t show it off strongly. Gradation works well as a base for the salt. Experiment and see all the ways you can use salt. It may be dominant in a painting, or just use a bit in one area, like within the pools of water you may be painting.

Hint: Take time to look into a salted watercolor exercise after it dries. It may show you what you are to paint. It can give you clues. Are there people in there, or animals or flowers? Rotate your paper in all directions and see which way you like best.

You can see the salt technique used in the background of this painting.

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7- Wet into wet

This is a classic watercolor technique that you will find in every book or DVD about watercolor. The name describes the action: wet watercolor paint is applied onto a wet surface (the paper). There are so many ways to do this!

First let’s prepare some paper by cutting it to the desired size. Then, using a large brush, cover the area of the paper with clear water. It doesn’t matter if you start at the top or middle. Just remember to use lots of water!

Hint: When beginning to paint in watercolor, use a lot more water than you think you’ll need. Often the beginner will paint with a dry brush and the results will be disappointing. Transparent watercolor is fluid, see-through, and watery.

Your paper is covered with water. Now, fill your brush with color and drop it or touch it onto the wet surface. Any color will work; this is the time to experiment and take a chance. See what happens when one color blends into the next. Try all your colors. Some of the color mixes will appeal to you and others will not. This is how you learn to paint-by making so-called mistakes and by fixing them.

Another way to experiment with the wet into wet technique is to draw some simple leaf shapes. They will look like ovals with points on each end. Paint one with Hooker’s green and while the green paint is still wet, drop in some Alizarin crimson at the points of the leaf. Paint another one a different shade of green. How do you mix a shade? Just add another color into Hooker’s green. See what you come up with. I will go over the process of mixing colors soon but for now, just experiment. Then drop another color onto the wet green leaf.

This technique can help to show shading and variegation of the leaf pigment. Now drop in some Cadmium yellow deep to show the highlights. You may say that you don’t know where the highlights would be. As the artist, you may decide where you want the highlights. The viewer of the painting will believe you.

A large painting may require a stormy sky of streaks of ultramarine blue (watered down!) and deep, rich Payne’s gray. If you would like to use the wet into wet technique, determine the horizon line and wet the entire sky. While it’s wet, brush across the sky streaks of blues and grays. Let it dry. You may add another layer or enjoy the spontaneous flow of pigment just as it is. The wet sky provides the perfect place to sprinkle some salt. Then, wet the entire lower portion of your landscape painting. Drop in color to indicate trees, small hills, bushes, a road or path, river. Play with the color (remembering not to brush over and over an area you just painted; keep the paint vibrant). Let this dry, and repeat again and again until you like what you see.

8- Plastic Bag

This is one of my favorite techniques. It gives my paintings a spontaneous look and feel. My nature is to be quite detailed and precise when I paint. This gives me a taste of freedom, surprise, and vitality.

So let’s get ready by getting out the paper we will be using and cutting it to the size we want. If you are trying this for the first time, cut a few pieces of paper so that you can try using a few colors and see the different results.

Hint: The best way to learn watercolor is to experiment. You can learn the most by painting every day.

Next, have enough plastic bags so that they cover the complete area of your paper. You may use plastic bags, saran wrap or any other plastic wrapping you may have. The finer the plastic, the smaller the detail it will make; thicker plastic will leave stronger more definite designs. You may experiment and see for yourself.

Have a couple of full water containers with fresh, clear water. I always have a clean one so I can have clear water available. Remember that clear water is one way to make white.

Remember to mix enough paint. On a hot day, your painting will dry quickly and leave watermarks that you may not intend. Having enough paint mixed will allow you to work quickly enough so that it won’t dry too soon. For this technique to work, the paint needs to be wet when you lay down the plastic bag on the paper.

Let’s begin now by applying paint. Keep it really watery. It’s got to be wet to work. It doesn’t matter what colors you use; this is a time to experiment. When you complete an area the size of your bag, just put the bag down on the painted surface. Now leave it alone. If the bag is flat or crumpled up, you will get different results. See what you like better by trying both ways. If your paper is larger than one bag, repeat this process until the entire area is covered with bags.

Now, wait for a couple of hours. Leave the bags resting on the painted paper. I know this is the difficult part. Often I will work on more than one painting so that I can always be working on something. Watercolor is relatively fast drying, but on foggy days sometimes the wait is just too long. I like to keep the creative flow going by having something else to paint.

After the paint has dried, it’s time now to remove the plastic bags. Yes, it is that easy. Watch the beautiful designs emerge and begin to see images in the colored shapes. At this time I rotate the painting in all directions, vertical and horizontal. Which way does it go? Notice color combinations you like. Let the patterns evoke images. Use you imagination. Maybe you had an idea that it would be one thing; now it calls to be something else. Take some time letting it show you what is to be painted here.

By letting a layer of paint dry and then painting the next layer, ethereal, light-filled paintings are made. Plastic bag techniques can be used on any layer of your painting. It gives texture and pattern in a way no other painting technique can.

Here is a good example of a painting that began with the plastic bag technique. I then painted many layers of paint, letting each dry before painting the next.

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You may enjoy the patterns and textures just as they are. This technique creates a beautiful abstract painting. Or you may take it to the next level where you continue painting over what you just made. The way I do this is usually draw with pencil right on top of the dry painting after you remove the bags and make sure it’s all dry. Here is an example of a holy man painting I did using this method.

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So, I did one layer using the plastic bag technique where I painted with just water in the center. Then I added color around the edge of the water. This gives it a feeling of light radiating from the center of your painting. This is where I put my figure of this man. As you can see, it looks like light is emanating from his heart and hands. I really love the feeling of light in art.

After your line drawing is complete, then you begin by painting the negative space. So I began by painting around the halo with a color slightly darker than what was there. I didn’t want to block out the patterns and shapes left by the plastic bag so I let them lead me. By painting around many of these shapes, I was able to paint the negative space as well as leave the wonderful patterns. Notice you need to be thinking of two things at once here. This is a good time to paint one small area at a time. Relax and breathe.

I continued to paint the negative space until all that was left was the Holy man figure and his halo. To warm and brighten him up, I added Cadmium yellow to my brush and painted him. Again, I followed the patterns left by the plastic bag. I also needed to remember to leave the shining light be whitish and not paint over it. Oh, there’s a lot to think about. I know it can feel stressful. That’s why I keep reminding myself to breathe and relax.

Then, I went back and painted the darkest darks. Look at this painting again and notice the darkest parts of it. This is really important: Have some really dark areas of color and some really light ones. Contrast makes a painting be seen from across the room. It draws you to it. Be bold and add some deep rich brown, burgundy, violet, blue, Payne’s gray, or black. It takes courage but it really will make your art pop out.

Here are two more pieces I did using this technique.

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9- Negative space

What is negative space? It’s the area around an object. So, the object is the positive space and the area all around the object is the negative space. Envision a large flower (positive space); the negative space is all the area around the flower. It’s amazing how often I paint the negative space first when painting in watercolor. This is a technique to remember and use!

Hint: Paint the negative space first. This will allow the subject of your painting to pop out, looked defined (you will be able to see it from across a room) , and not be overlooked.

Let’s start out with a piece of paper and an idea of a flower. What you choose to paint around and behind the flower is going to greatly affect the way the painting looks. Make your choices reflect what you love and what you feel. Simplicity is sometimes best when beginning.

To practice, let’s imagine a plain colored background. This will help the flower to pop out and really show up. Since my flower is a large blue poppy, I will choose a yellow-orange background (orange is the complement’ or opposite of blue on the color wheel). When I choose to put complements next to each other they pop and zing and allow the subject to really show up on the paper. I will say more about that in chapter 10, along with more about complementary colors and the color wheel.

Draw the flower lightly with a number two pencil. Just sketch the outline. This is a contour line tracing the outer edge of the flower. It makes it easy to see the background or negative space now. That is what you paint first. Remember if you are painting a large area, please mix enough color to cover the entire space. In this case, we will fill our well with yellow-orange. Cadmium yellow and Alizarin crimson make a good yellow-orange. Keep adding color until you are satisfied with the color you mixed.

Begin at the top left if you are right-handed and the top right if you are left-handed. I work this way so I won’t smudge or smear the paint as I apply more. Work your way down the page, carefully painting around the flower. You will notice that interesting abstract shapes begin to appear where you are painting between the edge of the paper and the flower. Here’s another benefit about painting the negative space: your painting will become more interesting because of the uniquely abstract shaped areas of color that are made by the fields of color around the object. (sorry if this is confusing-as you paint, I believe it will be clear). Continue until you finish painting all of the negative space.

Look at your painting. Is the background painted richly enough? Will the flower be able to be seen? Will it pop out and really show up? If not, paint another layer of yellow-orange or reddish. If the color is not what you like, add some more Alizarin crimson (for a more reddish hue) or yellow (for a more light yellow hue). I have been known to paint five or more layers of the negative space to create a rich, strong, beautiful background.

Here is the end result after many layers.

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Now I want to show how I paint the negative space around one of my Buddha paintings. (See below.)

I begin painting the space around the Buddha first. There are a few different parts of the design around him. Let’s begin with the background. When I see the background as shapes, it makes painting easier. For example, look at the background shape on the upper left hand side. Notice every shape the background makes. We will paint this all one color, a deep rich color, so that the Buddha will pop out and show up well. Another question to consider is what color to use? Yes, you may use your intuition and choose any color you wish; there are infinite choices. Another way to choose a color is with the knowledge that cool colors recede and warm colors come forward. (Please refer to the Color Wheel on page 16 for some helpful information about warm and cool colors).

Blues, violets, and deep greens are great background colors. I will choose a deep blue-violet because I get happy thinking about that one right now. I can visualize it and like what I see in my mind’s eye. I will begin painting everything that is not within the halo or lotus seat. Painting one area at a time allows for control of the watercolor. Beginning on the left side (because I am right-handed) will insure that I don’t smudge what I have just painted with my arm. Also, I want to have some texture in the background so I am going to add some salt when the paint is wet. (Please look over chapter 3 about the salt technique.)

Paint the entire background, adding salt after you finish with each small section. All you have to focus on is one section at a time. In this way it is not overwhelming and you can stay relaxed. Breathe and go slowly and carefully, or freely and wildly! Then wait for it to dry before rubbing the salt off.

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10- Positive space- painting the subject

Now you are ready to paint the subject, in this case, the flower (from the exercise in the negative space section). After the negative space is painted in rich, deep hues, painting the flower is much easier. If we don’t wait until the first part dries, the paint from one area will run into what we just painted. Sometimes those effects are desirable, and sometimes not. It’s fun to experiment on a piece of practice paper to see what kinds of effects we like.

I can’t really tell you how to paint a flower because every flower is different; the way it looks, its color, and the direction it is facing. Here are some things to do: examine your subject-whether it is a person, a flower or a landscape. If you have it in front of you, look at it. Really look at it. This is where you get some of your information about how to paint it; the rest of the information comes from your intuition and visualization.

Look at one part at a time. Let’s begin with the petals. The color is not all one color, but many variations of the hue, blue (ultramarine blue). Notice their individual shapes. Where is the light coming from and how does it affect the colors? Gradation is important to use here (see chapter 2).

Hint: If you want to paint a flower that looks like the one in front of you, take a few minutes to be with that flower. Study the color, the way it turns or faces, the shape of each petal, the stem color and shape…….in other words, get to know this flower. Your examination of it will show in your painting.

Four ways you can show light on a subject are:

1- By adding water to the color you’re using.

2- By leaving the white paper showing where the light shines on it.

3- By using a lighter color than the one you are using.

4- Often light will appear more golden; so add a yellow or golden hue on the ‘light’ side.

There are many approaches to this. Three ways are: One, begin by taking one petal at a time and painting it like you see it. Two, put some blue on your brush and paint where the flower would be, letting your painting of the negative space be the boundaries for the flower. Three, mix four shades of blue, ranging from almost white to deep blue. Squint your eyes and notice where the darkest petals are and paint them with the deepest shade. Continue with the others, leaving the lightest petals white. This will give a sense of where the light is coming from.

Hint: When you begin a painting, decide where the light source is coming from. A light bulb, the sun, a candle, or light from a window are all possible sources. It may be obvious, or subtle. I usually decide that one side of my subject is lit brighter than the other. Then I try to be consistent in my painting with the source of light. This means that everything will be lit by this one source. When this is successful, the effect is strong and clear.

After all of the flower petals are painted, look at your painting. Does it feel finished? Is there a sense of completion? Is the color balanced and uniform all the way through? Do you like it? Sit with it and make changes; just follow your intuition, until it feels done. This is how I proceed, and sometimes I take days or weeks to complete it. I may even put my painting away and bring it out weeks later so I can see it with fresh eyes.

Hint: How do you know when a painting is done? It sings!

Now, to paint the Buddha! Remember there are so many ways to paint a symbol like the Buddha. There are traditional colors and clothing that he wears and each are symbolic. I, on the other hand, paint it as I see it, using intuition and joy as my guide- not tradition. Any color scheme is welcome and produces a different result in the final painting. I love so many color combinations and they are infinite! So, I just choose the one that I like best for now and know that I can use the others in the next paintings I paint.

Because my background is a rich blue-violet, a golden halo will pop out and look really radiant. I am going to paint the entire halo Cadmium yellow, which is a deep, rich, bright yellow. When it dries, I want to define the smaller halos within it. I do this by painting the middle one Cadmium red. This color is like fire engine red, bright and rich. When it mixes with the underneath layer of yellow, a red-orange is produced. There are so many ways to paint this halo:

1. Paint it solid red.

2. Paint it in squiggles, patterns, a lace-like area, or stripes.

3. Paint it spotted, pointillistic, or daubs of paint.

4. Paint it using the gradation technique.

5. Paint it using the wet into wet technique by dropping the red paint onto a wet surface.

6. Draw a pattern within this part of the halo (like I did in the painting below) and paint the negative space or the space around your pattern.

7. Make up your own unique way to paint it.

I am choosing to paint the middle halo using gradation, which always looks good. I paint the edge where it meets the outermost circle halo deep Cadmium red. By using lots of water I then meet the deep red with the watery brush. This creates the gradation effect. Remember to do this after the yellow layer underneath has dried. See chapter 2 on gradation.

I want to paint the ribbon that floats around the Buddha. What colors would be good ones? We have infinite choices! Again I like choosing colors that really stand out. Rich red comes to me as being strong and one that will show up. I begin at the left side and paint it all the way to the right side of my paper. It looks great.

When I look for the next area to paint, I see the seat that the Buddha sits on. Let’s look at how I choose the color. I could choose almost any color. If I painted it green, like the petals, it may get lost or all blend together. I want to have each part of the painting be distinct. This gives me so many choices. I like the color red-violet for this, why? Because it is a dark color that suggests a shadow that is cast by the seated Buddha.

The clothing, skin tones, and hair are left to paint. I am drawn to using turquoise for the pants and top. This is made by using Thalo Blue and Hooker’s Green and a medium amount of water so that the result is a rich hue. I love this color and it works well in contrast to all the warm tones in the ribbon and halo around it.

Notice that I keep painting until only the flesh and hair is left to complete. You’ll notice that I continue to paint the negative space until only the positive space is left.

A color I like to use for a warm flesh tone is Burnt Sienna, watered down. Experiment with it until you find the right color of skin for the person you are painting. After painting a few faint layers of paint, letting each one dry before applying the next, it begins to look more like flesh.

Your light source is really important to note here. Mine is coming from the left side of the painting and illuminates that side of the Buddha. Paint the flesh darkest on the shadow side of the person’s face, arms, belly and feet. I then add a layer of Cadmium yellow (with lots of water) to give more warmth to the skin tone. The warmth can also show where the light is coming from.

If you don’t have Burnt Sienna, you can use Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow and Hooker’s Green (mostly red, yellow, with a hint of green) to make a flesh tone. Some experimentation may be needed to mix just the right color!

The hair looks like rows of small spheres. Even here, the negative space is painted first. Paint around each sphere, painting the darkest areas a few times until you achieve a deep rich brown. Continue doing this until you are satisfied with the way the three-dimensionality looks.

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11- Fixing Mistakes- Changing a Color

Sometimes it seems like the process of painting is a series of making mistakes and then fixing them. Sometimes it seems more like a chain of graceful brushstrokes and good luck. It’s good to know how to fix what goes wrong. This knowledge can relax us enough to want to continue painting. I want to congratulate all of us for attempting to make art because it is a risk and a challenge (and so much fun!)

Watercolor is known to be the most challenging medium because you can’t change a color once it’s on paper. I have found some ways to help us out. First, use heavy, well-made watercolor paper. I recommend Arches 300lb. This paper will take quite a scrubbing when you are fixing mistakes using scrub brushes, sand paper, exacto knives and wet rags. Hot press (smooth) watercolor paper works best with scrubbing.

Second, we have scrub brushes. These are designed to erase paint. I bought mine from Daniel Smith Art Supplies. You can also use any course bristle brush that you may have. I cut a blunt one into a point and that works well when scrubbing out fine details.

When you apply a color in a small area and then change your mind, this is the time to use scrub brushes. The paint may be wet or dry. Using quite a bit of water on a small scrub brush, slowly, gently, and persistently, scrub it out. Mop up excess water with your rag. With care, the paint will change, or it will come out completely. After it dries, paint with the desired color. Experiment with your paints to find out which ones stain your paper (and clothes) and which ones are easily removed.

Large areas of color are more difficult to get back to white, but you can lighten the shade. I do this by using a large scrub brush, rag or sponge. I have been known to put my entire painting under a running faucet (sink or bathtub) gently scrubbing with a sponge or rag until the paint color is lightened. Use the rough side of the sponge if needed.

Fine areas and details of your painting can be altered by using an exacto knife or razor blade. There are many different types of sharp blades. Experiment with them to find the one that works best for what you want to achieve. Gently scrape away the unwanted color after the paint has dried. White flecks can be added to a finished painting this way also, by removing the paint.

Sandpaper can change the brightness of a color and create an interesting texture. Gently rub your dry painting where you want to change the color. Fine grit sandpaper is best because the grit doesn’t leave deep gouges in the paper. Try this first on a test sheet of watercolor paper to see how it will react.

An eraser can also more subtly change the intensity and darkness of a color. Sometimes just a slight alteration of a color is needed. Eraser marks can create a feeling of light by creating long light rays. Textures can be made with repeated eraser marks. Experiment on a test sheet before trying this.

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12- Feathering

This technique is hard to describe in words. It will be easily understood after you have been painting for awhile. To see this demonstrated, see Enchanting Watercolor, the DVD by Meganne Forbes ().

Feathering is a way to change and extend a color after it has been applied. Begin by drawing a simple outline of a small tree. Apply some color around your subject. It will look like you outlined your tree. Now, while the paint is still wet, wash off your brush and paint just with water. Bring the already wet paint around the tree outward to fill the rest of the paper. It will look like you painted the negative space. The color will be darker around the tree, getting lighter toward the edges of the paper. Feathering lightens a color and extends it. Bold strokes get blended and outlines turn into edges. Feathering is a way to soften edges of a painted area.

Outlines are not as interesting as edges in a painting. Usually there is a tendency in, the beginning, to outline your subject in painting. Painting the negative space allows us to change this tendency. The painted negative space or background gives a strong border around our subject. And our subject can pop out without outlining it.

In the painting illustration below, you can see the negative space around her arm and shoulder. This is an example of feathering. After drawing the woman, I began to paint the negative space. I feathered the outline that was forming around her and it became the background of deep teal fading into light teal. It’s also a nice example of gradation.

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Another example of feathering is when you apply too much paint, or paint something too boldly. Feathering is when you add water to your brush and feather the edges of the painted area by painting with water, softening the hardened edges.

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The 5 Secrets You Need to Know....

…When Beginning to Paint in Watercolor!

What to do, what not to do….including helpful

suggestions too.

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1. You need to use a lot of water. When mixing paint, when applying paint, and when you make washes (large areas of color), remember to use more water.

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2. It's easy to make muddy colors. So, clean your brushes well every time you use a new color. This will keep your colors from blending into one another. If you mix complement (opposite) colors together you will get a brownish hue.

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3. Change your water often.

As long as your water is clean, and you use clean brushes, your colors will remain vibrant and true.

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4. Be bold.

Enjoy the beauty of the colors. At the same time remember you’re using a transparent medium. If you can’t see through it (opaque), you may be using too much paint.

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5. Don’t be afraid to use good paper, paints and brushes.

Your paintings are going to look a lot better on beautiful paper. A pointed brush often allows for greater control. Good paints will be vibrant and transparent.

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Helpful Suggestions

1- Practice with student grade (low cost) paper so making mistakes isn’t so scary.

2- Paint a little every day.

3- A good beginning exercise to do is make a grid on watercolor paper in pencil of one inch squares. Then, take your time filling in each square with a different color or a different technique. You’ll get to know your colors well and what they do when mixed.

4- Painting with a friend can be fun.

5- Enjoy, breathe, relax and laugh.

6- Never judge yourself or your paintings.

The End

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Was that easy? Or are you feeling overwhelmed? Before long, with practice, you’ll have a stack of paintings.

Let the art come in a relaxed, effortless flow.

Get out of the way.

Let your painting be painted.

Enjoy the amazing world of creativity.

The best to each of you!

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Blessings of creative joy,

Meganne Forbes

I hope you liked this E-book. To aid in your watercolor experience, order the companion DVD,

Enchanting Watercolor

Buy it for yourself or give it as a gift, or share it with a group of friends.

Meganne Forbes

Visionary Artist

Copyright 2011

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