Archive for the ‘Watercolor’ Category

Watercolor-Basic Painting Techniques You Can Use

Monday, April 4th, 2011

The best course of action to take sometimes isn’t clear until you’ve listed and considered your alternatives. The following paragraphs should help clue you in to what the experts think is significant.

Every art form involves discipline unique only towards its application. In the visual arts for example, like oil, acrylic, pastels, charcoal etc., there are the basics that are common. Some of the basics may include the ability to interpret images into visual form, intrinsic artistry, and skills gained and learned. As the discipline widens and develops, the unique quality of the medium that is used is addressed according to the quality that makes it unique.

Likewise, watercolor painting poses challenges addressed differently. For example, watercolor is a transparent medium making it unique when compared to other mediums that are opaque. To address this, the following are the watercolor basic painting techniques developed and used over the years and which no watercolor artist can do without.

? Dry Brush ? the dry brush technique is good for creating textured surfaces. Samples of dry brush technique are often seen in watercolor paintings of tree barks, rocks, twigs, foliage etc. creating a visibly dominant textures. Dry brush painting relies on painting with a brush that is just about moist and often charged with a thick paint. The dominance or the subtlety of the effect will depend also on the grade and quality of the paper used and the angle and stroke applied.

Sometimes the most important aspects of a subject are not immediately obvious. Keep reading to get the complete picture.

? Lifting Wet Watercolor ? The tools to use when applying this technique are soft tissue paper, sponges, paper towels, or brushes. Lifting is a negative painting tool where instead of applying color, you diminish the color that is applied. It creates a dreamy effect and is widely used when painting clouds where the paint, while still wet is dubbed with the absorbent tool to create the image desired. Twisting is done to create more texture in the paint that is left on the paper as well as scrubbing. When doing the actions though, especially when scrubbing, care must be observed that the paper underneath is not damaged.

? Lifting Dry Watercolor ? One of the greatest challenges in watercolor painting is its being a transparent medium which makes it very difficult to remove or blot out. Once it is in the paper and dries, removing the paint is difficult if not impossible. Painting over will hide it partially. Just the same, sometimes a pigment has to be lifted from the artwork and for lifting dry watercolor, what is normally used are acrylic brushes or sponges. To lift the dry pigment, the sponge or the brush is cleaned thoroughly with clean water and applied very carefully to the surface. The process is repeated until manageable tinge of color remains.

Other tools used are razors, sandpapers, penknives, and sometimes X-acto blades. All of which are destructive. Blades are used but then the texture of the artwork is altered. In skilled hands highlights will be created when using a blade but as mentioned it is a risky process.

? Wet in Wet ? is another watercolor basic painting technique where the paper is brushed wet before applying pigments. This technique produces a very different texture and appearance that is unique only to watercolor paintings.

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Watercolor ? Advanced Watercolor Painting Tips

Sunday, March 27th, 2011

Following are watercolor painting tips for watercolor artists whose ability is beyond the basic skills and aiming to come out with good painting results and preserve their work for a very long period of time.

Paper quality

There are different kinds and grades of watercolor and watercolor paper, each has its own consistency and behaves differently. The quality of the watercolor painting is heavily influenced by the grade of paper that the painting is on. This is more pronounced when applying the techniques such as wet in wet and dry color lifting. Texture grade are also important consideration when applying a dry brush technique. The rule of the thumb when choosing a watercolor paper is that the more expensive and popular the brand used, the easier the work becomes for the artist because of the consistency and the high quality of materials that are used.

Working fast

There are a variety of effects that could be taken advantage when working fast. First, to regulate the paint flow will not allow the artist to rest until a particular aspect of the work is finished. The effects that are obtainable in working fast allows for better blending and mixing of colors that could never be done when the paint is allowed to thicken let alone dry. The same goes for color dominance, and the production of feathery, rugged edged and dreamy textures that only a watercolor could produce. Watercolor is not an easy medium to work on. But for those who will or have learned to regulate the flow of the paint, the wetness inherent to watercolor painting is actually a good control device.

Light fastness

Knowledge can give you a real advantage. To make sure you’re fully informed about Watercolor, keep reading.

Light fastness is also a major consideration when you want the painting preserved. Watercolor pigments have acquired a reputation for impermanence because unlike oil and acrylic that has protective binders, watercolors are painted directly on paper and is exposed. Because of this, that pigments do not retain its color and its brilliance overtime. Today though, major improvements have been done to retain lightfast watercolors which is indicated by a manufacturers numerical rating printed in the tube or the packaging.

The main reason that excellent watercolor paintings are considered less in value than oil or acrylic is its previous inability to hold its color. Today though, technological improvements are achieved for watercolor pigments that in fact, watercolor paintings with high light fastness rating painted on archival paper holds it colors and brilliance longer than oils and acrylics.

Tube or Pan

Choose tube. It is more difficult to achieve very dense color when you use a dry watercolor from a pan. It is also easier to keep raw colors in tubes. Minor difference but it counts for coming with very good, well preserved and well-defined colors. Other than that, there is no visible difference between a tube color and those that comes from pans.

Scumbling

While the preceding watercolor painting tips are relatively new, scumbling dates back to the practice of watercolor application in the 19th century. Otherwise known as dragging or crumbling the color, scumbling is loading a moist brush with large amounts of color and dragging the tuft lightly along the paper to produce different textures and are typically used by watercolorists with more advanced brush handling skills.

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By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Watercolor Basics ? Painting Watercolor Washes

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

The only way to keep up with the latest about Watercolor is to constantly stay on the lookout for new information. If you read everything you find about Watercolor, it won’t take long for you to become an influential authority.

Watercolor washes are some of the basic watercolor techniques that all watercolor painters has to execute very well before building on more complex and painting techniques using the medium. Before a watercolor wash is done well, it will be good to try out first and practice how the brush is held. Most beginners hold the paint brush much like a pencil, that is near the ferrule without variation on the grip.

To get the most out of the brush and execute washes and details, it will be well to practice and notice how paints and strokes behave differently when other points in the handle of the brush is used. Varying the grip from the base of the ferrule to the tip of the handle creates different strokes. The farther away from the handle one goes, the smoother and finer lines are produced. That said, the following are watercolor washes that watercolor artist applies in their work in varying degrees and that no effective watercolorist cannot do without.

If you don’t have accurate details regarding Watercolor, then you might make a bad choice on the subject. Don’t let that happen: keep reading.

Flat Wash ? There are three basic variations of a flat wash, the flat and even wash where the color is applied entirely without variation in shade, a light to dark wash and a dark to light wash. To do this, charge the flat brush with a liberal amount of paint starting in a corner (no matter which, work for conveninece as this depends on whether you are left handed or right handed), touch the paper gently with the brush and pull the paint to the other corner. Execute the brush stroke so that the paint flow as even as possible. The next brush strokes must overlap near the edge of the preceding stroke. If the paint does not flow evenly, increase the angle of your board.
Always keep a blotting paper near to control the flow and when there is too much dripping, work faster and blot the drips away. Refill the brush as needed and keep the tone even. Repeat the process until you have achieved the wash desired. To “cut” the edges, use the flat edge of the brush. If beads run downwards, pick this using the wick action of the brush. Every color in your palette has their own drying properties so try different washes using different colors. Try also drying out the paper at an angle as this technique tends to settle out the pigment with the paper texture.

Graded Wash ? The aim here is to achieve a wash where the value of the color changes smoothly from dark to light. Graded washes often used in landscape painting to paint an open sky, although there are lots of other applications for this technique. The process is very similar to the flat wash except that in creating a graded wash you could either start by painting the paper with a darker value working yourself to the bottom with lighter paint (or water) to decrease the intensity of the color.

Glazed Wash ? This technique uses another color as wash over another color to arrive at a glazed over effect. Basically glazing is painting a transparent color on top of another that produces different effects and values to the color underneath.

There’s no doubt that the topic of Watercolor can be fascinating. If you still have unanswered questions about Watercolor, you may find what you’re looking for in the next article.

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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Watercolor- Modern Watercolor Painting Concepts

Monday, March 21st, 2011

The more you understand about any subject, the more interesting it becomes. As you read this article you’ll find that the subject of Watercolor is certainly no exception.

The story of watercolor dates as far back as when the first man learned to paint and interpret his surroundings. Yet as old as it is, watercolor paintings do not sell as much as oils and acrylics. This is because watercolors are developed only lately. Cezanne used it, Eugène Delacroix, François Marius Granet, Henri-Joseph Harpignies did excellent works with it and a whole bunch of masters dabbled with it. But for centuries, the issue of the watercolor basically is that it cannot hold its colors for long. It fades overtime fast, and so very few serious artists used the vehicle. Not anymore

The real development of modern watercolor painting as far as its preparation and commercial viability is concerned is a little more than a hundred years old. Too recent compared to most visual art mediums, resulting to the partiality of masters to use oils and acrylics in their works. Hence, watercolor paintings seldom succeed commercially. But watercolor is a very wonderful medium to work on let alone the most portable, very easy to maintain and always non-toxic. For centuries it remained in the background, never as popular but the demand has always been there.

Previous to the 1800′s, artists using the medium by large, buys their pigments from the local apothecary and mixed their own colors. The 18th to the 19th century saw a rise in market in printing books where the usual vehicle of illustrators is watercolor. Consequently, there was also an increase in watercolor demand as it became fashionable during that period to use the medium particularly in the upper classes of society. And so manufacturers taking notice bring the production of watercolor to a different more commercially viable level.

If your Watercolor facts are out-of-date, how will that affect your actions and decisions? Make certain you don’t let important Watercolor information slip by you.

Then, majority of the binder that is used in watercolors are plant carbohydrates. Likewise, the pigment is drawn to the paper through the paper’s cellular components where it stays. This leaves the pigment exposed like pigments stranded in a sand paper, leaving powdery pigments to scatter when very dry thereby fading it fast. Today though Arabic gum is used as the principal binder together with improvements done to improve its light fastness.

The light fastness of watercolors are measured by its numerical rating and is printed at the packaging for identification. In fact, if an artist uses watercolors today with high light fastness rating and conduct the work in archival paper, the pigments will stick, the transparent brilliance that only watercolors could provide will remain, and the artwork will last longer than those done in either oil or acrylic.

Applications have also changed. While paintings utilize brush (including watercolor) as its primary tool, modern implements include the use of sponges, tissue papers, plastics, crayons, sprayers and other organic and non organic material to create a final artwork that is most possible with watercolor paintings.

Concepts have also changed as it relates to the use of the watercolor. The injunction that white and black paints are buy not to be used, instead only primary colors that are mixed either in the palette or directly into the painting is already of no relevance to modern watercolor painting concepts.

It never hurts to be well-informed with the latest on Watercolor. Compare what you’ve learned here to future articles so that you can stay alert to changes in the area of Watercolor.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Watercolor-Mixing Watercolor Paints

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

Contrary to misconceptions, the only difference between tube paint and pan paint is that tube paints has viscosity to allow it to be squeezed out of the tube while the pan paint ranges from moist to dry, other than that, and except for brands, they are basically the same and will display no visual difference except when using the dry brush application. Dry brushing requires that you get the paint from the tube and apply it to paper as obviously that is hard to do when using dry pan paint. When mixing watercolor paints, whether using the tube or from the pan, to obtain the densest color is to get it straight out from its container undiluted with water. On the other hand, to get the lightest color value is to saturate it with more water.

In mixing watercolor paints the key point is that the denser the paint used over large surfaces, the more the tendency of the paint to dry dull. Very dense paints will tend to have a leathery appearance that unless it is the actual purpose, this “bronzing ” of the paint will lose the luminescent quality that are typical only to watercolor paintings. Likewise too saturated paints will get the paper very wet that again if that is actually not the purpose, controlling the paint on very wet paper will take more skill than is normally required.

While all saturation levels are used for watercolor, the normal mix applied ranges from a part of paint to ten parts of water. To prevent bronzing yet have that sharp look and retain the paints luminescence, the mixture will typically start at two parts of water to every part of the paint. A mixture of about six parts of water to a part of paint will still get a saturated color. After this, saturation levels are achieved depending on the value and color temperature that is desired. To get delicate pastels to subtle tints, more water is mixed.

If your Watercolor facts are out-of-date, how will that affect your actions and decisions? Make certain you don’t let important Watercolor information slip by you.

When mixing watercolor paints, preserve the “raw” paints as much as possible and never allow it to be muddied by another color. To prevent this, pick a desired amount of paint with a clean brush from the paint well and put this on the mixing area. Before picking up another color insure that the brush used is not tainted with another color. Muddied paint when allowed to dry will make it a little difficult later on to pick pure colors.

There are different ways of mixing watercolor paints. One is to completely mix it on the palette for a desired or a matching color, it could also be mixed by loading the brush with a color or color combinations and applying it directly on paper, dropping colors into a wet surface is another method, and the use of glazing technique is also another method of mixing watercolor paints.

Watercolor paints also have the tendency to acquire mold when stored but not allowed to dry completely after using. It is then desirable to get only desired amounts during mixing colors as watercolors specially the bluish variations will have the tendency to produce an uneven and flaky texture when left to dry and rewetted.

When word gets around about your command of Watercolor facts, others who need to know about Watercolor will start to actively seek you out.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Watercolor Values

Saturday, March 19th, 2011

So what is Watercolor really all about? The following report includes some fascinating information about Watercolor–info you can use, not just the old stuff they used to tell you.

Watercolor values evaluation is the degree of lightness or darkness of a color. Gauging it is very important if the painting is to very good. A good idea with good composition will not look right once the values are off.

Understanding Watercolor Values

There are four things considered in understanding color values.

Color ? is the degree of perception, light absorption, reflection, or emission of light as it interacts and is recognized by the eye. In layman’s terms it is the recognition of blue being blue, red as red, and yellow as yellow including all its derivatives.

Shade ? is the degree of darkness in a color

Tint ? is the degree of lightness of color where deepening or lightening the tint by minute increments would change the colors temperament until you arrive at a totally different color.

Hue ? is the degree of a colors modification. For example blue Green, Red Violet etc.

I trust that what you’ve read so far has been informative. The following section should go a long way toward clearing up any uncertainty that may remain.

Watercolor Value Scale

Every eye reacts to light and color perceptions differently. The differences though are very minute but judging values are affected by these little differences. A blue-eyed person for example could see better in bright surroundings but perceptions suffer when in darker areas. Opposite in perception to light and darkness are darker eyed persons. Even when no two eyes are exactly the same in the manner by which it gauges color, shades tints and hues, a uniformity could be approximated if not totally achieved by using value scales as guides. Most artists buy learned to gauge this by using a gray scale. A typical gray scale is divided into ten increments of varying shades. On the top of the scale is a color that is pure white. The ten shades following that differs by 10% increments in the darkness (grayness) until the tenth shade, at the bottom of the scale that is colored pure black.

Gauging the Watercolor Value

The depth of a color is influenced largely by the manner in which the eye responds to light. When you place a lightly colored strip of paper and place it alongside the value scale, the eye will be drawn to compare it to the lighter shades of the grey in the scale. Conversely, darker colored strips will draw the eye to compare the color with the darker shades of grey. It is in this approximation of color that helps the artist judge color values and applies it to his color renditions. vardenafil

Using a Value Scale in Watercolor painting

When color values have been determined, there are two methods that are used to make a value change. First is either the lightening of colors by diluting the pigment with more water until the correct value is achieved or darkening it by adding more pigments. The second is creating an illusion in the painting to lighten up the values like softening (or roughing) inside edges of the colors of the objects and images.

Finally, even with the best brands, watercolor values are different when the pigments are still wet compared to when the color dries. Adjustments in coloring then are made to achieve the best color values possible.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Watercolor ? Mixing Colors

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

This interesting article addresses some of the key issues regarding Watercolor. A careful reading of this material could make a big difference in how you think about Watercolor.

Watercolor out of the tube or the pan is at its full paintable strength. Seldom will it be used in that manner except when the design calls for it. However, the use of full strength color is by large discouraged due to bronzing when watercolor applied to the paper dries. Diluting and mixing color pigments with water changes its values, depth, and hue. When applying watercolor though, an important thing to remember is that the color will tend to be lighter when the color dries. If you want stronger color, you can make adjustments by applying slightly stronger hues before application or you can dab some more color to the object when the paint is already dry.

Creating test sheets

Before attempting to mix watercolor pigments, it is advisable to test out the colors first on a clean paper to get a good grasp on how it behaves and the color when it dries. Paint on a damp paper the colors that you will use. Maintain a uniform brush stroke starting with the lightest color to the stronger ones. Label the color and maintain a clean brush while doing the strokes. When the paints are dried compare it to the colors in your color well to judge how the final outcome of the colors will be.

Mixing a Puddle of Color

To start your puddle, wet the brush in clean water. This opens up all the hairs in the brush up to the ferrule. At this point, your brush would likely be fully loaded with water, if so, remove excess water by thumping the brush a few times or run the brush across the rim of the mixing well.

Is everything making sense so far? If not, I’m sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.

Add the first color (blue for example) by touching the tip of the brush across your pigment and dilute it some more with your puddle of water. Start painting and continue the process until you get the color value that you desire.

You do not need to wash your brush if you want to add another color for combination. Touch the tip of your brush to a new color (Green for example), dilute it with your puddle of water, and apply it over the blue or parts of the blue that you painted previously. Continue adding strokes until the correct color is achieved.

To keep tube and pan colors pure, place small amounts of the pigments in a separate well. This way, all your colors stay clean and will not intermingle with another.

Practice mixing primary Colors

To achieve a very good grasp on how colors behave and how it will affect your work, it is advisable to practice with primary colors. Primary colors are the colors Red, Blue, and Yellow. Combining these colors in different degrees will give you infinite color combinations. Most professional artists use only these colors and have created masterpieces out of them.

This is the best practice that you could have in mixing color and making color combinations. Try to produce different color hues. The experience that you will derive here will be priceless.

Take time to consider the points presented above. What you learn may help you overcome your hesitation to take action.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Watercolor- How To Paint In Watercolor

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

The usual dilemma of artists starting to paint in watercolor is that it behaves differently from mediums like oil or acrylic. For one, oil and acrylic are opaque mediums whereas watercolor is transparent. It could heavily influence and flow to the color beside it if that is not the intention and if care is not taken. Unlike other mediums then, decisions at the start of the painting must be done where the whites are placed and apply the lightest of shades first. Common practices of watercolorists are to leave the white areas for later.

To paint in watercolor, observe the following.

Center of Interest

Creating the center of interest is the heart of an artwork. When you paint in watercolor, unless the theme is formal or static, avoid having the center of interest right in the middle of the painting. To solve this, break the vertical and the horizontal axis on a ratio of 1:2. Keeping the center of interest of the painting at an unequal distance between the sides will correct the subjects positioning.

Thumbnails sketches

If your Watercolor facts are out-of-date, how will that affect your actions and decisions? Make certain you don’t let important Watercolor information slip by you.

When the subject of the painting is already determined, drawing thumbnail sketches will help manage the canvass and prevent you from making mistakes later. The thumbnail sketches will allow you to arrange and shuffle the subjects around. Having thumbnails sketches also provides you with a good idea on creating lights and shadows to have the maximum contrasts at the center of interest

Applying the color

Having the center of interest in mind, start the painting by applying the lightest washes in the background working towards the darker hues and details later on. Having too many colors in the palette often result into a work that looks muddy and discordant. When starting the painting, have your color palette limited to two or three colors working your way towards tight details later on as dictated by the subject and the atmosphere that you want to create. Introduction of intense colors could be done later in the work. When starting to color, cover large areas loosely but do not forget to leave the white areas blank. This will enable you to create very good detail and tonal contrasts.

Harmonizing the color

While coloring and the choice of colors to be applied basically rests with the artist, a color wheel is a good tool to use to get a better idea on how the watercolor painting will appear in the end. Harmonizing the color rests on tastes and preferences and so there are no rules to that. However, the one thing that is best avoided when unsure of which color to use is to avoid neutral darks. Watercolor painting will tend to have more character if the dark color choices are either warm or cool darks. If a discordant color appears in the painting (like for example a purple lily that seems to jump out of the canvass), apply the discordant color to other areas of the painting as well.

Finally, as with all artwork, when you paint in watercolor, do not overdo details. Creating too much detail in one single work will tire the eye. Create areas of relief as well.

Is there really any information about Watercolor that is nonessential? We all see things from different angles, so something relatively insignificant to one may be crucial to another.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Watercolor ? A Spark Of Goodness

Friday, March 11th, 2011

The following paragraphs summarize the work of Watercolor experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of Watercolor. Heed their advice to avoid any Watercolor surprises.

A spark of goodness created all of us, so a poet said. In like manner, all of us have that creative spark. In some of us this spark is pronounced, in most, it has to be cultivated. Nonetheless, it is always there whether admitted or not. We feel it all the time. This is why we strive to pamper our senses. This is why all of us are drawn to the beautiful, the grand, and the majestic. We can never be fully satisfied until we create. And until we learn to create, we will always stand in awe to those who do never knowing that we have the same quality in us.

Failure is an Ally

It is painful to admit that. Wish it were not so but wishing would not change that. Vincent Van Gogh for all the worth of his paintings now, only sold one commissioned painting in his lifetime out of the numerous masterpieces that he did. A portrait not very well received by the patron but paid nonetheless. Picasso, Monet, Degas, Renoir, Goya, name it, all have struggled at first until masterpiece after masterpiece were made, accepted, and praised by the public.

A spider can spin a web right after it is hatched and a deer can leap a few moments after it is born but for all our superiority, we have to learn, struggle and learn some more if not from previous mistakes, from the mistakes of others until a task is as perfect as our limitations would allow us to be.

I trust that what you’ve read so far has been informative. The following section should go a long way toward clearing up any uncertainty that may remain.

With so little time

A cliché goes “We live and learn” until a wisecrack added, “by the moment we learned it will almost be too late to live”. If that is the parameter by which achievements have to be set, then nothing created will have been created. The truth is art is created for the sake of creating, nothing more. Art is a reward in itself. It does not matter if it is recognized nor condemned, praised or ridiculed. History has proven time and again that the opinion of the majority is not always right.

And so Express Yourself

Because you are a co-creator, create. Lives are lived more fully when we create. It is good if the talent is already there if not, it often comes after trying but even if it is said that there is none, who cares. Not every master has the talent when they were just starting. The talent is developed in a manner by which intelligence is also developed. But even when the talent never grows to the level desired, art is still a good way to express oneself. It is a release; it is relaxation and developing focus and coordination. It is development of tastes and expressions that otherwise would have remained dormant. In art, the person runs an entire gamut of experiences translated to tangible forms sometimes known only to him.

It is the only known human activity that to be effective does not require much brain as much as gut activity. More than anything else, it is spiritual and intuition development. An experience that brings us closer to the spark of goodness that created all of us.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Watercolor- Drawing Tips for Beginners

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

When you think about Watercolor, what do you think of first? Which aspects of Watercolor are important, which are essential, and which ones can you take or leave? You be the judge.

Some people are by nature, creative some are not so but want to. Either caused by genes, early childhood exposure, natural inclination, precocity, sudden inspiration, there are people who could create art better. It always will be. Whatever the cause though whether born into it or not, we learn from practice. The fact is, the best artists devoted more time to the discipline of practice. Inspiration is then sparked more because as the practice continues, the better the artist becomes. It is often said that we are not fully human until we learn to create. For the creative spark that is within each of us, here are the following drawing tips.

Practice ? No matter what subject you have in mind, the important thing is to keep on practicing first. Doing so will help you to start judging proportions and translating it into paper. There is no shortcut to this. Practicing makes the hand pressure more sensitive to the paper and the hand movements more attuned to the subject that you have in mind. Only spiders are born that could immediately build a house, we alas has to keep on trudging. The more pencil shavings you have, the more you convert the ideas into the art. It does not matter what you draw because as with everything else no effort really goes to waste.

Having said that, fine artists start their composition by imagining. Look at the big picture, get the general idea, and start sketching. You can add the details later on. Often while working, the picture that we have in mind does not translate accurately on the paper. That is often the case; In fact it is good that it has to be because by then improvisation takes place which is really the beginnings of the mark of true art and individuality. Many masters agonized over that but worked through it and came up with unique pieces of art. If you work at it long enough, you will discover that not over thinking but letting yourself go with the flow of the work does it better. But of course that would come later.

If you don’t have accurate details regarding Watercolor, then you might make a bad choice on the subject. Don’t let that happen: keep reading.

In the meantime, start by drawing thumbnail sketches. When you have a good idea of the composition of the picture, start drawing. It is good though when starting to reduce the picture that you have in mind into smaller shapes. Reducing the figure into smaller simple pieces makes the canvass more manageable. Start your sketches with light strokes but keep it as detailed as you want. Always start near the center of the page.

If the main interest of the subject if not exactly at the center, it must be on a location that will immediately catch the eye but never start from a corner working your way in. The same principle applies when applying the strongest tonal contrast. This is what you call the center of interest. It is here that most details are made. Start with large and bold movements using soft pencils when starting a sketch and then proceed to drawing the fine details using finer point pencils. For finishing touches, apply small and tight strokes.

Another drawing tip that you would want to apply is to work first on large sheets of inexpensive paper. Working on inexpensive paper is a good way to gain confidence with practicing hand strokes.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO





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