The chap who asked for the landscape a la Meyer, doesn't want that after all, but would now like a huge watercolour (a full sheet of Fabriano - what's that, about 1200x900mm?) of his children in the sea, with whole mountain ranges and reflections and two reasonable likenesses and sky with clouds and sandbanks and currents... each one of them a challenge in their own right, and altogether just beyond me. Does anyone do such big land/figurescapes in watercolour? I said no, I couldn't take it on - I saw myself throwing my entire stock of pricey little tubes of colour all over that humungous piece of paper, and sweating and swearing as I tried to spread and control them... makes me hyperventilate just thinking about it. So I did this little (148x105mm) sketch of the kids, with an itty bit of the sea - I think it's actually a lagoon - and mountains to give him as a 'thanks but no thanks' to go back with the photo album. The likenesses are pretty good, (though I don't know them, so can't be sure) but the reflections are fussy and the water overworked and the mountain darkly ominous and he'll probably think he had a narrow escape, but I think it's quite nice of me.
Showing posts with label paper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paper. Show all posts
Monday, September 8, 2008
Too much for my palette
The chap who asked for the landscape a la Meyer, doesn't want that after all, but would now like a huge watercolour (a full sheet of Fabriano - what's that, about 1200x900mm?) of his children in the sea, with whole mountain ranges and reflections and two reasonable likenesses and sky with clouds and sandbanks and currents... each one of them a challenge in their own right, and altogether just beyond me. Does anyone do such big land/figurescapes in watercolour? I said no, I couldn't take it on - I saw myself throwing my entire stock of pricey little tubes of colour all over that humungous piece of paper, and sweating and swearing as I tried to spread and control them... makes me hyperventilate just thinking about it. So I did this little (148x105mm) sketch of the kids, with an itty bit of the sea - I think it's actually a lagoon - and mountains to give him as a 'thanks but no thanks' to go back with the photo album. The likenesses are pretty good, (though I don't know them, so can't be sure) but the reflections are fussy and the water overworked and the mountain darkly ominous and he'll probably think he had a narrow escape, but I think it's quite nice of me.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Pink cyclamens
I bought a new 'yikes' pink watercolour - W&N Opera Rose (which you can see in its pure form in the top leftish petal) - and the only thing I saw bright enough to paint with it were these cyclamens that I have in a pot by our front door. And even then I had to tone it down with Winsor Red and Rose Madder genuine, besides that small area of shockingness. This paper (Daler-Rowney's 'The Langton' NOT surface) annoyed me by sucking up all the intensity of the colours that I thought I'd put down, and not giving me the crisp hard edges that I so love about watercolour, especially for the diving winged petals of these flowers, that I wanted. So I will do them again on something else - I must remember to take note of materials that do or do not work for my preferred style - this w/c pad is almost finished and I have no recollection that it was so absorbent!
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