Water Media Techniques

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Water Media Techniques

• Presented by Retha Boles
• Morrison, Colorado USA

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Colorado USA
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Education and Experience
-Bachelor of Fine Art from University of Kansas
Illustration /Graphic Design Studies -Galleries
Georgetown Gallery, Georgetown Colorado
Foothills Art Center, Golden Colorado -I teach
watercolor portrait workshops across
Colorado -Award winner in National art
exhibitions and juried shows

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Consolation
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Self-Portrait
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On the Bench
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Mise-en-Place
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The Shopkeeper
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Water Media Presentation Overview

• Watercolor Painting
• Portraits using Dr. Ph. Martins liquid
  watercolors
• Acrylic Painting
• Using Acrylics on canvas or paper
• Painting with Inks
• Using inks in the style of watercolor
• Inks used in wet-on-wet abstract style

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Painting Portraits with Watercolors

• Step-by-step process used to create luminous skin
  tones
• How to give texture through using wet-on-wet,
  dry-brush, and glazing techniques
• Liquid watercolors can achieve a dynamic look and
  have intense color effects

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Begin Line Drawing

• Think about composition before starting to draw
• I use a hard lead technical pencil for under
  drawing, and sketch very softly
• You do not want the lines to show through after
  the painting is done
• I use a good quality, heavy (300lb.), cold press
  (textured), paper

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Place colors you are using into palette
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• I use light flesh tones to start building color
  in facial area
• In transparent watercolor, always work from light
  to dark
• Never apply paint to areas that must remain
  whiteSave the whites of your paper where needed!
  

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• Using thin washes of color called, glazes, I
  begin to map out the contours of the face
• At this stage, I am only using skin tones (yellow
  and red) on the face, thinned down with lots of
  water on my palette

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• Continue to build the shape of the face with
  darker washes
• By applying many thin and transparent washes of
  color, the painting will have more luminous skin
  tones

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• To give more depth to the shadow areas of the
  face, I will start to apply glazes of blue
• The coolness of the blue color makes shapes
  recede, and the lighter areas seem to pop forward

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• Painting hair requires closely looking at the
  forms within hair and painting with an almost dry
  brush for texture and detail
• I like to use some of the same colors in the hair
  as will be in the skin and in the background
• Use of the same colors throughout the painting
  gives it unity and is pleasing to the viewer

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• The background color is applied to wet paper.
  This is called wet-on-wet technique.
• Salt is then sprinkled on top of the wet color.
  It will repel some of the pigment, giving the
  paper a textured look.
• Using liquid watercolors are good for this, in
  that they can give more intense colors with less
  paint

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• The background must support the figure and never
  distract the viewer. It is not the most
  important area of your painting, it is just
  helping you tell your story and convey a mood
• A white shirt is implied by adding blue shadows
  to give the material its form

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• After background is dry, a splatter effect can be
  achieved by flicking paint onto the paper with a
  stiff bristle brush
• Make sure to cover up all areas that you do not
  want affected

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• Darken background, making sure a balance of darks
  and lights are achieved in painting
• The viewers eye needs to move around the painting
  without any lines or forms leading them off the
  page
• The areas where the brightest lights and the
  strongest darks meet, are where the eyes first
  focus

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• I darkened the back of hair to read more as one
  shape and less as individual curls
• I applied washes of yellows over the face to
  achieve warmer light source and glow
• This is the completed painting with darkened hair
  and warmer skin tones

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Waiting
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Mavis"
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Liquid Acrylics

• Using acrylics on paper
• Painting without water on canvas

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Painting Liquid Acrylic on Paper

• Start with line drawing on paper

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• Paint with paper slightly wet to achieve colors
  melting into one another
• Add salt on top for textured effect

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• Start painting in more detailed areas such as eye
  and beak

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• Paint in background
• Acrylic paint has a resin in it that will dry
  with a sheen if applied thickly. It is also water
  resistant when dry

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• Apply splatters to create fun texture effect

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Night to Day Rhino
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Painting Liquid Acrylic on Canvas

• Using red acrylic from bottle, with no added
  water, paint canvas

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• Draw in black outline of shapes you wish to paint

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• With a flat brush, paint in dark, light and
  highlight colors
• Mix colors (if needed) on palette

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• All of the colors can be painted without watering
  down pigment
• Leaving the red showing through can be nice
  effect
• Paint dark to light for this style

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Painting with Inks

• Using Bombay Inks to create portraits
• Having fun with dynamic wet-on-wet ink techniques

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Begin Line Drawing and Painting with Ink

• Think about the composition before starting to
  draw
• Use inks in glazing technique
• Begin to map in the forms of face and hair
• Ink can be used very thinly or very solid and
  intensely
• Work light to dark as in watercolor style

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• Continue building up skin tones and hair forms
• Start putting in shadow areas
• Introduce clothing (In this case I am using a
  wet-on-wet technique)

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• Continue painting the clothing form and adding
  color
• Color of clothing should be reflected in the skin
  tone and hair

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• Add background to support the figure and enhance
  the composition
• What kind of environment does the figure live in?
• Create a mood through color and texture

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• Continue painting washes of color to add depth to
  image
• Balance is created by use of color and value
• Do lines lead out of painting or into painting?

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• Completed painting should lead viewers eye though
  the painting space
• Using several techniques in application of ink,
  can give more interest to painting

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Cottonwoods in Winter
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Dynamic Ink Abstracts

• With a water- misting bottle, evenly wet entire
  surface of paper
• Paper should be a smoothly surfaced paper

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• Drop bits of color directly from the ink bottles
  onto wet paper

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• Apply other colors as you desire, and tip paper
  to create blending of color
• Spray paper frequently to prevent drying

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• Spraying water on top of already wet ink will
  spread it and create other effects

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• Keep applying colors until you are happy with
  composition
• Dont use too many colors or painting may become
  muddy

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• When all of your colors are in place and still
  very wet

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• Apply a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the
  painting
• Do not smooth out the wrinkles in the plastic!
• Let dry

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• The completed painting will show all of the
  places where the plastic touched the paper
• Concentrated areas of color will have formed

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Sunny Garden
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Winter Beauty
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Thank You Very Much!

• Please let me know if you have any questions
  about my paintings or the products I am using.
• I have brought some of the artwork from the
  presentation with me if you would like to see the
  work up close.