Ref 902;.- Pastel.- Gestural Drawing

The Word "gesture" or the term "gestural mark" refer to a mark that is more exploratory than exact, one line is drawn over another in free and rapid movement of the hand and wrist, the effect gives the impression of movement and the network of lines rather tan one line alone creates the image
I´m building up, my skills in this field, so the following painting is a reproduction, with the idea to make lines as somebody with experience, (before work in my own paintings); So the painting does not have to much colors, for this purpose, just line strokes with light and heavy pressure and side strokes. I was adding pastel and blending to geth the right depth of color and I use a rag like a paint brush to help build up main forms, as in my old drawings always I put special attention to the eyes (main focal point) as this is one of my first paintings this time I did a reinforcement of definition and color with brush and gouache paint, I´ll try to do everything in pastel but for the momento I felt more confident with my old painting stock.- I had a good time by the way, always is good to try different médiums - I guess
Before add additional colors:

Final result:
                 Strathmore paper 500 black color

Ref 901;.- Diluted charcoal as texture-underpainting and watercolor
                   applied with syringe and finished with brush


Final result of this process;
Over hot press paper 220 gr

Step No 1.- See previous ref 900;  regarding powder charcoal application

 

 The beauty of watercolor painting, is that you don´t need many extras, you may already own most of this ítems shown here, to complement the texture underpainting accordingly

 

 

The charcoal is quite dirty so, once you have the idea impress, I rinse all the paper and while still wet I lift out some áreas with a wet brush or with a paper towel  .- different amounts of color can be removed by varying the pressure

 

 

2nd Step.- Small highlights can be made by scratching into the dry paint but with this method you can have small clear área by pushing and old brush into the semi-wet paper, do not over-do it, because as you can see I scuffed a Little bit the paper, needs to be careful, all this variations are important to conform the texture you are loking for..---- Let it dry and apply a fixative over the painting to keep it as it is and in some particular clear spots you can use masking fluid

 

 

3rd Step.- I could use an sponge to add color above the underpainting, but do not forget that we are working with charcoal, and again can be activated with moisture, so I rather use a syringe to apply some clear colors above the charcoal texture - underpainting but also you can flicking and/ or spattering paint onto this surface to suggest even more texture or simply to add interest in some áreas of your painting, spattering can not be controlled easily so you need to masking with a torn paper over it, but with this method I really do not need to.

 

 

4rth Step;.- After wait to completely be dry,.. I start to reinforce painting again the shadows, and dark details,, and for this particular case again White tones over color below as another layer to conform mist and reinforce White clear spots base on light source, this color gives the life over the shadows of the underpainting

 

 

                  "The biggest emotion in creation is the bridge to optimism"

 

 

 

 

Ref 900 Graphite.-  Drawing with brush instead of pencil

  Drawing done with graphite without using pencil, powder graphite is mixed with water and applied by brush from 3 different  containers with little water, with twice amount of wáter  and quite diluted--- erasing with a napkin help and creating additional body textures with a spray and tilting it  --- note  the drwg firm is with pencil;     all over hot press paper

                   "Nothing is perfect, that is why the pencil has an eraser"

Ref 899 .- Powder Charcoal - mixed with the wáter  to texturize shadows

Final result of this process

This is another way to use powder charcoal to texturize watercolor paintings
(see previous ref 898)
To show how I used;  I did a photographic sequence
over hot press paper 240 gr/m2
I´m using to texturize the background forest and rocks with dark colors and also another additional container with just clean wáter to mix light colors

1st step.- Sketch base in your idea (locate shadows and light source for the painting) in accordance your own methodology

2nd step.- In a container I´m adding a Little amount of powder charcoal to mix with the wáter and wet with my brush to blend with dark paint

 

 



3rd step.- Now I´m adding the brigh and or clear colors with clean wáter

4th step; Its´s not easy to go from dark to light with watercolor, so to reinforce clear colors into the foreground I´m using modeling paste which have additional benefits like 3D texture and more bright and also I´m reinforcing dark colors, this method Works good however I need some practice to take advantage of it, the texture brings interest  and is easy to work with if you rinse off the entire paper with clear wáter from a gente sprayer or a sink, let the paper dry and assess the patern after 2nd step, you can repeat the technique for more texture, and you can prevent smudging by lightly spraying the área with a clear acrylic fixative

Ref 898.- Pattern with Charcoal - my first try

To try this texture, first sift a light coat of pure powdered artist´s charcoal onto dry watercolor paper and/or mix in wáter and apply with a brush .--- powdered charcoal slides of a pool of wáter, but it adheres to dry paper, the result is a different texture to bring additional interest to your painting  I added with a brush in the background of the following painting, and with same material to make some tattooes in the figure, ----After background dries, then I spray the área with a pump sprayer to set the texture, (now I know after additional experimentation that we need to rinse the entire paper with clear wáter and let it dry) so when I start to add color as a light layer over the painting the tattooes dissapear in a big porcentaje, that was my mistake, nevertheless  I wanted to show the result the figure was made with opaque yellow (gouache) +iridicent media; then Green and blue with transparent watercolor in accordance  light and shadows
 Note the base pencil color in the figure vanished with the watercolor added afterward as layers, I could fix some black color like hair but the tattoes didn´t work at all .---   Creativity is allowed some mistakes, but the art is to know which to avoid next time, and by the way also I ´forgot to complete the background next to the neck --

Ref 897.- Watercolor.- Underpainting with molding paste and it´s
                                   effect through sandpaper



Rub a rough grade of sandpaper across a dry surface of colored molding paste / impasto; that was laid over previous dark watercolor as main color base to create some interesting texture marks. This technique can be used to créate tree bark, rocky texture, sparkles on the wáter, fine spray from a wave as it crashes into a rocky shore or anything that needs additional details, I use to conform the following painting which involves many textural forms including some tree leaves on it

Final result of this process;

Main Steps; 
Exercise made over Hot Press Paper  220 gr/m2. to take advantage of its gloss properties

Step No1.-
Sketch in a loose way the main underpainting dark colors and main features of the idea, put additional emphasis in the shadows

 

Step No 2.- 

After first step dry; I spray Little amount of wáter so the molding paste can fix better into the paper;  Mix molding paste with the paint or use it pure by applying it in one or more layers of minimal thichness with a spatula on the surface of the paper prior to painting.  I used to spatula sizes one large to cover all the color (light ochre) atmosphere and one small to add texturing shapes with médium tone colors of the whole painting idea

 

 

 

Step 3.-

Fold sand paper and drag the folded edge across the dried molding paste to créate textural shapes, line, contours, etc. the underpainting dark color will be revelead, giving additional shape to your idea, do not overdo because the idea is to reach enough texture, the color later on can be improved 

 

 

 

Step 4.-

The underpainting is simply what it sounds like.  It is a painting under the finished painting Many painters simply skip creating an under painting, forgetting that an underpainting can make the finished painting more successful.

In most cases, an under painting's purpose is to define the shdows and highlights in a painting

Doing this allows the artist to establish a value range so that the focus can then shift to the color.

But an underpainting can establish expressive color as well

And again we can go back to the color, I reinforce the dark colors keeping and maintening light source for the final touches, given the texture, sometimes we are able to use the foam brush given more random details to the process .- Watch the light source  add light and brilliant colors you like and enhance it with white gouache
 
                       " The best things about memories is making them "

Ref 896.- Watercolor .---- Freezing Technic

Frosty patterns can be captured on watercolor paper by actually freezing liquid watercolors on the paper , However, I took advantage of this technic, in order to make some layers over it, with transparent and opaque (gouache) properties of  watercolor), Through this particular exercise, I used a large sheet of plastic  to cover the entire painting while it was drying. This will not only give a unifying texture of exposition but will slow the drying process so that I can add more colors layers with the help of additional water right under the plastic

Final result of this process

How I did it
The refference was taken from a picture from the WEB so this is a reproduction but with a different technic

Step 1.- pencil minimal lines for sketching;  in this example over cold press paper 240 g/m2 rough grain Gvarro gummed on one side, acid free

Step 2.- Basically dark watercolor colors keeping white áreas some of them cover it with masking fluid

Step 3.- With transparent watercolor, I prepared a blue color puddle, which I spread widely, but before that I took away the masking fluid over fine detailed white spots

Step 4:- Before dry I overlaied a plastic over it but before that I sprayed additional wáter to kept wet then I put into the fridge, as this is my first exercise with this new technic, my painting is relatively small

 

Step 5.- After a couple of hours on the fridge I gently mopping up the excess water and ice as the painting begins to thaw,

 

 

 

Step 6.- I decided to do it again but now with gouache watercolor paint (less transparent), you can see now, more vivid colors on this layer  and more satisfactory  for the underwater view purpose

 

 

 

 

Step 7.- Final Touch .- thaw brands now were not so marked, but instead left so many color tones and interesting effects, some of them I enhanced again with additional clear tones and/or pure White  now I used more transparent watercolor for the final touches giving the senation of see the fishes through clear multicolor wáter in movement

 

Final thoughts

1. I need to work more in this technic, but mixing transparent and opaque watercolors are giving me a lot of blending  ideas.- the correct freezing method should be: dip the paper in wáter .- pour paint into the very wet paper and fridge and/or put outdoor if you live far in the North to Works its magic; for a frost pattern to form.- bring in the paper and thaw it out. when it dries completely, you can enhance the pattern by exaggerating the fractures with detailed brushwork

Ref. 895  Mixed media.-A different type of drawing just for relax  
              Made with markers, pencil and watercolor in a loose way

                                      Kawasaki KZ-10 H2

 

 

Ref 892; The lighthing

 



Ref 894; Watercolor.- Bruise
Bruising involves using a hard tool to make indentations in the paper. When you apply a wash, the paint gathers in the indentations, creating lines or marks that area darker than the surrounding wash. These indentations can be made before paint is applied, while the paint is still wet, and after one wash has dried but before a second wash is added.
Variation: Paint a wash over a previously dried area. While the paint is still very wet, bruise the area with a stylus. Paint will fall into the bruised area. Then blot up the entire area. All of the paint will be removed except for the paint that has fallen into the grooves created by the stylus

                     Ideas like rivers, never have just one source

Ref 893; Watercolor---Adding Gum Arabic to your water

Adding Gum Arabic to your water color has three effects: it slows down the drying time of the paint, giving you slightly longer to work on creating your image or working wet into wet; it adds further transparency to your water colors and it increases gloss. Gum Arabic washes will have greater depth and appear more luminous than color washes alone. Gum Arabic is usually mixed into the water color wash but can be added to the jar of water if you prefer to use it throughout the painting. Gum Arabic should not be used directly from the bottle because thick films will be brittle

Ref 890 Watercolor.-   BLOT
 Blot wet paint with a sponge, paper towel, facial tissue, terry cloth towel, your finger or the palm of your hand. The towel or tissue can be dry or wet, flat, crumpled, or twisted. If you blot several areas, be sure to frequently re-crumpled the paper to avoid repeating the same pattern and to avoid placing the lifted paint back onto the paper. Blot lightly to remove a little paint; press hard to remove more paint. Blot straight down or roll the absorbent paper across the paint. Blot with a tissue wrapped around the end of a spool of thread, creating a light, round shape in the wet paint. Blot with tissue wrapped around the end of your finger, In my following painting I was able to make mist and light with this technic;
To reinforce White tone I employ White gouache .-White paint onto the white paper in areas where you want mist, fog or steam to be. When the gouache White is dry, paint the picture. When the completed painting has dried, dampen the paint where you want to blot out some color to give the impression of mist, fog or steam. Gently dab with a sponge or tissue paper. The color will lift easily where there is gouache White. This technique allows you to lift even staining pigments.

                                            
                                                              Ref 890

Ref 889; Color pencil & Markers; over hot press paper----
 "Princess Dakar, Laía sanz"

Ref 888:_ Watercolor-- Masking/ Sponging/ Scratching
                                   & Blending  Exersize

Water scenes can be a challenge to paint in watercolor.  But with a bit of practice and some careful study of the subject, you can whiz right through any such challenge.  One thing that will be clear to a watercolor painter is the fact that the subject of the work is painted front to back. 
Water is painted most often with a wide watercolor brush, filled with pigment and water.  This liquid “soup,” when painted onto thoroughly wet paper, will yield a wash of rich tone upon which additional darks can be added or lights can be created by lifting off paint.  Either way, the initial layer of “water” is painted as a general idea of the end result.  Tones are added with various methods to build a unique and desired effect

Following painting was liquid masking in reflections with a fan brush and after dried sponging on;  topically is another way to add bright light areas.  By gently sponging on foam along the edge of a lake or seascape painting, you can create the look of froth that is very realistic.  Sponging can also be used wet-on-wet to add speckles and multi-toned coloration to the sea or lake colors and also instead of wáter I use soapy wáter to make more additional color texture
Once it was dried I took away the masking fluid and added color again, on regards the horizont light main source then I start to scratching off the surface of the dry watercolor that will give me a sharp, severe contrast line.  Scratch with a needle tool or the edge of a sharp blade drug horizontally across the paper.  The blade will catch the fibers and lift them up, creating stark paper-colored áreas
Finally I complete the figure with Payne´s grey, to avoid a strong contrast some humidity still in the paper, allow me to blend the sharp color images representing some light vegetation contrasted shapes at the distance, within these cliffs


             Ref 888.-   Your Attitude + Your Choices = Your Future

Ref 887 New watercolor Sándwich technic .- trough modeling paste layers

The following technique is under experimentation, and this is my first painting, which I discovered by a wonderful mistake
I was wondering how to make the shrouds the foremast and main moorings in a fade away through a misty environment,
I decided to work over hot press paper, which was the initial mistake, because it can not absorb so much soaking; however I continue working without so much thinking about it; therefore I start by painting the first fine lines with pencil which were to dark for my purpose, I tried to lift it out with wáter and this paper didn´t help, that is when  I thought in modeling paste, which is a Little bit transparent if the thickness is quite small, so I applied the layer with an spatula.- after dry completely the result was better tan expected and I continued painting above this first layer but now with watercolor,.- I painted basically the foresky sail and the forelower sail and some yards of the different mast with a blend of ochre and orange, also I applied previously some yellow color for the sky in the background and into the sails at this time again I reinforced some lines  with a dark pencil , the result was to heavy in color for my purpose so instead to lift the paint again, considering this type of paper  I rather apply again another "modeling paste" layer above  but now in a selective way trying to represent the mist I was looking for, finally after dry completely I put my signature in which you can see the difference in color below and above the last modeling paste layer
In other words at this technique I named sándwich because of that
1st pencil
2nd modeling paste layer (applied with spatula)
3rd watercolor and fine pencil reinforcement
4th modeling paste selective layer (adding wáter as needed)
5th final touch and details


                                         Ref 887