WatercolorClassPart2

PART II
SUPPLIES:
Watercolor pencils - I will talk about this more in class
*Watercolor paper - I use hot press, 140 lb. Though you can go with a lighter weight or CP. I don't think rough paper will work well for this technique, but I've never tried it.
*Waterproof ink pad - Memories or Ancient Page
*Brushes - I have these - #0 round, #4 round, #6 flat
*Color Wheel (not necessary, but I will talk about how to use this for shading)
*Stamp selection - a simple line drawing type of stamp works well for this technique.

INSTRUCTIONS:
   The information for this class comes from a class I took from a local teacher, Jonesy Maxon. This is an excellent way to get started with watercolor and have a little more control than you would with the pan or tube watercolors.
   First of all stamp your image with waterproof ink (Memories or Ancient Page) on watercolor paper. Since the paper won't get as wet, you can go with a lighter weight than the 140 lb. I would recommend hot process, but cold will probably be OK too.
   Brushes...This is what I have.....a 0 round, a 4 round, and a 6 flat. You might want to use cheapy brushes to experiment with. If you decide that watercoloring is something you want to do a lot of, then buy good brushes.
   Watercolor pencils......everyone has their favorite brand. The way to find yours is to buy some open stock and experiment. This instructor favored the Lyras and they do blend nicely, however they are expensive. In class we tried the Lyras, Staedtlers, and Brunzeels (sp. ?). Of the three we tested, the Brunzeels were the hardest to pull the color from. I ended up buying the 24 pencil set of Staedtlers. And bought Lyras open stock to fill in. I had some Derwents already and I find these leave a line (hard to blend). But again this is personal preference....try them for yourself.
   You don't need to color the entire part of the image. I color about a third and use the brush to pull out the color. If after it dries, you decide it's too light, then you always add more color. Color the entire image.
   Shading your image....
   Let me say first of all, that I don't consider myself an expert at this. I'm just sharing what I've been shown. If someone can add to this, please feel free to jump right in.
   To continue the sun discussion....it helps to observe what happens outside in your yard. In my case, the back yard faces south. The suns rises in the east (on my left) and the shadows are cast behind that. The shadows get shorter as the sun continues to rise. The part of your image that would get the sun's rays is lighter and shading would be on the opposite side and shadows under that. (But really.....I don't think any of us analyzes this in a card. Jonesy, the one who taught this class, told us she just shades and doesn't pay much attention to the rules.)
   Now to the actual shading...we used a color wheel. To choose the shading color, find the color on your image on the color wheel. Move two steps to the LEFT. Your first shading will be done with that color. Let's say your image is blue, your first shading will be green. Use a very light touch here. Just a line of color with your pencil and pull it out with a wet brush. Continue shading.
   After you have finished the first shading, you can stop. Or you continue on and do a second shading when the area is dry. For the second shading, start with your original color and move two steps to the RIGHT. This will give you your second shading color. To go back to the blue example, the second shading would be violet. Again all that is needed here is a line of color. Pull it out with a wet brush. Too much color will overwhelm your image.
   Shadows....
   I scribble a little gray pencil on scratch paper and pick up the color with a wet flat brush and make a thin line under the image.
   These shading techniques may be a little different from what you normally do. Try them and see if you like the final effect. Jonesy showed us examples with no shading, one shading and two shadings. (And as I'm typing this, I'm wondering why I didn't do this for all of you - would have been nice. Oh well!)
   That's it......Linda J