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Demo by Paul Simmons, Cafe Scene in watercolour, 19 Sept 2017 Visit him at www.paulsimmons.co.uk and www.facebook.com/ paulsimmonsartist |
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Paul had brought a few samples of his
properly finished work along, similar to tonight's demonstration![]() ![]() ![]() together with some sketchbooks ![]() |
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![]() He uses three or four types of brush:- flat ones, squirrel mops and a rigger or sword for fine detail at the end. His limited palette of artist quality blues, reds and yellows (no mixed greens) includes some unusual ones such as manganese blue, purple madder and Chinese white. He learned early on that students' colours are a false economy: there is less pigment and they often include stains which soak into the paper so you can't wash your mistakes out. Tube colours are quicker than pans. He had half a dozen "cafe-through-arch" photos as his inspiration and got straight down to a rough black on white development of the composition. |
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He put this to one side as a further
reference and got out a piece of 300lb Saunders Waterford paper (thick enough
not to need stretching). He reproduced the main lines of the original sketch with very light Naples Yellow (a good Mediterranean colour) and then killed much of the white by filling areas in (leaving some patches, such as the umbrellas, white). You should mix enough water and paint so that these first washes break the surface tension of the paper. He dabbed in a little patch of Cobalt Blue sky and went over the darker arch with a brown (Cobalt Blue and Purple Madder) . |
These thin early wet-into-wet washes
will almost disappear under later darker ones but they do define the intended
edges of the painting. He doesn't take them right out to the edge of the paper
because you need a bit of wiggle room in case things don't quite fit. He started introducing darker colours made with mixtures of yellows, Purple Madder and Cobalt Blue. These were continually re-mixed so that texture appeared even in areas that were nominally the same colour and the tonal balance of the picture became clear. |
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Sorry about the
blurry image: lighting problem.![]() |
Dark steps were added in the bottom
left corner so that their perspective led the eye into the picture. Paul thinks of a painting as having three phases: ![]() ![]() ![]() As he got into the second phase he introduced some terracotta tiles. Cadmium Red and a yellow are good, with a touch of Chinese white where you want it to be more opaque. |
For the almost black lines between
the stones Paul mixed Burnt Umber with French Ultra. He took care that the
perspective was right but other than that the outlines of the stones were very
loose. In the distance everything is paler: lighter, less intense. The sunlit tops of the white umbrellas were left as white paper. Remember that the sun is the primary source of light. Where the sun can't be seen the only light is what is reflected. When paint (artist quality, luckily) ran down over a light area he was able to wash it out with a brushfull of water and the ubiquitous kitchen paper. |
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Round about coffee-break time we got to the third phase: detail. Paul kept working throughout. Marks became quicker and shorter. Little dabs of different greens in the foliage. A jumble of legs under the tables. Naples Yellow, Cadmium Red and some white for flesh. A rigger drew the umbrella pole. Fine lines of Cadmium Yellow with Purple Madder for shutters. Repeated overpainting to strengthen lines and add texture. Highlighting of edges (white for most, yellow for foliage). The lighter background was darkened slightly immediately behind the edge of the arch, the contrast emphasising the reflected light underneath it |
And so the demo came to an end. As often happens, there had been a series of useful interjections. | |
![]() 1 There are no rules for watercolour painting 2 There may be excepions to rule 1 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() (i) new, (ii) for watercolour painting and (iii) for oil painting, after which they become rags ![]() ![]() |
I'm sure we all
enjoyed your fiirst demo at Wokingham. Thank you, Paul. Thinks: it's an interesting trick to look through an opening (arch, door or window). ![]() |
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