{"id":8217,"date":"2015-02-28T11:13:43","date_gmt":"2015-02-28T00:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/art-art.com.au\/nsa1\/?p=8217"},"modified":"2015-03-01T14:23:57","modified_gmt":"2015-03-01T03:23:57","slug":"the-process-of-watercolour-painting-of-mike-and-henry-written-by-ako-lamble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/art-art.com.au\/nsa1\/the-process-of-watercolour-painting-of-mike-and-henry-written-by-ako-lamble\/","title":{"rendered":"The process of watercolour painting of “Mike and Henry” – written by Ako Lamble"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\"Watercolour<\/a><\/p>\n

How the watercolour painting was started and finished. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"AkoWritten by Ako Lamble<\/span><\/p>\n

Hi Everyone, Some of you have already known that I had been obsessed with watercolour painting for a while. I would like to share with you the process of how I did the watercolour painting of Mike and Henry in my sketchbook. <\/p>\n

I was very surprised to know that I received so many good responses when I posted the painting on my Facebook. More than 230 people altogether clicked Like button (I posted it on a couple of art groups on Facebook as well). Never happened that many before. I presume that so many dog lovers were out there and the painting touched a soft spot. Also comments such as how they liked the tones and the sensitivity of my style of painting.<\/p>\n

I will tell you that there were mistakes and happy accidents during the process which lead to discovering new techniques, I loved the experience. That\u2019s why watercolour is so addictive for me.<\/p>\n

\n\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Mike and Henry(rhodesian ridgeback) in 2006. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This is the photo I chose and put up on my computer screen for a reference to paint from. I wanted to test the new colour arrangement of my travel palette so I picked the photo without thinking too much.<\/p>\n

\n\"Watercolour<\/a><\/p>\n

At this point, I just wanted to test the colours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I usually do a pencil drawing or pen drawing before applying the colour to the paper, but this time I just wanted to test the colours, so I went straight to paint. I make a lot of colour swatches in my sketchbook, so I thought this was one of them, then I went to bed.<\/p>\n

\n\"Watercolour<\/a>
\n\"Watercolour<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Next morning, my mind and eyes are as fresh as the morning dew. When I saw the paint marks in the sketchbook which I made the previous night, I thought I could do much more, so picked up a 2B pencil and started drawing over it, then put more colours on it. Oh, by the way, around 30% of the intensity of the colour would be faded when the paint has dried.<\/p>\n

\n\"Watercolour<\/a><\/p>\n

I was struggling to shape Mike’s hand and arm.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I started using some watercolour pencils to draw details. This was the area you can see where I was struggling to shape Mike\u2019s hand and arm. I also realised that there was not enough space between Mike and Henry and Mike was slightly smaller than the actual size. <\/p>\n

\n\"Watercolour<\/a>
\n\"Watercolour<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

I tried to ignore Mike’s arm and carried on the areas I could deal with.
\nI have a good habit of taking photos of my painting\/drawing with my iPhone during the process. Not just for sake of keeping records, I do it for checking my painting. It’s much easier to find the faults when you see it in thumbnail size. Checking the values, shapes and even colours. <\/p>\n

\n\"Watercolour<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the painting I posted on my Facebook and received more than 230 clicks on Like button.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Now, this was the point the happy accident had happened. When I saw the painting through the iPhone thumbnail size, I instinctively dropped a generous amount of the background colour over Mike’s arm, I actually did it holding iphone in my left hand and holding a brush in my right hand.<\/p>\n

You don’t know how excited I was, I knew I did the right thing. Not just hiding my crappy drawing but it gave a clear focal point on Mike’s face.<\/p>\n

I stopped there and posted it on Facebook. I don’t know exactly, but it took about 40 min to come to this point since I started a pencil drawing that morning. <\/p>\n

\n\"Watercolour<\/a><\/p>\n

I used Procreate app with iPad to paint shadow over Henry’s legs to see how it looks like.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Since I decided to write about the painting, I wanted to do a little experiment. This is a good chance to use the iPad to simulate the casting shadow over Henry’s legs before actually painting on it. I was quite happy with the result.<\/p>\n

\n\"Watercolour<\/a><\/p>\n

You can lift some colours from the watercolour painting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I mainly did three things;<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Darken a part of Henry’s legs as if there were a casting shadow.<\/li>\n
  2. Lifted some colours and painted lightly Mike’s arm and hand which was diffrent form from the photo.<\/li>\n
  3. Put more details of Henry’s face, including highlights (with a gel pen) and his collar.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So many people think that watercolour is difficult and unforgiving, but I disagree with that. As you see, I could redo Mike’s arm and hand after covering the dark colour. Yes, there are some restrictions but watercolour is much more versatile than you may think.<\/p>\n

    \n\"Watercolour<\/a><\/p>\n

    Left:the one I posted on Facebook. Right: The final piece.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    I’ve employed a new habit of asking myself two questions each time when I finished my painting\/drawing. I encourage my students to do the same in my class.<\/p>\n

    Q1. What is the most I like about the painting\/drawing?
    \nQ2. What is the most I would like to improve about the painting\/drawing?<\/p>\n

    I will answer the two questions on this piece.<\/p>\n

    A1. I liked\/enjoyed when I instinctively painted over Mike’s arm, it worked well to hide my crappy drawing, also to give a clear focal point on Mike’s face.
    \nA2. Definitely better drawing of the hand!<\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n\n
    <\/div>\n
    \n\"Art<\/a><\/p>\n

    I have a few different sizes and shapes of sketch book. I keep “in-case sketchbook” in every places. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    Art materials I used<\/h3>\n

    Some of you might want to know the art materials I used, here is the list of them.
    \nFrom the right to the left shown in the above image.<\/p>\n