August 16, 2011

Watercolor demo

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I'm posting early this week because I'm heading off to the World Science Fiction Convention! Hope you enjoy this demo.




















Watercolor and gouache on Arches paper. 15"x 20"

This is transparent watercolor except for 3 or 4 opaque gouache strokes needed in the highlights. Keep in mind that transparent does not mean it has to be applied that way, I do like luminous pastel feeling watercolors but I don't want to always be limited to that. I've laid the darks on pretty thick so that they are in fact no longer transparent. I only buy watercolor in tubes because the hard cakes just don't release enough pigment to paint in a full value range. My favorite brands are Winsor and Newton and Holbein.