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Accent Color

Complementary Accent Color The use of a complementary accent color is a simple rule to keep in mind when you start to plan the color arrangement in your paintings. It is a powerful tool to add impact to your paintings. For a complementary accent color to have the necessary impact, the painting should be of an analogous nature (using a group of adjacent colors from a small band of the color wheel). The accent color is the complementary to the overall color of the analogous group. Consider the atmosphere you wish to convey with your painting and select your dominant analogous group with that in mind. The weathered patina of an ancient facade would suit a warm red / orange / yellow dominant arrangement whereas an evening landscape or fleet of fishing boats would be more suited to dominant cool blue / greens. This is a simple system and always yields good results.

Simple color wheel mixed from Quinacridone Gold, Phthalo Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Permanent Rose and Alizarin Crimson

A range of analogous Greens contrasting with a small amount of Cool Red

Our first accent color group uses an analogous group which includes all the greens from blue/green through to yellow/green. They are contrasted with their complementary cool red.

Dunedin Clouds NZ Dunedin Clouds uses a range of greens stretching into blue and contrast this with a small patch of red at the focal point.

Across the Bay A similar color arrangement is used in this painting. The roofs on these waterfront buildings are a rich magenta, given more impact by the surrounding mass or blue/green.

Warm Yellows, Browns and Oranges contrasted with a small amount of complementary blue A warm analogous group from red through to yellow/orange was chosen to portray the rusty exterior of this old truck. A small area of blue above the front wheel and on the sign behind the cab relieve the overall warmth and reinforce the focal point.

Tow Truck

An analogous group from cool red to orange are contrasted here with a small amount of green. A group of warm colors stretching from Alizarin Crimson through to a dirty orange form our analogous group here. Our color wheel shows the saturated colors, but adjacent compound colors plus tints and shades of all our chosen analogous group can also be used.

Pink Shutters

Warm pinks, reds and oranges in this old door and weathered wall are contrasted with a small amount of Phthalo blue/green in the glass window panes. The wall and door are a mix of compound and saturated colors within our analogous group.

Blues from Ultramarine through to Phthalo contrast here with complementary orange Our analogous group here range from Ultramarine through Cobalt to Phthalo Blue. The contrasting warm orange is a mixture of Quinacridone Gold and Alizarin Crimson washed over with some Permanent Rose.

Resting Trawlers

Color Definitions Saturated Colors are all the pure colors found around the outside of the color wheel. They are either primary colors or a mixture of no more than two primaries. – red, orange, red/orange etc. Compound Colors are a mixture containing all three primaries – all the browns, ochre’s, khakis etc. Analogous Colors are any group of colors adjacent to one another on the color wheel – red, red/orange, orange. Complementary Colors are colors opposite one another on the color wheel – Red and Green or Blue and Orange.

The next painting you do, try not to be too influenced by the colors of your subject. Instead, decide on an analogous group that suit the subject, then inject a small amount of the color opposite this group on the color wheel to fire up your center of interest. It’s a simple formula giving great results.

Author: John Lovett

Brush Techniques

We are going to investigate some exercises and Brush Techniques to help train your brushes to do exactly what you want them to do. Paint brushes are a little like the family pet – they require lots of training if they are to do all the things you would like them to. Straight Line Rigger Brush Techniques It’s a scary feeling when you finally get to the end of that big full sheet marine painting and you have to face up to putting in the masts and rigging. All that good work can be ruined with a few wobbly lines.

Use your little finger as a guide for straight, confident lines.

This is where a well trained rigger brush can make all the difference. Clean, fine, confident lines can mean the difference between success and failure. So practice this exercise to train your rigger brush to make nice straight confident lines. 

Hold your brush perpendicular to the paper

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Stand so you make the stroke across in front of you. From left to right if you are right handed (right to left if left handed)

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Decide where the line will start and finish. Put the tip of your brush down on the starting point, move quickly and smoothly to the finish point, stop, then lift your brush off.

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Make the brush stroke with a big sweeping movement from the shoulder

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Don’t move your wrist and don’t flick your brush off at the end of the stroke – you will teach it bad habits!

TIP You can keep your little finger on the paper as a guide while you make the line. This stops the up and down movement of the bristles and keeps the line even.

Use the back of an old painting or a sheet of cartridge paper – as long as it’s flat with no creases or bumps, the paper quality doesn’t matter. Dragging Straight Brush Lines Another trick you can teach a rigger brush is to make a nice straight line by dragging. The secret to this brush technique is to let the brush do the work. Load it with paint, lay the bristles on the paper at the start of the line and drag it steadily towards you. You may have to turn your painting around to do this. Don’t put any downward pressure on the brush. Resting the end of the handle on your finger is the best method. If the brush tends to slip off a small piece of blue tak or masking tape around the end of the brush will stop it.

Let the brush rest lightly on your finger then drag it towards you without any downward pressure.

Brush Techniques For Flat Even Washes In this exercise we are going to teach our Hake Brush to take some of the responsibility for a nice even wash. We will put down a wash in the usual way then, with a dry Hake Brush go over the wash and even it out.

Move the brush quickly and lightly in all directions. The best way to practice this is on the back of, or over the top of an old painting. Mix up a wash and put it over an area of the painting, then, before it starts to dry use your Hake brush to lightly feather over the surface. Keep the brush dry by rubbing it on an old dry towel after every few strokes. The idea is to even out the distribution of pigment and water. Use quick short strokes, back and forth in all directions

A piece of old towel is handy for keeping your Hake dry This brush technique works well on graded washes too, smoothing out the gradation from pigment to damp paper.

Controlled Release With One Inch One Stroke Brush Now its time to work on our larger flat brushes. This is an excellent brush technique for over painting texture. The idea is to drag the brush and gradually lower the handle until the brush stops releasing paint. This is usually the point where the handle is almost parallel to the paper.

With the handle almost parallel to the paper the brush starts to make interesting, fractured marks. Once you find this spot subtly lifting and lowering the brush controls how much paint is released. You will find you can leave a trail of broken, fractured paint that is just

perfect for the texture of weathered timber, stippled tree trunks or the shimmery effect of light bouncing off water. Your flat brushes will have no trouble learning this trick.

Brush Techniques for Accurate Splashes To get loose, random marks into a painting it is hard to beat splashing the paint on with a brush. It sounds like a simple operation but can become very messy with an untrained brush. The secret is in the action. Bring the brush down and stop it abruptly without flicking. Any back flip will cause uncontrolled splashes to go everywhere. Avoid banging it on another brush or your hand, down and stop is the best method. Once you have made the splash, rinse and dry off the brush then adjust the intensity of the spots by carefully blotting some of them up.

Quickly down and stop. The best way to train your brush to do this successfully is to draw some 100mm circles on a sheet of newspaper and practice until your brush can direct the splashes accurately into a 100mm area

No matter how hard you try, there are some brushes you just can’t tame, but like those little shaggy dogs that always seem to find trouble, they seem to be the ones you love the most.

This painting shows a number of different brush techniques. Dragging lines and sweeping lines are used in the vertical trees. The foreground is punctuated with controlled splashes and a hake brush was used to smooth out overwashes on either side.

The detail in these old weather boards shows controlled release using a 1″ flat brush and Ultramarine Blue. The broken texture created by this type of stroke is ideal for these interesting old surfaces.

Brush Techniques For Applying a Watercolor Wash The technique used to cover an area of paper with watercolor is called a wash. It can be flat and even or graded in tone. The best brush to use is a 1″ flat brush. It is easier to get an even wash on stretched paper, but gentle use of a dry hake brush, immediately after the wash is applied, will even out the pigment and moisture, giving a smooth finish on un-stretched paper.

Each successive stroke picks up the bead of the stroke above. To apply a wash first mix some paint and water to the required strength. Before applying the mixture completely wet the paper with clean water. On a gently sloping board, start at the top with a strip of your mixed color from one side of the paper to the other. While this band of paint is still wet, reload your brush with more of your mixture and run another band across, just connecting with the bead formed at the bottom of the previous band. Make sure the paper is completely covered. Repeat this process until the required area is covered. Don’t be tempted to go back and fiddle with what you have done, but keep an eye on any pooling of moisture along the bottom edge of the wash and soak it up with the tip of a damp brush. TIP If your wash looks a little uneven, don’t worry, and don’t be tempted to go back and fiddle once it starts to dry. As a wash dries it settles and evens out.

Graded Wash A graded wash is done in a similar way to a flat wash, only the mixture is gradually diluted as you progress down the wash. A graded wash can also be applied vertically on each side of a painting, leaving a band of light to concentrate attention at the center of interest. To apply a graded wash to either side of a dry painting it is best to turn the painting around and work from the bottom up, diluting the wash as you progress. Don’t be too vigorous, the underlying paint is easily disturbed, so gently does it. These washes can be done carefully with a bristle brush or, for a safer option a mop brush or a large one stroke or flat taklon.

Graded side washes are best applied from the bottom up with the painting rotated to make it easy

After this painting was thoroughly dry a graded side wash of cool grey was applied to either side, leaving a band of light through the focal point.

Variegated Washes As well as flat and graded washes we can also use varied, uneven washes in our paintings. These are best applied to wet paper and varied tones and colors of mixed pigments are dropped on to produce the wash. The best brush for these is a mop brush loaded with paint. The paint can be brushed on or squeezed out of the brush for a more random effect.

This wash was applied to wet paper with varied mixes of pigment. No attempt was made to smooth it out – the natural running and bleeding are what give it character. Note Book Brush Exercises After a couple of weeks practice with these exercises, you will find your control and confidence will increase noticeably. The important thing is not to revert to your old cautious approach, but to carry what you have developed into your painting – nice crisp, confident lines put down quickly and deliberately. It might seem frightening at first, but once you get the hang of it you wont look back. These brush techniques will become part of the way you paint. These exercises don’t take long – ten to fifteen minutes every couple of days for a couple of weeks will see a big improvement. You can use any sort of paper, but for the fine lines you will need the paper to be flat. It is also a good opportunity to get rid of those old tubes of foul colored paint that fill the forgotten corners of your paint box.

The first exercise is to gain confidence and control with a rigger brush (or any fine brush for that matter). The secret is to: 

Hold your brush perpendicular to the paper



Use your little finger as a guide, sweeping it along the paper



If you are right handed start from the left and sweep across to the right (vice versa if left handed)

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Move your arm from the shoulder

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Keep your wrist and fingers fixed

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Move the brush in a single sweep, keeping it perpendicular

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Stop at the end of the line then lift the brush off (don’t sweep it off in a flicking motion)

The same exercise can be done with a larger bristle brush without using your little finger as a guide. Big confident strokes, kept under control from start to finish.

If you have a hard laminated work table, mixing a little soap with your paint will enable you to paint straight onto the table. This allows you to make big sweeping marks, wipe them off with a damp cloth then start over again.

To make these big sweeping lines your shoulder and elbow do all the moving – wrist and fingers stay fixed.

Another good exercise for straight line control is to use your rigger brush and draw lots of square spirals. Concentrate on making quick, tight parallel lines by moving your shoulder and elbow, not fingers and wrist. Watch what you are doing and correct the line direction each time you spiral around the square. Do some in a clockwise direction and some in an anti clockwise direction and remember to keep the brush perpendicular to the paper.

The next exercise involves freehand circles with your rigger brush. Again, keep the brush perpendicular to the paper and make big arm movements, not small wrist and finger movements. The circles are built up in four or five revolutions – each one further correcting the shape of the circle. Do some in a clockwise direction and some in an anticlockwise direction. The same exercise can be done on a larger scale with your bristle brush. Doing exercises like this might seem unimportant and a bit of a waste of time when all you really want to do is paint, but it is a definite shortcut to the confidence twenty years of painting will produce.

This old tractor was painted mainly with a rough 1/2 inch bristle brush using definite, direct marks towards the end crisp rigger lines and fine ink marks were added to sharpen up the detail.

Many of the marks in this painting were applied with a 1 inch and a 1/4 inch one stroke brush. The same direct, perpendicular brush technique was used to make the strokes crisp and confident. Fine lines were then applied with a rigger brush. The subtle layering effect was made by gluing Japanese rice paper to areas of the painting then building up subdued detail over this.

A 1/2 inch bristle brush was used to apply the initial washes in this painting. These washes were then worked over with simple direct marks made with a variety of flat brushes. Japanese rice paper and gesso were then used to knock back large areas of the painting. More flat brush marks reinstated parts of the lost areas then fine rigger lines pulled everything together. The tricky part was keeping a balance between the understated areas and the sharp region of detail. Threading fine crisp rigger lines through the painting help tie the two areas together.

Author: John Lovett

How to Mix Colors Whether you paint with watercolor, acrylic, gouache or any other pigment type for that matter, how to mix colors is a fundamental skill. Mixing pure saturated colors (those containing only two primary colors) requires a palette of two sets of primary colors. 

A warm and a cool red

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A warm and a cool Yellow

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A warm and a cool blue.

We can then use the primary colors that lean towards the secondary we are mixing, thus keeping traces of the third unwanted primary out of the mixture.

Using two of each primary avoids the problem of contaminating our secondary mixtures with the third primary. eg. Mixing green from Lemon Yellow and Phthalo Blue means our green wont contain red. If we were to mix green using Ultramarine Blue or Cadmium Yellow the resulting color would contain traces of red and not be a pure saturated green.

Usually we don’t work with pure, saturated colors but an understanding of how to mix colors to achieve pure clean saturated hues helps even when most of our work employs compound colors (colors containing traces of the three primaries) Accurately mixing colors is nowhere near as difficult as you would imagine. Sure it requires a little practice, but it is a skill that can be quickly mastered. Mixing colors requires a simple understanding of the color wheel – most mixing involves pulling a color away from its present hue. To do this requires the addition of its complementary or opposite color. All you really need to remember are three complmentary combinations 

Red-Green

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Yellow-Violet

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Blue-Orange

If a mixture is leaning too much toward any of these six hues, simply add a little of the appropriate complementary then reassess. How to Mix Colors A simple example

To mix this color we first have to decide which color or hue it is closest to. For this color blue is about the closest.

We start with a patch of Ultramarine, but because the color we are after is not a pure, saturated blue we must add a little of its opposite or complementary – orange

We will add Alizarin Crimson and Cadmium Yellow to make the blue less saturated. Adding the Alizarin makes the mixture very dark. We can add some white to make the tonal adjustment before adding the Cadmium Yellow.

The addition of Titanium white has moved the mixture close to the correct tone but the color is now leaning towards purple. To neutralise the mixture further requires the complementary of purple – yellow

A small amount of Cadmium Yellow neutralises (or desaturates) the color giving us a slightly darker tone of the blue/grey we are after

A little more white and we have our color. This demonstration was done with oil paint to show the effect of white. To do the same with watercolor, once the color is correct it is just a matter of adding more water to dilute the mix and allow more white paper to show through. No matter what pigment is used to mix colors, the transfer of tube pigments to mixing palette should be done in small incriments, gradually easing the mixture towards the required color.

How to Mix Colors – Notebook Exercises These exercises will not only improve our control of tone and sharpen our color mixing, but also improve our brush control. To get the most out of the exercises, keep these little squares as precise and accurate as possible. Materials Brush – 1/4″ Flat Colors – Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue, Indian Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson Tonal Steps Controlling tone, with watercolor, is simply a matter of adding water to lighten the tone. With Acrylic, Oil or Gouache adding white to the mixture is the easiest way to lighten the tone. This exercise is a great way to discover exactly how much water or white paint is necessary to produce the tone required.

Draw a series of seven adjoining squares with a hard pencil so the lines are barely visible. What we want to do is paint a gradation of tones from black on the left to white on the right. It sounds easy, but we want the tonal steps between each square to appear equal. Make a dark mixture of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna. Keep it as neutral as possible – not tending towards blue or towards Burnt Sienna. Start with the dark end of the scale. Unless you are using oil paint, let each square dry before moving on to the next. Watch as the paint dries, you will find it becomes lighter in tone. This must be taken into account as you paint each square. You will probably find you need to do this exercise three or four times before you can get an even gradation from start to finish.

A 1/4″ flat brush lets you make nice square corners and straight even lines. Turn you paper around so you use the tip of your brush for the straight lines and corners.

Mixing Color Gradation All the saturated colors appear around the outside of the color wheel. Saturated colors are either primary colors or a mixture of no more than two primaries. Compound colors are a mixture of three primary colors, they are all the browns, Khakis, and earth colors

Colors directly opposite one another on this 12 part colour wheel are Complementary Colors

For this exercise we are going to mix a gradation of compound colors. We will go from one side of the color wheel to the other, between two saturated, complementary (or opposite) colors. Again, we want the gradation to be as even as possible across seven steps.

This graduation takes us from red – orange (Indian Yellow and Alizarin Crimson) in equal color changes to green – blue (Phthalo Blue). Mix up enough Alizarin Crimson and Indian Yellow to complete the exercise before you start. This will ensure consistent color. The middle square should be as neutral as possible with warm colors on the left and cool colors on the right.

Impact Through Contrast and Saturation

For this exercise we are going to draw up a grid of small squares and create a design using various mixtures of a pair of complementary colors. We want to achieve a feeling of depth in our design. We will do this by using lighter, cooler, less saturated colors to recede and warmer, more saturated colours to come forward. We will also establish a center of interest in our design by positioning the most saturated colors and greatest tonal contrast in the appropriate place. I have used Yellow / Violet as my complementary pair but you can use any pair of complementary colors you like.

Allow one color to dominate. In this example the dominant violet recedes and the contrasting saturated yellow jumps forward. The strong tonal contrast between the dark violet square and the pale yellow square immediately draw attention, establishing a center of interest. The saturated yellow squares in this area help to reinforce the center of interest No matter what you like to paint, pure design experiments like these free you from the influence of a subject. This lets you concentrate on the abstract nature of composition and design, which is, after all, the foundation for any successful painting.

Color Matching For this exercise we will cut out 6 flat colored squares from old magazines, paste them in our note book then draw six similar sized empty squares beside them. In these empty squares we will try mixing colors to match our cut out colored squares.

Do this exercise five of six times and you will have no trouble successfully mixing any color

Color Mixing Tips 

Have plenty of paint squeezed onto your palette

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add small amounts of paint when adjusting your mixture

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Dark mixtures of watercolor are easier to achieve if you avoid rinsing your brush between colors

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To match color requires the correct tone (lightness or darkness) as well as the correct color

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Mixing practice improves your ability to notice subtle influences making up a color

Author: John Lovett

Mixing and Applying Paint In this section we will go right back to the basics and look at the steps involved in mixing colors and applying paint. From a few varied tubes of color to the infinite variety of tones and colors required to make a painting. Squeezing Out Paint Fresh paint is best, so squeeze out what you think will be enough for the painting you are working on. Using a watercolor palette with sloping sides on the wells allows you to squeeze the paint out at the top of the slope. All the mud and debris caused by mixing and dipping runs into the bottom of the well, leaving your paint reasonably clean. This sludge that accumulates at the bottom of the wells can be used to mix all those interesting browns greys and earth colours you will often use. Don’t be frugal with your paint, always have plenty in your palette. There is nothing more difficult and frustrating than trying to mix colors from tiny little specks of watercolor. Don’t worry if you squeeze out too much, it can always be used later. Even though fresh paint is nicer to use, dry watercolor and gouache paint can be dampened and reused years after it has been squeezed out.

Squeeze the watercolor paint onto the top of the slope in your palette well

Mixing Colors and Applying Paint – From Well to Palette Always use a wet brush to transfer your paint from the well to the mixing area of the palette. If the paint has just been squeezed out your brush need only be damp. If the paint has dried out you will need a fair amount of water and quite a bit of friction to dissolve enough to mix strong colors. If you have old left over paint on your palette it is a good idea to give it a light spray with water ten minutes before you start painting. This will soften the pigment and make mixing much easier.

Use a damp brush to move fresh paint from the well to the mixing area of your palette

Use a fairly wet brush to dissolve and move older, dry paint to the mixing area of your palette.

Mixing Colors on the Palette Wetting an area on the palette before mixing helps the paint dissolve with out sticking to the palette. I usually transfer the first color to the mixing area and stir it around until it has completely and evenly dissolved. I then dip directly into what ever other color has to be added, then stir that in. I rarely wash my brush out between colors, it only

dilutes the mixture and tends to make the painting pale and insipid. During the course of a painting the colors become slightly contaminated with one another. On the rare occasion when a pure unpolluted color is required, a wipe over with a clean damp brush usually exposes fresh paint.

Transfer paint from the well to the palette and stir until it is thoroughly dissolved. This process of mixing watercolor usually requires much dipping and adjusting until the correct combination appears on the palette. The secret is to gradually add small amounts until you arrive at the correct color. Be very cautious with strong staining colours like Phthalo Blue, Windsor Red, Prussian Blue etc. A big brush full of any of these will completely overpower any mixture.

For color intensity mixing one color into another is best done without rinsing the brush between paint wells.

Once you are happy with the color, the tone or value of that colour can then be considered. The tone is simply the lightness or darkness of the color. With watercolor I always tend to mix a darker, more concentrated tone than I need. Lightening the tone is done by adding a little water. This can be done on the palette, but I will often put a slightly darker mixture than required onto the paper then quickly spread it out with a clean, damp brush. Painting Water Some people like to paint with crystal clear water and even keep a separate container to rinse out brushes. I find a container of moderately dirty water does just as good a job as clean water. Water has to be pretty dirty to have a noticeable influence on the colors you mix. Since most of the time we are using compound colours (containing all three primaries) dirty water is not a problem. If you are doing a watercolor wash of pure Permanent Rose or Aureolin for instance, then clean water is more important, but for general painting, if you can’t see the bottom it’s probably time to change it.

Color is transferred from the palette to the paper in different ways depending on the desired effect. For a broad watercolor wash the paper is wet first then a large pool of paint and water is mixed and evenly applied to the wet surface. As this dries the wash will tend to lighten and even itself out. Mixing Colors and Applying Paint – Application Techniques Dropping In Colors are often adjusted or mixed directly on the paper. This is done by the process of dropping in. A color is applied to the painting and while it is still very wet another color is mixed on the palette and “dropped into” the first color. It is a great way to add some life to a dull, uninteresting area.

Dropping in color produces interesting variations and gradations that can’t be made by mixing the colors on the palette. Wet In Wet Similar to dropping in is the wet in wet technique . Here a wash is applied and while it is still very wet another color is painted into it. The resulting edges are soft and blurred. It is excellent for painting distant trees or mountains.

Wet in wet produces interesting soft edges and is a great technique for pushing things back into the distance. Softening Edges Similar in appearance to wet in wet are softened or feathered edges. This is a technique applied to the edge of any flat area of wet paint. Use a clean, damp brush and run it along the wet edge allowing the paint to bleed out into this damp area.

A single stroke with a damp brush is all that is needed to soften an edge.

Dry Brush Almost the opposite to wet in wet is the process known as dry brush. The technique is applied to dry paper with a damp brush loaded with pigment. The process is simple, color is mixed on the palette in the usual way then, before transferring the brush to the paper, excess moisture is removed. Wiping the brush lightly on an old towel is ideal for this. The brush is held flat, almost parallel to the paper, and the paint is applied with the side of the bristles rather than the tip. This technique will produce a random, fractured mark, picking up the texture of the paper. It is a good technique for painting foliage or applying texture to your painting.

Dry brush gives interesting random shapes and textures. Splashing

Splashing paint onto the paper will give you interesting random marks impossible to consciously apply. Your will need a big brush saturated with a fairly dilute mixture of the desired color. The best way to apply the paint and maintain control is with a quick downward movement stopping suddenly without flicking. If you are nervous about splattering paint all over your painting, tear a suitable sized hole in a piece of scrap paper and place it on the painting, exposing only the area you wish to splatter.

Cafe To keep this painting interesting, most of the techniques described here are employed in varying degrees. The soft marks under the figures and the Ultramarine

Blue beside the bottom awning were painted wet in wet. The shift in color in the awnings and in the green sign are the result of dropping in colors. The underlying dirty yellow washes and the mauve patch under the upstairs window have all had their edges softened with a damp brush. There are patches of dry brush in amongst the figures and in the striped green upstairs blind. Most paintings incorporate a combination of these paint application techniques. A painting done completely wet in wet would look all soft and fluffy and need some hard edges to give it interest. A painting using only dry brush or hard edges would be busy and difficult to look at without the relief of a few soft edges. In your next painting, keep in mind these techniques, and stop and think occasionally, “What is the best way to achieve the effect I am after?” Author: John Lovett

Painting Fine Lines Wear and tear on our brushes is something that slowly sneaks up on us, particularly with fine riggers and sable brushes. Painting fine lines with less than perfect brushes is a difficult, if not impossible task. That hair thin line they used to produce with ease when new, slowly becomes thicker, heavier and clumsier. The impact on our work is obvious and detrimental. This week I threw out all my rigger brushes and replaced them with new ones – something I do every few months. They are inexpensive and the difference is amazing. It is easy to overlook the importance of those beautiful fine lines threaded through our paintings. Without them our work tends to look course and lacking in detail – something like comparing a retina display with a TV from the 1980’s. We are going to examine a number of ways to ensure our fine lines are kept crisp, confident and hair thin. Painting Fine Lines with a Rigger Brush The secret to producing fine lines with our brand new rigger is to hold the brush perpendicular to the paper and allow just the tip to make contact. Brush movement should be deliberate and controlled. Long strokes are best made from the shoulder, not the wrist or fingers. Wrist and finger movement should only be used for the shortest strokes, and even then, a quick movement from the elbow will produce a nicer line.

The difference between a new rigger and one a few months old is obvious when they are side by side. These are Taklon fibre riggers. The brand doesn’t seem to matter. I buy cheap ones and change them regularly. Painting Fine Lines with Pen and Ink Ink lines are another way to introduce fine sharp lines into your work. The best nib is the simple old writing nib – nothing fancy and no chisel tip. A new nib takes a couple of months to wear in. The tip gets polished to the angle you hold the pen. After a while it will free up and not bite into the paper. The nibs also become more flexible and responsive over time, so unlike the rigger, the older your nib the better, provided you look after it.

Making Fine Lines with a Charcoal Pencil Don’t overlook pencils when it comes to fine crisp lines. The secret is to keep them sharpened to a long sharp point. The best way to do this is with a craft knife and a careful stroke that just shaves off the wood and misses the core

Once the core is exposed, gentle sanding on a piece of sandpaper will make a fine point. Hard pencils will hold a point for a long time. This charcoal pencil needs constant attention to keep it producing nice fine lines.. Painting Fine Lines with Masking Fluid Masking fluid can make brutal heavy lines if not applied carefully. I use a similar pen to the one I use for ink and put it on in microscopically thin lines.

It seems, no matter how finely you apply the masking fluid, it will still protect the paper. Thick lines of masking fluid can be blatant and hard edged, making them difficult to tie into your painting. Keeping them fine like this makes them easier to incorporate.

As well as adding clarity to your paintings, painting fine lines can adjust and correct details. This group of windows are fairly rough and loose. To get them looking aligned and correct requires just a few lines to square them up and realign them.

The fact that the initial marks were loose and imperfect adds character to the windows, but because of the fine lines, they appear solid and correct.

The fine lines in this painting give it a feeling of accuracy and detail even though it is loose and suggested. Fine rigger lines, pen lines and thin charcoal pencil marks create the impression of intricate detail

This closeup shows the interesting variation in line quality. Some of the vertical lines on the veranda were applied with a 1/4 inch flat brush and a pale green mixture of gouache. These contrast with hair thin rigger lines, rough charcoal lines and fine white lines made by cutting the dark mass of the window carefully up to a fine line of untouched white paper.

This painting is built up with loose layered washes to create an indistinct suggestion of the subject. Painting fine lines with a rigger brush brings all the details into focus without the ambiguous nature of the initial shapes being lost.

Fine rigger lines suggest detail in what is a loose arrangement of shapes.

The appearance of architectural accuracy in this painting is a result of the fine lines that define and correct the loose collection of shapes.

This inaccurate suggestion, adjusted by fine, precise lines, creates a more interesting interpretation of the subject than carefully rendering every aspect of the painting. It is often the contrast between accuracy and looseness that makes a painting interesting. Consider the impact of a variety of fine crisp lines in the next painting you do. Add some intricate detail and thin correcting lines to up the resolution of your painting. Before you start though, sharpen your pencils and examine your rigger brush – it could be time for a new one! Author: John Lovett

Texture Techniques

In past articles we have looked at Texture Techniques using collage and Gesso with watercolor washes to create physical textures in our paintings. This article will focus on creating visual texture. Visual texture is the illusion of texture brought about by the manipulation of paint. Physical texture is the three dimensional build up of the paper surface to physically alter its texture. Physical texture you can actually run your hand over and feel. Visual texture can only be seen, not felt.

Our subject for this exercise is this old stone wall with its weathered door and window. The simple geometric composition and limited color range make an ideal subject for experimenting with texture.

MATERIALS Brushes: 1″ flat,

1/4″ Flat,

#2 liner or rigger,

Old 1/2″ Bristle Brush

Paper: 1/4 sheet 300gsm Cold Press Watercolors: Quinacridone Gold, Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue, Indigo, Alizarin Crimson Other: Water spray bottle, White Gouache, Brown Pastel Pencil, Burnt Sienna Ink and pen Square brushes are great for geometric shapes. The rigger or liner brush will be used for the fine lines of detail. The old bristle brush gives those loose random marks that put life into the painting. We will also use some ink lines to add to the texture.

Drawing Being such a simple subject there is no need to rearrange things with thumbnail sketches. We can draw straight onto our paper with a brown pastel pencil. There is

no need for too much detail a few simple outlines, but be careful where you place things. Avoid lines through the centre of your painting and try not to cut shapes in half.

The lines of a pastel pencil will slowly dissolve during the course of the painting. Any marks that are left behind are lightfast and can remain as part of the finished work.

First Wash Start by mixing up some Quinacridone Gold, Burnt Sienna and a little Indigo. We want a dirty yellow/grey – slop it on roughly then, while it is wet, vary the mixture on your palette slightly and drop some of this into the wash.

The first wash is just a rough under wash to build the textures onto. Try to vary the tone and color slightly.

Use your old bristle brush for a rough unpredictable finish on your first wash. Add some color The big door is a mixture of Alizarin Crimson and Quinacridone Gold. Put it in after the first wash has dried. While the door is still wet the shadow on the left can be dropped in with a mixture of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna. The same mix of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna can be used for the upper windows.

These geometric shapes are best applied with your 1″ flat brush

Suggesting detail Use a combination of rigger lines and fine random marks made with your bristle brush to define some of the stones. As you apply the lines soften some of them with your damp 1″ flat brush. Once these lines dry use your 1″ flat brush to put some colour variation into the stone shapes. Let the wall dry then use your 1/4″ flat brush to paint some detail into the window. Draw lightly into our original shape with a hard lead pencil to make the job of picking out the detail easier. Use Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna to paint the detail.

Don’t cover the whole wall with detailed stones. Allow them to disappear towards the top right and bottom left to hold attention around the door and window.

The suggestion of boards in the door can be made with a mixture of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna, dragged in with the rough, parted tip of your old bristle brush. The marks extending below the door can be lifted off with a damp 1″ flat brush before they completely dry.

Texture Techniques Using Ink Lines Let everything dry again then use your pen and ink to define some of the main stones. Put the ink on and quickly spray it with a fine mist of water to get those nice feathery textures. Detail can be added to the distant wall with your rigger brush and a mixture of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna. While you are using this mixture, put some more strength into the stones in the main building.

The spidery marks of sprayed ink suggest the weathered surface of stone around the centre of interest. Spray and Spatter Texture Techniques Once everything dries some more texture can be added by spraying paint onto some of the stones. Mix up a dark grey and use the bristles of your 1″ flat brush to spray on a fine texture . Don’t over do it, the idea is to get variation into the stones to make them interesting.

A piece of scrap paper with a hole cut the shape of a stone makes the splattering a safer exercise. Opaque Variation Before we get started with the Gouache a dark wash of Indigo can be used to push the distant building further back. Now it’s time to have fun with some opaque mixtures of Gouache. On a separate palette squeeze out some White Gouache and a small amount of Ultramarine Blue, Quinacridone Gold and Burnt Sienna. We are going to mix a variety of warm pinks to add more variety to the stones in the wall. Some cooler grey can also be splashed in and washed loosely over the top of the wall and foreground stones. Again be careful not to over do it. Just enough to add more variety.

Aim for as much variety as possible in your stones – size, shape, color, tone and texture.

Final Green Contrast The final step is to put some more interest around the door. Splash on a mix of Quinacridone Gold and Indigo to suggest a small bush. While the paint is still wet, soften some of the edges with your 1″ brush. Wet the paper on the opposite side of the door and drop in a small amount of green to balance the main bush.

Our finished painting has the appearance of an interesting variety of textures while remaining completely flat and two dimensional.

An evening in Genoa In this painting a combination of Watercolor, Gouache, ink and pencil were used to conjure up the textures of the old city of Genoa seen through the haze of twilight and Prosecco.

Stones and Shutters This painting explores the geometric textures of Siena with a combination of Watercolor, Gouache, ink and pencil lines. A variety of texture techniques are used here to create the brick, timber and wrought iron textures of the city.

Author: John Lovett

Watercolor Details Little Things We always think of watercolor as big wet washes, lost and found edges and atmospheric glazes. It’s all these things, but watercolor details have a huge impact on the finished work – all those tiny punctuating marks that catch attention and coax the eye around the painting. Get these right and the painting comes to life.

Watercolor Details Once the structure of the painting is established with big brushes and broad washes, fine rigger lines are used to add watercolor details and give clarity and resolution to what you are saying. In this demonstration a couple of broad, simple washes quickly cover most of the paper. A variety of darks suggest trees and bushes along the river bank. Distant mountains are suggested, then over all this the fine lines of detail are threaded.

Finished Painting – a combination of big simple washes, interesting shapes and fine watercolor details make this simple subject work well as a painting.

Thumbnail Sketch

A rough and very simple thumbnail sketch establishes the underlying tonal arrangement. Make these thumbnail sketches quick and simple, and keep the shape in the same proportions as your painting will be.

The thumbnail sketch is transferred, as economically as possible, to our paper with a charcoal pencil. Broad washes of dirty yellow (Quinacridone Gold, French Ultramarine Blue and Permanent Alizarin Crimson) cover all but the sky and river. While this wash is still wet, more pigment is dropped in to vary the tone. A simple wash of Cobalt Blue is put through the sky.

The initial bush shapes are applied roughly with a 1/2 inch bristle brush and varying combinations of Phthalo Blue, Permanent Alizarin Crimson and Quinacridone Gold. Some edges are kept rough, while others are softened with a damp 1/2 inch bristle brush.

The distant mountains are a mixture of French Ultramarine Blue, Permanent Alizarin Crimson and a little Quinacridone Gold to ease off the purpleness. The top edge of the mountains are softened in a couple of places with a damp brush. After the mountains dry, the overlapping bushes can be strengthened and a pale wash of Cobalt Blue worked across the foreground. This should bring us to a point where we can start punctuating the shapes with our fine rigger lines.

Rigger Brush Details

Starting with the darker lines, the idea is to lead the eye up from the foreground to the focal point where the fence, bushes and creek intersect.

The lines must be kept fine, crisp and confident. The best way is to hold your rigger brush

perpendicular to the paper and make quick, definite strokes. The important thing is to vary the thickness, spacing, angle and tone of the lines. Treat the fence in a similar way – variation being the key point.

Once the dark strokes are dry they can be extended across the dark shapes of the bushes with some white gouache warmed slightly with a dirty yellow. Remember to vary the thickness, spacing and angles.

The impression of fine detail created by these few lines adds a lot of interest to the painting while coaxing the eye up to the focal point. Graded washes in from either side and up across the foreground hold attention around the focal point. While these washes are still damp cool grey spots are dropped in to suggest the soft stippled foreground texture. The intense Ultramarine in some of the shadows is pure Ultramarine gouache applied to dampened paper. It’s a good idea, when you get to the final stages of a painting, to consider the effect of some fine, well placed calligraphic lines. These watercolor details can make all the difference to the final impact of your painting.

Author: John Lovett

WATERCOLOR TREES Foliage Demonstration - Part 1 Part 1: Background Washes Part 2 Foliage This is a quick, simple little exercise that provides practice in applying paint, handling edges and controlling washes. All important skills for painting watercolor trees. It is not intended to produce great works of art but it's easy and fun, and produces satisfying results. Once you gain confidence with these lwatercolor tree exercises try adding to and varying them to produce more interesting paintings

MATERIALS Brushes 1" flat Taklon #2 Rigger 2" Hake Paper 1/4 sheet 300gsm Arches

Paint Indian Yellow Burnt Sienna Rose Madder Alizarin Crimson Ultramarine Blue Cobalt Blue Phthalo Blue

Before we tackle the watercolor tree, we will put in a simple wash background. Begin with a stretched 1/8 or 1/4 sheet of paper (I used Arches 300gsm rough here). Mix up a solution of Rose Madder or Permanent rose - a blob of paint 1/2 the size of a pea mixed into about a desert spoon full of water will give the right concentration. Wet the paper and apply the wash in a horizontal band a third of the way up from the bottom. Feather out the top and bottom of the band with a Hake brush or similar large soft brush (see picture below) Don't make your wash too dark. It will eventually be the soft pale sky behind the tree trunks.

Before starting this step, make sure your first wash has dried out completely! This might seem crazy because we are going to wet the top half of the paper with clean water again before applying the Cobalt Blue. If the first wash is even slightly damp, the next wash will disturb it and cause all sorts of strange blotches. Apply the Cobalt wash to freshly dampened paper from the top down, gradually diluting the mixture as as you progress down the paper. By the time you reach the pink wash the Cobalt wash should be almost pure water While the wash is still wet work from the bottom up with a dry Hake brush. Use quick, light, horizontal strokes to even out any brush marks or blemishes.

Part 2 : Foliage

WATERCOLOR TREES Foliage Demonstration - Part 2

Part 1: Background Washes Part 2 Foliage

Before we start, remember, the secret to successful watercolor trees is variation. Vary the color, tone, edges, trunk and branch spacing, branch angles - use variation at every opportunity. This is the part where you hold your breath! Mix up a rich, dark green using Phthalo Blue, Burnt Sienna and Indian Yellow. Use plenty of pigment and just enough water to make it flow. Don't be afraid to make it too dark, as you apply and feather out the foliage it will become lighter

Apply the paint in a random, fractured shape to the dry paper. Use your 1" flat brush (or even a large worn out old bristle brush) Keep the brush almost parallel to the paper and use a scrubbing action with the side of the brush to get those rough, jagged edges - don't be tidy and don"t be careful. While the paint is still wet, thoroughly wash your brush and dry it slightly. Run your damp brush once around some of the hard edges to soften them slightly

Here you can see the variation in the treatment of the edges. The feathered edge on the bottom of the main clump was made by running a damp brush softly over the wet hard edge and letting it bleed out. Aim for variation in the edges - hard, soft, sharp, lost. Variation in tone and color also keeps the foliage interesting.

The final step to turn these dark clumps into trees is to add some trunks and branches. Use the edge of your 1" brush for the trunks and your #2 rigger or liner brush for the finer branches. Some cool grey shadow in the foreground holds the eye in the painting. A mixture of Burnt Sienna and Alizarin splashed into the base of the trees adds interest and helps tie the colors in the foliage to the rest of the painting. Click here for a larger version of the finished demo