LESSON XII - Part 3: Negative Painting of Aspen Leaves

In this negative painting project, you'll be painting layers of transparent color to create depth and dimension.

You will be adding one layer of leaves and branches behind another layer.  Each layer of negative painting will take you further into the background, behind the first foreground leaves and branches.

Like you learned in Lesson 3 -- in negative painting, you do not paint the subject itself -- at least not directly.  The positive shapes are drawn, in stages.  You will paint the negative shapes, which are the shapes around, between, and behind the leaves, stems, and branches.

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For this project, you will need a piece of watercolor paper (about 7" x 9"), mounted on a board, a pencil for drawing; various sizes of round brushes (#2, #4, #6), and a flat brush for wetting your paper. You'll start with a secondary triad of colors -- Sap Green, Quinacridone Gold, and Quinacridone Magenta.  And, you'll be adding some blue (French Ultramarine), later in the project.

1)  Begin your painting with a wet-in-wet underpainting.  Prep the 3 colors first on your palette -- bring each of the colors into the middle, and add a little water to each color.  Then, wet the entire paper with clear water.  Make sure that it is evenly wet.  Add the three colors to the paper, so that they mingle a little on the paper.  Add the magenta to the bottom left, the gold to the top and diagonally down the middle, and the green to the right side.  Let this settle for a few minutes, and then spatter those same three colors onto the underpainting.  Let this dry completely, while lying flat.

2)  In pencil, draw a few skinny branches, with stems and heart-shaped aspen leaves attached.  This will be your foreground.

3)  Paint the negative shapes with transparent color.  Use the same colors, but mix with a little more water, because you'll be painting the negative shapes, wet-on-dry.  Use the underpainting color to guide you, as to what color to paint on top.  And, remember -- you haven't masked out the leaves and branches, so paint AROUND them.

Paint a gold wash on top of the gold negative shapes . . . 

When you come to a shape that is two main colors, like gold and green -- Start painting the gold, and then transition to the green . . . 

Then, finish painting the shape with the green wash. . . 

On some of the negative shapes, you'll start with the gold and then transition into the magenta wash.

No need to go very dark with this layer -- it just needs to be a little darker value than the first layer.  And, stay transparent (by using enough water).  You want to ALTER the color below it, not totally cover it up.  This will be true for each subsequent layer.  

Continue this way until all the negative shapes are painted with the appropriate washes of transparent color.

4)  Draw more skinny branches, stems, and leaves behind the 1st layer.  Start by drawing three meandering lines, to indicate branches.  Then add a few stems coming off the branches, and draw heart-shaped leaves at the end of the stems, "underlapping" the foreground shapes.

5)  Mix up two new colors, using the three colors that are now in the middle of your palette.  Mix the Sap Green + Quin Gold, to get a warmer, darker green.  Mix the Quin Magenta (or Permanent Magenta) + Quin Gold to get an orange mixture.

6)  Paint the negative shapes with these two colors.  With the green wash, paint a transparent layer on the shapes that are already green, and on half of the gold shapes.

On those shapes that are part green and part magenta, start with one color and transition to the other.

Continue painting all the negative shapes.  Paint the orange wash over the magenta shapes, as well as over the other half of the gold shapes.

Continue in this way until all the negative shapes have been painted . . . 

7)  Draw some more branches, stems, and leaves.  Once again, you may find it helpful to draw the skinny branches first, behind the existing ones.  Then, draw the stems in various places; and then, draw the leaves at the end of the stems.  Make sure to underlap these shapes, rather than try to squeeze the leaf shapes within the negative shapes.

8)  Mix two new "cooler" colors.  Clean off the middle of the palette.  Now, mix two new colors, using the Green and the Magenta, but cooling them down a bit with a little Blue.  Mix Sap Green + French Ultramarine, to get a cool green.  Mix Quin Magenta + French Ultramarine, to get a red-violet.

9)  Paint the negative shapes with these two colors.  Be sure to switch to a little brush, like a #2 round, to paint the smallest negative shapes.  You're not painting any detail at all, inside the leaves, but with each layer, the negative shapes will get smaller, so you need to adjust the size of the brush you use, accordingly.

Use the red-violet mixture to paint half the negative shapes.  Paint the other half with the blue-green mixture.  Remember to paint only the new NEGATIVE SHAPES around the leaves and branches, not the leaves themselves.  That's how you achieve the feeling of depth.

10)  Draw your last layer of branches, stems, and leaves.  If it's too hard to see what you're drawing, try using a light colored pencil.

11)  Mix up a blue wash for the final layer.  Clean off the middle of your palette, and then mix up a wash of French Ultramarine.

12)  Paint the negative shapes that you've just created, using this blue wash.  To finish this painting, this blue wash is painted over all the new negative shapes.  This will darken this last layer and create even more depth in your painting.  Be sure to use a small round brush, that comes to a nice point, in order to better paint these little shapes.

Congratulations on completing your last project of your last lesson of the Mentoring Course!

LESSON XII - Part 2: Painting a Butterfly Batik

Who doesn't love butterflies?  Their shapes and designs lend themselves to this batik method of painting.  The technique/process used in this project is similar to traditional batik.  But, instead of fabric, wax, and dye, you will be using paper, masking fluid, and watercolors.

For this project, you will need a prepared sheet of watercolor paper, approximately 6" x 15" (a long and skinny format).  Also have on hand -- masking fluid and quill pen (or something similar), salt, and a rubber square eraser (rubber cement remover).  The watercolor pigments we will use are Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Alizarin Crimson, and Thalo Blue.  And, near the end, we will use a little Cadmium Red (or Permanent Red) and Cerulean Blue (for spattering).

Prep 4 colors on your palette for your wet-in-wet underpainting -- the Quin Gold, Quin Burnt Orange, Alizarin Crimson, and Thalo Blue (or something similar).

Spray the paper with clear water.  Starting at the top left corner, paint the Quin Gold, in a diagonal way, approximately 1/4 down the paper.  While that is still wet, start painting the Quin Burnt Orange, overlapping the Gold.  Paint that in a diagonal way, to about halfway down the paper.  If it starts to dry, mist with clear water, so the paint moves and mingles.

Now, start painting with the Alizarin Crimson, overlapping the Burnt Orange, to about 3/4 of the way down.  Then, finish with the Thalo Blue.

Hold the board on end, over your palette, so the excess paint/water drips off the bottom.

Lay the paper/board flat, and spatter those 4 colors onto the wet paint.  Now, wait until there is a sheen on the paper, but not too wet -- and sprinkle salt all over.  (There's no right or wrong way to do this.  Your paper will be drying at different rates.  If it is too wet in parts, the salt just dissolves.  If it is too dry in parts, the salt will do nothing.  You are just trying to add some texture to the underpainting.)

While this is drying, find some references for your butterflies, or you can use this Plate.

Pick out three different butterfly references, and draw them onto your paper.  (If you don't have the time or patience, you can always just draw one butterfly.)

Now, prepare the masking fluid.  (When I use masking, I thin it a little with water, putting it into a tiny container.  And, I apply it with a quill pen with a metal nib, which cleans up easily.)

You'll be doing 3 stages of Masking and Painting, before you are finished.  This is a way of negative painting, but, you're blocking out the positive shapes, in stages, and painting the negative areas.  The masking takes a little care, but the painting is easy -- you don't have to paint around the positive shapes.

1st Masking/Painting Stage -- Apply the masking fluid to the lightest shapes in the wings.  

Top Butterfly --

Middle Butterfly --

Bottom Butterfly --

When you have masked out all the lightest areas in all the butterflies, let it dry completely before painting.

Remove the Quin Gold from the middle of your palette.  Just use 3 colors -- the Quin Burnt Orange, the Alizarin Crimson, and the Thalo Blue -- for this painting stage.

After the masking is totally dry, mist the painting with clear water, and paint those 3 colors, in the same diagonal manner as before -- this time, starting with the Burnt Orange in the upper left corner, then the Alizarin Crimson in the middle, and finishing with the Thalo Blue to the bottom.

You WILL NOT be adding any salt at this stage, but you can still get some texture by spattering those 3 colors onto the wet paint.  Also, when the paint starts to dry, you can spray it with a FINE mist of water, in order to get some additional texture.  Lay flat, and let it dry.

2nd Masking/Painting Stage -- When the paint is completely dry, it is time to add your second round of masking.  Remember, you DON'T remove any of the masking until the very end.  Just mask out the medium light values in each butterfly.  At this stage, mask out the antennae of each of the butterflies, too.

Top Butterfly --

Middle Butterfly --

Bottom Butterfly --

After the masking is completely dry, use the same 3 colors you used before, and paint them in the same order.  Once again, spatter some of the paint onto the wet paint, and let everything dry.  

If possible, try not to use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process -- it makes it harder to remove the masking at the end.

Final Masking/Painting Stage -- At this stage, you will mask out the rest of the shapes of the butterflies.  Leave some of the lines unmasked, and any shapes that you want to be really dark.

Top Butterfly --

Middle Butterfly --

Bottom Butterfly --

Be sure to let the masking fluid dry really well before painting.

At this stage of the painting process, we will use just the Alizarin Crimson and the Thalo Blue.  Spritz your paper with water, and then paint the Alizarin in the top half and the Blue in the bottom half.

Turn your paper upside down, to mingle the colors better . . . 

Now, add some more texture, since you won't be masking anymore.  Sprinkle some salt all over the painting, after it has dried to a sheen.  Then, spatter your painting -- this time with Cadmium or Winsor Red, and with Cerulean Blue.  These colors will "sit on top" of the darker colors and won't spread.

I know it's hard to tell what your painting is going to look like, at this point.

Mix together the Alizarin Crimson and the Thalo Blue, to make a very dark purple.  With this color, brush it onto some of the parts of the butterflies' wings, especially the top and the middle butterflies.  I realize you will be painting right on top of the salt.  Just do your best to drop in some of that dark color, and then lay your paper/board flat to dry.

Now, it's time for the Big Reveal!

Using either your thumb or a square crepe rubber "eraser", begin to remove the masking fluid and the salt.  Rub or brush off as much of the salt with your hand first; and then, tackle the removal of the masking.  Where the salt and the masking fluid have dried together, it might be particularly stubborn -- use your fingernail if you need to, to scrape off the salt.

And, voila' -- your Butterfly Batik!

I hope you're happy with your results.  I know the masking can be a bit tedious, but the effect you get is usually worth it.

LESSON XII - Part 1: Sketchbook Exercises of Buildings, Houses, & Churches

Get your sketchbook, pen & pencil, charcoal, and even your paints and a brush, and head outside for some drawing of buildings -- both rural and urban.  You'll be drawing houses, barns, city blocks, churches, and other public buildings.  You'll even be drawing boxes and building blocks -- any kind of structure will do.  On days that you can't get outside, just look at photos for your reference.

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1)  Draw a house, or a part of a house, in pencil.  Draw your own home, or someone else's, from life -- adding shading with your pencil.  Date it, and write a sentence about where you are, in your sketchbook . . .

2)  Using a black ballpoint pen, draw a public building, or part of a building -- from life, if possible.  Use cross-hatching to build up the values . . . 

3)  With a pencil, draw a building from the front, and include some of the surrounding environment.  This can be a church, a lighthouse, a public building.  Try to draw from life, but if this is not possible, use a photo as reference.  Be sure to write a note on your page, just indicating where it is and when you drew it . . . 

4)  With a felt pen, draw an old rural building, like a barn, shed, or cabin.  Or, draw a block of old buildings in a little town.  Try to draw from life, if possible -- and write a sentence at the bottom of your page, indicating something about where you were, the date, and even what the weather was like.

5)  Pile up a bunch of boxes, and do a contour drawing of them, with a felt pen.  If you have kids around, you could use their building blocks.  This is a little like drawing city buildings.

6)  In pencil, draw a city block of buildings, from above.  Add shading with pencil.  This is best done from a photograph.  All the better if you can do a night scene of the city block.

BONUS PAINTING CHALLENGE -- Turn your sketch of a city scene, into a painting . . . 

"New York City Lights", watercolor by Pat Howard 22" x 30"

7)  Try some perspective exercises, with charcoal pencil or graphite pencil.  For these exercises, just look at and copy my sketches . . . 

(V.P. stands for Vanishing Point)

8)  Using a charcoal pencil or stick, draw a close-up of a building, deck, or porch.  Smudge the lines for shading.  This will be an abstract drawing, so concentrate on geometric shapes and lines, rather than any details . . .