LESSON X - Part 3: Drawing & Painting Roses

One of the most enjoyable parts of art is gathering reference material for future paintings.  Photographs and on-site sketching are the two best ways to gather information -- for use later, back in your studio, to create your watercolor paintings.

If you haven't already started to do this, now would be a good time to follow my lead, and do some "gathering" of your own.  For this project, we will be gathering reference material from a garden -- your own or a friend's, or even a botanical garden.  If you're doing this part of the lesson in the middle of the winter, or have no access to a garden -- buy yourself some roses and do this inside where it's cozy.

So, find a garden (with flowers blooming!)  Walk around and take lots of photos.

After you've taken a bunch of pictures, get your sketchbook and pencils, find a place to sit, choose a flower or two, and start sketching . . . 

Draw your flower in pencil or pen, whichever you prefer . . . 

Add some color with colored pencils and/or watercolor pencils . . . 

Now, you have plenty of reference material -- photos and sketches -- to help you with your painting.

PAINTING CHALLENGE -- Painting Roses with a Plaid Underpainting

In this project, we'll use the grid as a design tool rather than a drawing aid.  On your 11" x 14" watercolor paper, draw a grid of horizontal and vertical lines, approx. 3" apart, in pencil.  

Paint one or two vertical stripes a very pale Yellow.  Paint one vertical stripe a very pale Rose.  Leave one or two vertical stripes unpainted.

After that dries, paint one or two horizontal stripes a very pale Yellow.  Paint one horizontal stripe a very pale Rose.  Paint the top horizontal stripe a very pale Blue.

Try to keep this underpainting very pale, because we are painting pale peach roses on top.

When this underpainting is totally dry, draw two or three roses, in pencil -- with some stems and leaves.  Try to keep these roses in the bottom 2/3 or 1/2 of your paper, since these will be your foreground roses.

Now, mix up a coral on your palette, using the Rose and the Yellow.  Ignore the grid, and paint the roses.  Leave parts of the petals unpainted.  On some of the larger petals, grade the wash, so you get a nice variation of value -- thus, giving your petals form.  Paint some of the shapes in the centers of your roses a very intense coral.

Now, mix up two different greens, and paint the leaves and stems.  Paint the thorns with Burnt Sienna.  

After you've painted the stems and leaves, work on the background.  First, draw a few more vertical and horizontal lines in pencil.  This time, do not draw over the roses that you've painted.  

You should have some 1" stripes and some 2" stripes, going both ways in the background.  Now, mix up a wash of Quinacridone gold.  Paint three of the vertical stripes with this gold.  When that dries, paint one horizontal stripe with that gold.  Remember -- don't paint over the roses, when painting these stripes.

Now, mix up a wash of Quinacridone Rose (or Permanent Rose).  With this wash, paint three vertical stripes -- keeping it in the background.  When that dries, paint two horizontal stripes with the Rose.

Mix up a wash of Cobalt Blue.  With this Blue, paint three or four vertical stripes.  When that dries, paint three horizontal stripes with the Blue.

If you like the looks of your painting, you could stop right there  Or, you can proceed with another layer of roses.

Draw one or two smaller roses in the background, with stems and leaves.  

Then, mix up a wash of Quinacridone Burnt Orange or Burnt Sienna.  Use this wash to paint all the negative shapes.  In other words, you will paint this wash over everything except the roses and leaves.  By doing this, the background roses will emerge, but will still look like they're further back than the foreground roses.

Now, ignore the grid again, and paint the background roses, stems, and leaves.

Now, shift to the background again.  Draw your last vertical and horizontal lines with pencil.  So, you will divide all the 2" stripes in half.  You should end up with 1" squares in your background.  (If it doesn't work out perfectly, no worries.)

Paint some Blue vertical stripes, and some Blue horizontal stripes -- remembering to keep these Blue stripes in the background.

To finish, mix up a dark Blue, and paint some of the background squares with this dark color.

LESSON X - Part 2: Using the GRID as a Drawing Tool

In this part of Lesson X, we will use a GRID to help with drawing faces.  Of course, you can use the grid for any subject, if this helps you.

We'll do contour drawings of faces, and then we will use the grid again, to enlarge a drawing.

CONTOUR DRAWING OF A FACE, using an "X" grid and pen only

For these drawings, use a black felt pen to draw a continuous, contour line.  If you like, you can do a simple watercolor wash for an underpainting, and let that dry.  Then, choose a picture of a face from a magazine.  Cut it so that it is in proportion to the size of your painting, where you will do your drawing.    
So, if your magazine picture is about 2x3, your format for the drawing will be in proportion to that -- say, 4 x 6.

Mount your paper on the right side of a board (if you're right-handed), and mount your reference picture to the left of that, on the same board.

Draw a light pencil line from corner to corner, forming an "X" -- on both the reference pic and the watercolor paper, to give yourself some reference angles.  You can leave it at that, or you can draw a vertical line down the middle of the paper, and a horizontal line across the middle of the paper.  Both of those lines would intersect the middle of the "X".  Be sure to do the same thing on both the reference photo and the watercolor paper.

Now, start drawing the face -- I usually start with the eyes, or the eye area, and work out from there.

Don't draw the face with pencil first.  I realize there's no erasing with a pen, so sometimes you will draw a "wrong" line.  Just keep going.  

Try to do this without lifting your pen -- even though you occasionally will have to.  If you do pick up your pen, try to pick up where you left off, and then connect your lines.

Sometimes, you will be pleased with the result -- and sometimes, not.  But, you will learn something with every face.  

See if you can do a face-a-day, for 7 days.  (If that's too much, do at least 3.)

USING THE GRID AS A DRAWING TOOL, for enlarging a drawing

For this project, start with one of your small contour drawings of a face.  To make it somewhat easier, square off your drawing.  In this example, the original drawing is 5" x 5", and I want to enlarge it to 10" x 10".  

I draw a grid directly onto the paper, in pencil -- horizontal and vertical lines, 1" apart -- resulting in 5 squares across and 5 squares down . . . 

If you don't want to draw directly onto your original drawing, you can either put tracing paper over your drawing and draw the grid on that, or you can make a copy of it, and draw your grid on the copy.

Now, divide some of the squares even further, with some diagonal lines (where the facial features are).

You can add a few more horizontal and vertical lines, in the eyes and mouth areas.

Now, it's time to draw the grid on the 10" x 10" square.  Start by drawing the horizontal and vertical lines.  Since you want 5 squares across and 5 squares down, draw the lines 2" apart.

Further divide some of the squares with diagonal lines (making sure that you're dividing the exact same squares as the small drawing, in exactly the same way.)

Now, finish the grid with a few more horizontal and vertical lines, so this grid exactly matches the small grid . . . 

It's now time to start drawing the face.  Start in the middle, drawing the contour lines in pencil . . . 

Then, just move from square to square, drawing the lines within each section.  If it's helpful, you can cover up the sections that you're not drawing, so you don't get distracted.

When you've finished your drawing, draw over the pencil lines with a black felt pen (but, DON"T draw the grid lines in ink!)

Finish by erasing all the pencil grid lines.

This technique can be used when drawing any subject!

You can also use the grid when drawing from a photograph.  Just draw your grid on a piece of tracing paper, or make a copy of the photo and draw your grid on that.  Sometimes it's helpful to draw the grid lines in red (on the reference photo), so you don't get confused.

LESSON X - Part 1: Painting Cosmos on Aquabord

For a change of pace, try painting with watercolor on a surface called Aquabord.  There are advantages and disadvantages of using this surface.  One of the advantages is the ability to lift paint easily.  This is also one of its disadvantages, especially if you try to layer glazes.



In this step-by-step project, you'll be painting "Dancing Petticoat" Cosmos on Aquabord --

Aquabord is made by Ampersand, and is also called textured clayboard.  Regular clayboard is not the same -- it is much smoother, so it won't accept the watercolor as well.  It comes in all sizes, so hopefully you can locate some, so you can give it a try.  Buy a small panel or two, 8x10 inches or smaller.

For this project, you will also need some liquid acrylic for the lines, which you can apply with a brush -- and your regular watercolors and brushes.

Now, find some photo references for your Cosmos . . . or use mine!  I first found this photo of some cosmos in a field . . . 

Draw a "doodle" in ink and markers, using your photo reference . . . 

Use your doodle as reference for the painting on the Aquabord.  

First, do a wet-in-wet underpainting on the Aquabord, in blues and greens.  Spatter some paint on this, and mist with a little water, to give it some texture.  This will be your background.  When this is dry, draw the biggest flower with its stem and leaves, in pencil.  Then, using some liquid acrylic (in this case, gold) -- go over your pencil lines.

After you've gone over all your pencil lines with the gold liquid acrylic, you will start "un-painting" -- where you lift the color out of the petals. . . 

Using a wet Q-Tip (cotton swab), wet each petal, and then lift out the color with a dry Q-Tip . . . 

After you've lifted out the color from all the petals, paint each petal with pinks, reds, roses, and magentas.  Vary the color from petal to petal . . . 

After painting all the petals, paint the middle of the flower gold, and the stems and leaves green.  No need to "un-paint" the stems and leaves first.  Just get the paint on there and don't fuss with it too much.  The paint goes on much differently than it does on paper . . . 

Finish your drawing in pencil, and then paint over the pencil lines of the second flower, with the gold acrylic . . . 

Now, do your "un-painting" with the Q-Tips . . . 

Paint these petals with your pinks, reds, roses, and magentas, varying the color with each petal . . . 

Paint the stem a darker (and bluer) green, and the middle a gold-ish yellow . . . 

Paint over the rest of your pencil drawing with the gold acrylic.  (When you're finished with all the lines, be sure to wash out your brush really well -- otherwise, you'll never be able to use it again . . . )

Lift out the color from the remaining flowers, with your Q-Tips -- no need to "un-paint" the stems and leaves . . . 

Paint the petals in a variety of reds and roses, with gold in the middle . . . 

Paint the remaining leaves and stems with a somewhat darker green.  Add a little Blue to Sap Green, or mix a Blue with Quinacridone Gold for a darker green . . . 

And, you're finished!  (Remember to sign it.)  To protect any painting done on Aquabord, spray with a fixative, and then a spray varnish . . . 

LESSON X - Flowers & Faces, with Grids & Aquabord

In this 10th lesson, we will be learning a few new techniques, as well as trying out a new painting surface.  We'll draw faces using a grid, and paint flowers, also using a grid painting technique.  Besides paper and a sketchbook, you'll need at least one piece of Aquabord (also known as textured clayboard).



Before we start drawing and painting, I want to introduce you to my 10 favorite art books.  They are not books about watercolor techniques -- but, I learned so much from them, that I wanted to tell you about them.

After reading this list of my 10 favorites, choose one of these to buy and read yourself.  They are not "how-to" books, and after reading the book, you don't have to write a book report for me, or anything like that.  Just buy the book, and read it at your own pace.  If you'd like to tell me which book you chose, and any thoughts about it -- that would be great.



My 10 Favorite Art Books

1)  The Art Spirit, by Robert Henri -- I've read this twice, and I'm ready to read it again.  It is so inspirational, and is, as George Bellows said, "comparable only to the notes of Leonardo . . . "

2)  The Blank Canvas, Inviting the Muse, by Anna Held Audette -- I have never seen this one on any "best of" lists, but I love this little book!  Great book for any artist who has had trouble "getting started" -- haven't we all?  I'm going to read this one again, too.

3)  Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils & Rewards of Artmaking, by David Bayles -- This is a book written by artists, for artists -- a simple, but powerful, must-read book.

4)  The Artist's Way, A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, by Julia Cameron -- A course to free your creativity, no matter what form of art you are interested in.  This has been a life-changer for a lot of people.

5)  bird by bird, by Anne Lamott -- So insightful and funny -- about life and creativity.  It is a must-read for anyone interested in creative writing, but I would recommend it to any artist or art student.

6)  The Natural Way to Draw, by Nicolaides -- If you are serious about learning to draw, get this book!  And then, read it and use it -- do all the exercises.  I did, and it helped me so much!  It's the best "how-to" book on drawing, written in 1941.

7)  Hawthorne on Painting, collected by Mrs. Charles Hawthorne -- This book has so much to offer the painter -- especially in regards to the subject of color.  Charles Hawthorne was a master guide and teacher of art, and this book contains his notes and his students' notes.

8)  Composition, by Arthur Wesley Dow --  First published in 1899, this book was written by the mentor of Georgia O'Keefe.  He was very much influenced by Japanese art -- I guess that's why it resonates with me.  It is a classic book about design -- a practical, well-illustrated guide to artistic composition.

9)  On Painting & Drawing, by William Morris Hunt -- Another book, based on the teachings of an exceptional teacher from 19th century Boston.  Always considered ahead of his time, Hunt's teachings are still relevant today.  (I think I need to read this book again, too.)

10)  Composition of Outdoor Painting, by Edgar Payne -- An important book on landscape painting -- no matter what the medium.  Payne was able to reduce complex ideas to simple demonstrations in this classic book.  (Plus, the photo of Payne on the back cover is priceless.)