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.)

LESSON IX - Part 3: Painting Bearded Irises

Drawing and painting purple irises can be a challenge!  It is also a great opportunity to draw these intricate, undulating shapes, and also to create some beautiful violet and purple colors through mixing and mingling on the paper.  We will use a range of colors to get both cool and warm temperatures, so that these irises will glow with warmth.

For this project, you'll need the following watercolor pigments (or something close to it):

Quinacridone or Permanent Rose, Quinacridone or Permanent Magenta, French Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue, Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Burnt Orange or Burnt Sienna, Sap Green, Alizarin Crimson, New Gamboge, and Hansa Yellow or Aureolin Yellow.

You'll also need some salt, and some alcohol (the rubbing kind) in a little bottle with a dropper -- for texture.  

1.  Start with a pencil drawing on the white watercolor paper, which has been mounted on a board.

Finish your drawing by adding long narrow leaves in the background.  Be sure to take them off the edge of your paper, so as to divide the negative space into interesting shapes.

2. Prepare a gold wash for the background.   Mix Quinacridone Gold with Yellow (New Gamboge).  Mix up enough water and paint together to cover the entire background.  Since you will be painting this onto dry paper, you need more water than usual.  Have a dropper-bottle of rubbing alcohol on hand.

3.  Paint this gold wash over the background.  Paint this wash onto dry paper, painting around the iris blossoms, by over the leaves and stems of the flowers.  Have your board at a slight angle when you paint, so that you have a "bead" at the bottom of the wash.  When you pick up more gold from your palette, you will pick up the "bead" and paint downward from there -- don't go back into what you've just painted.

Continue painting this gold wash until you come to a stopping point, at the bottom.  Then, lay the board flat, and add a few drops of alcohol to this wash.

Finish painting the rest of the background with this gold wash.  Then, lay it flat again and drop in a little of the alcohol drops.  Let this dry completely.

(There's no right or wrong way to add these drops.  Don't worry if it doesn't look exactly like this -- we're just adding a little "texture" to the background.)

4.  Paint the Yellow "Beards".  Clean off the gold wash from your palette.  Then, prep two yellows -- like Aureolin Yellow and New Gamboge.  You won't need much.  

Paint the "beards" with these yellows.  You can also paint a little of the yellow onto the middle veins of a few of the petals.

5.  Prep 3 pigments for the purple iris petals.  Clean off the yellow from the inside area of your palette.  Now prep 3 pigments -- French Ultramarine, Quinacridone Rose (or Permanent Rose), and Quinacridone Magenta (or Permanent Magenta).

6.  Paint each petal with these three colors.  Working wet-in-wet, start with the Rose, then switch to the Magenta.

Finish off the petal with the Blue.

While the petal is still wet, turn your board upside down, touch your brush to the blue, and "pull down" a few strokes of the blue, into the pink.  Don't "fuss" too much.  Move on to the next petal.

Painting in this manner, move from petal to petal, but painting every other one, so that you don't get in trouble by painting right next to a petal that's still wet.  Change it a little on the bottom petals, the "falls", by touching some rose to the bottom lacy edge, at the end.  

Now, move to the bottom flower.  Try something a little different with these petals, using the same three colors.  Wet half of the petal with clear water, then touch the frilly edge with the Rose, all the way around the edge.

Then, touch the other edge with the magenta, leaving the middle unpainted.  

Then, paint a few strokes of the blue.

Continue painting every other petal, in this way.

Go back up to the top flower and finish painting the petals . . . 

And, do the same with the bottom flower . . . 

7.  Paint the background leaves.  Clean off the inside area of the palette, and then prep three Greens -- Sap Green, Cobalt Blue + Aureolin Yellow, and Sap Green + Cobalt Blue.

Use these greens , wet in wet, to paint the background leaves -- first, one half . . . 

and then the other half . . . 

8.  Paint the stems.  Prep two greens -- Sap Green and Sap Green + Yellow; and Quinacridone Burnt Orange (or Burnt Sienna).

Use these colors to paint the stems and buds.

9.  Paint another layer of gold in the background.  Clean off the palette, and then prepare another gold wash. Once again, you'll be painting wet on dry, so be sure to mix enough paint/water.  This time, you will paint only the negative background shapes -- not the leaves.  And, after painting each shape, sprinkle it with salt.

Continue painting each background shape with the gold wash and sprinkling with salt, as you go.  Let this dry completely, and then brush off the salt.

10.  Mix up some purples.  Clear the gold wash off the palette, and then prep three dark colors -- French Ultramarine; Quinacridone Magenta + French Ultramarine; and, Alizarin Crimson + French Ultramarine.

11.  Darken the petals.  Using these three colors, paint each petal.  

Strengthen and deepen the colors, without becoming too opaque -- you want some of the original colors to show through.

Leave some of the upper petals as is, except for the base, which you can darken.

You can see how you don't darken every part of each petal, and that the bottom "falls" are generally darker than the upper petals.  

If you find that you've gotten too opaque, or that you want to lighten an area, lift out some highlights with a damp brush.

12.  Add more green to the leaves and stems.  Mix up two more greens, using Sap Green + Aureolin Yellow, and Sap Green + Cobalt Blue.

Paint all the leaves and stems again with these two greens and plenty of water, to strengthen the colors but still keep it transparent.

Add some more Burnt Orange or Burnt Sienna to the tan parts of the stems.

If you like, you can stop your painting right now, and call it done.  Or, you can proceed to finish, as I did, with the last two steps.  

13.  Paint a Burnt Orange glaze over the background shapes.  Mix up a wash of Quinacridone Burnt Orange.

Paint this orange wash over the background, to tone down the texture a bit.  (If you like the gold background with the texture, don't do this step.)

14.  Paint a few dark greens on the leaves and stems.  Mix up a dark green -- Sap Green + French Ultramarine.

Darken a few areas of the leaves and stems with this green.  And, you're finished!  Be sure to sign it!