 |
|
Building Layers with Negative Painting
To discover just how easy and fun negative painting is, try this sample project....
Along with
your usual watercolour supplies you will need:
Paper: 5" x 7" Good
quality watercolour paper such as Arches 140 CP or Saunders Waterford 200
CP
Paint: Three
tubes of Artist's quality watercolour - my choices for this exercises are
Holbein
Cobalt Blue,
Rose Violet and Raw Sienna
Brushes: #8 or 10 round that comes to a good point and a 1" flat wash brush
Extras: A pencil and a hand held hair dryer
For a complete course
in negative painting you will want to follow along
with exercises in
the new book by Linda Kemp
Watercolor
Painting Outside the Lines
a
positive approach to negative painting
Step 1
 |
Apply wet into wet base colour to your paper Thoroughly wet the surface of your paper with a 1" flat brush and water. The paper should appear shiny. Apply brushloads of each colour separately allowing them to mix on the wet paper. Spatter, drip and pour! Lift and tilt the paper to encourage the pigments to flow and mingle. Leave as little or as much white as you wish. Don't fuss over the wash for too long; this is just to get you started. When you are pleased with this first application of colour set the painting on a board to dry completely.
|
Step 2
 |
Draw leaf shape and a
stem
Loosely sketch leaves onto the dry paper with a pencil. Follow my example, or create your own personal symbol. While it may be tempting to want more intricate, complex forms, keep your shapes very simple and flat for this exercise.
|
Step 3
 |
Paint around your shape Load a round brush with well diluted Raw Sienna. Now, instead of filling in the shape with colour, paint around it! You'll be working in the negative space. Begin at the edge of the leaves and drag the colour out towards the outside edge of your paper, thinning with water as you go. Work quickly and continue to glaze all around the shape. Dry your painting completely before you move on to the next step. |
Step 4
 |
Now here's the trick
of building layers in the negative.
A new set of leaves is added by tucking
it under the first form. It will be partially hidden. Take care
while adding the stem to ensure that it lines up visually when passing
under the previous stem and out the other side.
|
Step 5
 |
Glaze around the shapes
Paint around your leaf shapes with diluted
Rose Violet and Cobalt Blue. As the layers build, darken the value a step
or two to bring the lighter layers of leaves forward. Don't worry if backruns
appear. You will be able to cover them with subsequent layers. Dry your
painting completely.
|
Step 6
 |
Add a third set of leaves
Pencil in a new set of leaves. Once again
this new shape is to be tucked under the upper layers of foliage.
|
Step 7
 |
Continue to build layers
Glaze around a new layer of leaves with Rose Violet. Drop diluted Cobalt Blue into the wet paint for variety. Pull the colour away from the shapes and out to the edge of the paper. Be sure to fill in the captured negatives between the stems. Once again dry the painting.
|
Step 8
 |
How
many layers can you build?
I've created four
layers, but you don't need to stop here! Notice that in this sample the
layers build from light to dark and from front to back. Cobalt Blue
and Rose Violet used in this final glaze are of a heavier consistency than
earlier applications.
|
* Dry between layers.
* Remember that you are not painting leaves, you are painting the spaces around them.
* Resist the temptation of going back into the forms to add details such
as veins or to adjust the
colour.
* Create your own shapes to make personal symbols. Keep the shapes simple and flat for the best results.
|
|
Workshop information |
You can learn more about negative painting with my new book
Watercolor
- Painting Outside the Lines
contact us at www.studio@lindakemp.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|