Lesson 6 - Water
Resist techniques, using cling film, gum arabic and scratching out
Water comes in many forms from a small puddle, vast lake or expanse of ocean. A single drop from a tap to a cascading waterfall, the still waters of the canal to a raging river. In all cases I find it easier to visualise as a solid mass. Either transparent like glass with a little reflection, or opaque such as muddy river. The surface may show a little or lots of reflection.
When showing reflections we may want to preserve the white of the paper for really bright highlights. This is where we use masking fluid, a liquid latex rubber. Apply the fluid to bone dry paper and allow to dry thoroughly. You can then paint over freely without worry. When the painting is completely dry the masking fluid can be rubbed gently off revealing the paper untouched. A word of warning masking fluid is very difficult to remove from your brushes; dipping in washing up liquid first helps but, I always prefer to use cheap or redundant brushes or some other tool to apply. Here I have used masking fluid to preserve the foam of a wave.
If you want highlights that are less bright you can draw them on the paper with white candle wax, depending on the pressure used and the type of paper surface, some of the wax will not reach the tiny indentations of the paper and paint will collect at these points.
This technique can also be used with coloured wax crayons for other subjects such as tree bark.
Cling film or plastic can give interesting results to create ripples on the surface of the water. In the example below I began by painting the main body of water and the fish. When this stage was dry I added a transparent wash over the entire surface and covered it with plastic creating wrinkles. Allowed to dry thoroughly; which can take ages, and removed the plastic.
Gum arabic can be added to your paint mixes to increase their translucent qualities. It also makes the wash denser reducing it's spread in wet in wet techniques. On drying it has a slightly gloss appearance. Lifting out is much clearer when using gum arabic. Again a word of warning, use very sparingly, gum arabic as 'gum' suggests is used in some paper glues and dries like a varnish which is liable to crack in time. The more used increases this possibility. To demonstrate this point I have use alizarin crimson with it's staining properties to paint a flat wash. The mix with gum arabic is on the right. The mix was much thicker to apply, if you look compare the two carefully you can see brush strokes revealed in the right, and a slight lustre to the finish.
The big difference is lifting out as you can see the alizarin crimson stains the paper and cannot be lifted out cleanly. with gum arabic the process is much cleaner even with staining pigments.
The final technique I would like to introduce here is 'scratching out'. This is useful for very tiny highlights and for regaining highlights when you have forgotten to reserve them. Take a sharp implement such as a craft knife or you can use sandpaper for an alternative effect and remove the paint from the dry surface (wet paper will tear very easily) revealing the white paper below. Always wait until you have finished painting to use this method as it will damage the papers surface and render it unsuitable for any further applications.
First sandpaper for tiny reflections of light.
And with a craft knife for deeper marks.
As light passes through water it becomes distorted. This is known as 'refraction'. To see this, simply place a pencil in your water jar. Seen from the side as the pencil passes through the water's surface it appears to but cut and to one side. Viewed from above the pencil appears to be bent. When it rains on a bright day the sunlight is refracted through the millions of rain drops and splits into the different wavelengths according to colour, resulting in a rainbow.
The refraction can also cause some surprising effects as seen below in the single droplet.
A clear highlight shows where the light hits the droplet, this is reflected to the base of the droplet. The shadow cast is reflected to the top of the droplet.
When the surface of the water is completely still a mirror image is produced of it's surrounding as we saw in an earlier lesson. But as details in a painting increase this can be difficult to achieve accurately.
Using approximate reflections with the wet in wet technique so that they appear a little blurred is quite sufficient.
As the wind ruffles the surface small ripples appear that distort the reflections. Paint in a hit and miss way, breaking them up.
On the following image I lifted out the ripples very lightly.
As the water begins to flow the ripples have highlights. These can simply be left as unpainted paper. Take careful note of how the ripples form around obstructions in the water.
Fast flowing water needs dynamic movement. Here I have illustrated a waterfall firstly by leaving unpainted paper.
Then using candle wax to resist the paint.
And finally I protected the paper with masking fluid.
Now onto vast oceans. When painting waves we must remember to use perspective. As they come to the shore the waves will appear larger. Remember too that only the ones breaking on the shore will have a lot of surf.
Now for a full picture.
Colours
Light Red
Raw Sienna
French Ultramarine
Brushes
Flat Goats Hair
Number 10 round
Masking fluid
Candle Wax
Craft Knife and
Sandpaper
Step 1
Referring to the image at the top of this page. Lightly sketch the scene, ensure that the horizon of the sea is completely flat. Apply masking fluid to the waterfall and river across the sand. Use white candle wax to describe the waves crashing on the rocks and surf on the shoreline.
When the masking fluid is completely dry use the flat goats hair brush with french ultramarine to paint a graduated sky, blotting out clouds with tissue paper.
With the number ten round and a weak raw sienna wash over the sand area.
Step 2
Flat wash the sea with a weak french ultramarine. Allow to dry thouroughly.
Step 3
Add a tiny speck of light red to the ultramarine and wash over the sea area again leaving a small band of the horizon untouched. Allow to dry thoroughly and repeat again another three times, each time adding just a little more light red and leaving more of the paper untouched towards the horizon.
Step 4
Lift out the highlights of the swells near the shoreline.
Step 5
Make sure the paper is completely dry and using a craft knife scratch out the wave tops.
Step 6
Lightly scratch the surface of the sea with sand paper to create a little sparkle.
Step 7
Using a stronger mix of raw sienna mark out the wet sand at the waters edge.
Step 8
Using varying mixtures of all three colours block in the rocks, adding texture wet in wet. Try to make the colours stronger for the foreground. Add a little green foliage at the top of the cliff,
Step 9
Allow to dry and using stronger mix of the same paints to define the rocks, adding shadows and crevices.
Step 10
Using a mix of french ultramarine and light red add shadows on the sand at the base of the rocks and at the edge of the rivulets as they cut through the sand.
Step 11
Make sure everything is completely dry before removing the masking fluid. Using french ultramarine show some reflections of the sky in the water.
Copyright Jane Grainger 2004
