MATERIALS
• Saunders 300gsm rough watercolour paper.
• 25mm masking tape.
• Clutch pencil with 2B graphite.
• 10mm thick ‘Gator’ backing board.
• Atelier AM (Absolute Matte) professional artists’ paints: Raw Sienna; Cadmium Scarlet; Cadmium Orange; Burnt Sienna; Burnt Umber; Cobalt Blue; Cobalt Turquoise Light; Titanium White.
• Masterson’s Sta-wet palette.
• Assortment of brushes including small Number 2 synthetic round for the detail work, Number 8 synthetic round for the larger shapes in the fur, and a large round or mop brush for the background.
• Tissues.
• Plenty of clean water.
STEP ONE
I explore my options with some sketches. This helps me work out my composition and the abstract pattern or design. I felt the head was turned slightly too far to the dog’s right and the tip of the nose touching her back was distracting – so I moved the head a little, back towards the viewer.
STEP TWO
After a careful line drawing onto 300gsm rough watercolour paper, I taped this with masking tape to a light-weight ‘Gator’ board – allowing me to move the work around easily if required.
I decided to paint in acrylics as watercolours, using the ‘inside out’ method. I began with the important focal area (which usually has the area of most contrasts) – in this case the lightest light and the darkest dark (from here I was able to judge the rest of the work with these values already established). The darks were painted in with thick paint and painted around the white of the paper, as in a traditional watercolour, so in effect I was painting the negative shapes (those shapes behind) so the positive shapes would stand out or advance.
STEP THREE
I continued in this way, linking shapes, using plenty of water when I needed a lighter value and more pigment with less water when I needed the shape to be darker. I was trying to replicate the values shown in the photograph at this stage.
STEP FOUR
I allowed the water and pigment to paint the fur in the large shapes. I was not painting the individual hairs. As I got into the shadow shapes, I relied less on the photograph for my colours and played with putting in cools (blues an purples) next to warms (reds and oranges) so the shadow areas didn’t look dead and dark.
FINAL STEP
After completing the dog, the background was put in. I know this seems like a big jump to the final stage but the adrenalin kicked in and I forgot to take a photograph, so I will try to explain what I did. I mixed a large puddle of colour using the same colours I had used in the dog (so as to keep the painting harmonious). I painted around the dog, starting at the top of the head and painting out to the right-hand edge of the paper. Working quickly, I moved back to the centre top and painted out to the left, breaking down this large shape and letting it run into the back of the dog to help create the illusion of depth (and not make the dog look cut out and stuck on). The bottom half was done in the same way, cutting around the front legs. Before it was dry, I added some darker values for the shadow areas and put in some spatters for texture.
MASTER HINTS AND TIPS
• I use synthetic round brushes as I find them ideal for ‘drawing’ a shape. They spring back to have a beautiful point, and they are reasonably priced so I have no fear of ruining them.
• If you forget to clean your brush when using acrylics or oils, and your brush has set rock hard, try a product called ‘incredible brush cleaner’ by Chroma. It sounds like an advertisement,
I know. But it works!
• I love the saying: ‘By failing to plan, you are planning to fail’.
• Always complete one shape before moving on to the next, so a comparison and judgement can be made on the next shape.
