Tuesday 17 September 2013

Exercise : Drawing on a coloured ground


I decided to opt for a cool ground for this first painting. I started by sketching my image in soluble graphite, then highlighted the lighter areas using white guache. I then worked into this using watercolour, chalk and oil pastel. I am really enjoying the opaque effects I can now obtain, but also a really interesting green was obtained by washing a light green wash over the purple areas, and with the combination of light and dark areas and opaque areas I think a three d effect has started to appear in the painting. 



For the second painting I chose a warm red ground. It's interesting to see optically how the different grounds photograph. The above two photographs are the same painting. The bottom photograph has been taken at an angle to try to capture the tones correctly, and is a good reflection of the tones within the painting and forming the background.  The red added a real warmth to the tones of the greens and I felt I did not need to use as much paint or work into the leaves as much as I did with the painting on a purple ground. The red leaves seem to give the painting a luminosity. I really enjoyed using oil pastels to work into the gouache and watercolour layer, this added vibrancy and definition to the petals.  




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