Thursday, March 24, 2016

Straight lines in watercolour


I'm working on the final details of my two dark skies watercolours. I've been experimenting with how to paint the lampposts which are part of the landscape. In my previous attempts, I actually drew them with a waterproof marker. But this time, my plan is to paint them with a fine brush, so they are better integrated in the overall look. After a few freehand failures, I found a tip in Artists and Illustrators magazine on how to hold a ruler so that you can paint a straight line without smudging watercolour over the paper. The trick is to hold the ruler steadily with one hand, but to hold it at about a 45-degree angle, and to lean the metal part of the brush against the ruler. I found that drawing from the bottom up worked better for me. Very important is to do a few trials on a paper similar to that of the painting - no point in trying it out on smooth paper if the painting is on rough paper.

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