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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

White wash watercoloring

(originally posted HERE on July 20, 2010)
Good morning!
This tutorial is a sort of "white wash" technique with watercoloring on watercolor paper.  Pretty much, all that is different than regular watercoloring, is that you are applying a VERY SMALL amount of color and then leaving MORE areas white or a diluted version of the color.  What you end up with is what appears to be a nice crisp, almost "white-washed" looking image.  This type of coloring is great for water or ocean themed images, but it can also look great on a country type image.
WHAT YOU NEED:
  • Waterbrush with water reservoir in handle
  • Dye ink based markers
  • 90 lb. Canson watercolor paper
  • Stamped image in waterproof ink OR printed digital image
Let's get started.  I have mostly just shown you the photos of my progress, with a few notes when needed.
Pelicantut1
I used my Stampin' Up! markers this time, as I just got them in and decided to give them a try. I was surprised that they worked VERY well for watercoloring on this particular watercolor paper.
Colors I used are Marina mist, Crumb cake, Peach Parfait, Soft Suede, and a little Early Espresso on the feet.
Pelicantut2
(ABOVE) Start by adding just a TINY bit of the blue color in the ares shown around the pelicans. For a "white washed" look, that is ALL the color you need.
Pelicantut2b
Begin to blend using the waterbrush and move the tip outward away from the edges of the pelicans. The color will get lighter and begin to disappear to further you move away from the color.
Pelicantut2c
Keep blending all the way around, along the lines of color you placed.  You want it REALLY light.
Pelicantut2d
See how very light it is?
Pelicantut2e
IF you want a little more contrast, you can add just a VERY TINY amount of the blue color along the edges where you started, but don't blend that color out too much.
Pelicantut2f
Pelicantut3
Here you can see above, the blue area is finished.  Allow to completely dry.
Pelicantut4
I added the peach parfait to just the lower half of the beaks.
Pelicantut4b
I personally think I added just a tad too much of the peach color, I needed a little less.  This would have been much more "white washed" if there was a little less of the peach on the beak.  See what you can learn from my mistakes? LOL
After the beaks were finished, and I added just a teeny tiny bit of the marina mist blue color to the tips of the beaks. You can hardly see it and I did not blend it out.  Some pelicans have a bit of blue streaks on their beaks, so that is why I did that.
Pelicantut5
Above you can see that I started with the Crumb cake marker on the pelican body.  I just added small amounts of color where I thought there would be shadows or color variation on the feathers.  You need to leave A LOT of white areas.
Pelicantut5b
If you want a tiny bit more contrast, take the soft suede marker and just add a few streaks in between the wing feathers, and do this before blending.
Pelicantut6
Above, begin blending by touching the crumb cake color and moving the waterbrush tip outward into the pelican's body. This color blends out quickly, so you will be left with a lot of white.
Pelicantut6b
When I got to the wings, I went all around them first with the wet brush, and then quickly swiped over top of them. Wipe off your waterbrush tip before moving to a new area on the pelican body.
Pelicantut7
Above, I used the soft suede color on the wood areas, and I just traced over the already printed lines in the wood, and then made "shadows" of color under each pelican.
Pelicantut7b
When you start to blend, this time, start just off the actual marker lines and move toward the line of color, grab the color and move back away, with the color blending out.
Pelicantut7c
As long as you have just a SMALL amount of the soft suede, this color will blend out quickly too leaving you with a nice white washed look.
Pelicantut7d
Continue with each line of color on the piling and dock. Make sure your waterbrush doesn't have too much water flowing out. You want it flowing enough to grab color and pull it into the paper, but not so much that is begins to puddle on the paper.
Pelicantut8
FINISHED IMAGE!
The finished card and supplies is pictured HERE.
Thanks so much for stopping in today!  I hope you enjoyed this easy tutorial and I hope you are inspired to create!

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