There are 3 components to my Mixed Media technique, as shown below in a demonstration piece I created for my recent class at the Wethersfield Academy for the Arts, Botanicals by Brush and Pencil. By layering different media, permanent black India ink, watercolor, and colored pencil, I can build a painting that is full of rich, deep, saturated color. The layers beneath remain integral to the finished work and are easy to correct if they do not live up to my expectations.
First, I build form with delicate ink washes, carefully layering and blending to achieve the desired value range. Stating the values first is a fun way to approach color work as it separates two immediate challenges: color and value, or the value of color. I can now face one challenge at a time; the thought process is the same as using a grisaille in oil painting. Once the ink layer is dry, it is permanent.
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| Ink Wash to develop form |
Next, the fun continues here as I can be more playful with transparent watercolor washes to define local colors. Their value appears "automatically"by virtue of the ink values already in place! Color atop the black ink is enamel-like compared to the same color on white paper. There is no danger of the grisaille dissolving as I work because the ink will not lift and muddy the colors, as the use of a botanical gray watercolor grisaille likely will.
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| Watercolor Wash for local colors |
Finally [sometimes], Color pencil is used surgically to sharpen details, edges, and to smooth transition areas. I also use it to enhance depth of space: intense, saturated areas appear to pull forward while less intense colors appear to push back. The final passages of this study involved clarifying position in space for each element of the plant. Colored pencil layers beautifully over watercolor; passages can be blended and burnished as usual with dry tools (I haven't tried liquid blenders - yet).
After living with the painting a few days, I decided to give some of the leaves more of a push back with delicate glazes of desaturated green. The finished piece, Echeveria gibbiflora.
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| Colored Pencil to finish |
Next up, Purple Trillium…check back soon!
