Watercolor Painting, Portrait on Abstract Background

1. Intro: Welcome back. No diel here. Thank you again to join me. This is 2024, and I realized in 2022, or probably 2021, 2021. I realized this painting and I never made a class. So I just say It's time to make a class. I actually remember everything about this painting, and I'd like to show you all the f entire process about the workflow to realize something like this. This is actually an exercise into another exercise because I'm going to show around here somewhere the reference image gave me the idea to create this thing, but That was a reference image, which I'm going to give you through the part of the materials so you can download it. But I didn't paint that specific picture. I took one of my model pictures, actually, any profile is suitable to make this painting, and I create this painting from the idea of the reference image, but with another picture basically. This is the final result of the painting. I will show you better the final results on here, and I will applaud the details of the final result of this. You don't have to be much precise in this painting because it's an abstract painting. And the beautiful things about The workflow of this painting is you are actually free to play with many different techniques. Technical pen, Fontaine pen, ink, wash, watercolor, brush pen. I will talk about the brush pen a little bit later during the workflow because I don't know if and how many time you use that kind of tool, which is amazing, but can be quite dangerous and you can make a bad mess. I already talked too much. I'm going to show you the material in details. I'll give you the reference image about the portrait. I'm not sure because I don't have the mode release to give you her specific portrait profile and portrait, but sorry for that. So I cannot give you exactly this picture, but you can find actually any portrait you want online, maybe. I'm going to find something for you so you can mix. The reference image and the real profile. In case you do not want to do the exercise into the exercise. I mean, take the reference image and create the new painting. You just feel free to use the reference image and copy that for me. It's absolutely fine that things. Okay? Go to paint. 2. Materials: Well, I'm going to show you the material I used to make this painting. I'm going to start with the paper, which is the H animul cold press paper. This is the Ruff. I actually really like a lot to use the Ruff. Paper 300 GSM, hundred percent cotton, This is one of one of my favorite painting now I totally switched to the arches because it's just personal preference. I mean, both of them are top quality about painting. I actually like the Canson paper as well. But the most important thing you have to keep in your mind, get the 300 GSM at least and is better if the paper is 100% cotton. I know is a little bit more expensive compared to the other one, but you're going to get very much better result. In case you want just to try something, get the normal cold press paper. It doesn't matter if it is 100% conton. If you want to get that paper just to make some test. But just keep in your mind the quality of the hundred percent cotton is much much better. I love to use rough texture for many different reasons, is just a personal preference. The only thing I want to recommend you, especially for this kind of painting is to avoid to use the hot press paper for many different reasons. I will probably make some specific class or chapter telling you the difference between the three kind of paper. Actuary to. Fontaine Pen, this is my favorite tool to trace with the fine nib. You can get the medium nib as well, and this is the ink suitable for the Fontaine pen, and even Fantastic to paint because it's waterproof. To make another ink view is the Bombay, do not use the bombe with the Fontaine pen. Still use the carbon because this is not suitable for the Fontaine pen. This is suitable for the brush pen, which is the tool. I want to talk to you a little bit better later. Basically, you unscrew the tank. You put the ink into the tank, and then the ink will go through the b, and actually, you are going to use this exactly as a brush. The problem is sometime you cannot control how much ink go through the p. So this is why can be dangerous. This is a very cheap flat brush, and I use this on the black ink, especially with acrylic ink, the bombay. Please clean your brush as soon as you use it because especially with the bombae in, if the ink gets dry, you're going to rush your brush because it's going to stack all the bristol and basically could be spatula. About ink, if you want there is this technical pen. Micron pen is very popular. The other one, the gray one is actually very good. You can get this set 005-0 0.8. As you can see here, so very good range of ink, and this is actually basically exactly the same. I don't feel much difference between those two brands. So just take it which one you like. You can use just two or three of them. 0,050.20 0.4, you can actually cover basically everything about the tool you need to paint. So if you don't want to buy the full inter set, it's completely right. Those are waterproof exactly like the other. To do this painting, we need pretty much just the wash watercolor brush. Those two specific are the black one are from an Italian brand. The other two, this page painting. This page brush are made from an artist, I quite like is Paulina Bright. This is the version one. I don't think there is diversion two Diversion one is available anymore. An suitable any wash brush, I think is suitable, and it's good to make this kind of painting. 3. Transfer Reference Image: So I'd like to show you how I transferred the image from the phone or the reference image on the paper. I'm going to use the phone so you need something can hold the phone, and I found this a very useful. It's called Da vinci. I'm going to open it and no, I'm not going to use this picture. I'm going to use exactly this one. I'm going to check the classic mode, and I will actually show in a minute how it worked. First of all, you can see underneath your pieces of paper. I'm going to move because I want to reduce. The size of the image or you can rotate as well. To have an idea how the image is big on the piece of paper, I'm going to play something like I, let's say my image this size. I'm going to put two reference over here, and I'm going to move my drawing exactly in this place. To me, this sounds really good. Top move again. Now you have to do something very important. You have to fix the piece of paper on the table, so This is very important because this needs to stay in place. If you move this, you're going to lose everything. Now the reference image and the piece of paper are connected. If you move the piece of paper, you're going to lose the connection between the two. So fix this in this way, sorry for the shape, and you probably already get what happened right now. I'm going to take my pen si. Now the piece of paper and the reference image are connected. So it doesn't matter if I can move or not. You can see my pencil and my hand underneath. I is too much. I'm going to to reduce the opacity of drawing. That's okay for me. Then you just have to trace everything. You need the line like. Actually, this is exactly the same reference image I've used to make my paint. This is my original picture. Yeah, basically that's it. Take your time to trace the line you like to use. And as you can see, this is going to save a lot of time. When you arrive here and you need to move, it doesn't matter. You move this and you go ahead here because as I say now, they are completely connected. And this is why I ask you to do not move this piece of paper. I'm going to remove the phone just to show you what happened underneath here. And as you can see, We got our trace. So we can refine as well, but how fast is to trace in this way. Then you can remove, make some adjustment, make some theft, three dimensional. But actually, this is very useful to me, and this is how I usually transfer the reference image to the final piece of paper, I think there is nothing wrong to project an image on the final surface, I think is a good way to save a lot of time and we can invest that time to paint. Maybe better, maybe more detailed. Anyway, we have to do we have to report the reference image here. If you use the square point, if you use proportional way. I use a projector way. To me, it actually doesn't really matter because we want the final result as best as possible. We can go ahead. Now we are free to start to paint or at in this case, create the background and create the abstract, something here. Just take the brush and the ink and enjoy the rest of the painting. 4. Inking: Well, I'm starting to refine the profile of the modal life shoes with the ink. I like to use the fontin pen, but in a bit, I will switch to the technical ink pen because this fontin pen has a fine nib. But in a bit, I will need a very, very thin line. This is why I'm going to switch to the micron pen because I need 00.05, so the smallest line is possible. Take your time because the thing is, I'm going to be quite precise now to trace the profile of the girl and the main subject. And then I will go literally free hand to create the background. As you can see on my left, I have let's say the reference image. But that's a kind of I don't know, guide, an extra guide to follow, just to be sure to have some idea, but I'm not to copy the reference image on my left. Again, if you feel more comfortable and you don't want do the exercise into the exercise, you can just take the reference image on the left and repaint it. But I actually think this could be a very creative new way to make an exercise and create a new painting. So not just copy something already exist, but make something new, something from your head, your dream, what you like. This is why I decide to do this painting in this way. Again, I'm going to be very well, not very precise, but more precise in this part of the painting compare to what I will do in the background. And as you can see, constantly switch back and forward from Fontaine pen and the classical s micron pen. Usually, I would like to create this splashy, and this we just to take a brush full of color and throw the color on the paper. But in this particular case, I want to have more control and This is why I'm taking my time because this would be the center of the painting. This would be the main subject. And I I'm paying more attention now than later. When you will see I will create the background, I will use a brush pen as well, and as I said before in the introduction, and when I spoke about the materials. On the brush pen, I have to spend a little bit more word about it because could be an amazing tool, but can create a very, very mess. I already trash I remember at least three painting close to the end just because I made a mess and make a mistake with the brush pen. So that probably would be the most dangerous, let's say dangerous tool, so I want to spend a little bit more words later. But now what I'm doing is go ahead and make the main subject and the focus of the painting. Precise as much as I can. Now I'm doing the hair quite natural around the face, but the point here would be mixing the hair with the background. So, around the face, I will do more or less the real idea of the hair, and then everything will be spread and be fed on the background. With this in pen should be again the 005 so the smallest micro pen possible. I'm going to create a little bit of theft and shadows. So just to create some tri dimension painting. And the focus here specific on the portrait would be on the eye and on the mouth. I try to create a natural splash as more natural as possible. That would be great to have a kind of jelly in and just throw on the paper, but again, it would be basically impossible to have a control of the splash. So it's better to take some time, especially because that swell and that splash start from I. So would be more natural to throw the Agile ink, but could be more or less impossible to control where the ink and the splash will go. So when I when I need a bold line, I switch to the Fontaine Pen even because it's probably my favorite tool. If you follow me a little bit, you know, I use basically the Fontaine pen as much as I can with that carbon ink. I like to use that carbon in because well, it's deeply black, but it's probably one of the two in suitable for Fontaine pen, and to make a watercolor painting because other ink could be reactivated when you go over with a wash and the watercolor. So I need a total under 1% waterproof black ink. An extra advice. When you finish to trace everything with the ink. Don't go straight away with the wash watercolor, leave the ink completely dry into the paper. Because if the ink is not completely dry and you go over with the brush, let's say, a mop brush like the brush, we will use later. You're going to very spread the black everywhere, and there is no way to come back. So Something I do is when I finish to trace the main subject with the ink, I'll take another piece of paper, an extra piece of paper. Some paper doesn't really matter to trash later. And I create again, some sir like I'm doing right now, some ink splash. Afterwards. So when I finish it here the real painting. And this is is a kind of test. So when I will come back, If the ink on the pieces of paper I have to trash is completely dry, which means is dry even on my painting. The brush pen, right. So the brush pen is basically a tank pen with a brush tip at the end, and you can put basically any ink. I use the bomba in this way in this case. The problem is sometime you squeeze the tank to go to let the ink go through the eb and and you can paint. But sometimes I don't know why. It happened basically with any single brush pen I use. This is from Dre went and actually is one of the best I use so far. But the problem is sometime you cannot control how much Ink is going to be on your paper because don't ask me why sometime, too much ink, go through the knee and go straight away on your painting. And this is why I have a piece of tissue close to me because I need, let's say to dry the brush part of this pen. The thing is, I have to be careful in this way because as you can see, I can do thin line, but even bold line. The only problem is when I got a problem was, first of all, when too much ink go on my main design or my main painting. And the lead. So when I opened the brush pen, I got splash of black ink goes everywhere. I just remember even when I closed the brush pen. I remember one of my drawing and was nearly finished, actually was finished. And I closed the brush pen. Keeping my painting in front of me. And as soon as I heard the click of the lead on the brush pen, I just watched the painting and was full of splashy ink everywhere. I recover it, but I was very disappointed because it was not my intention to splash everywhere. Usually I do, I like it. But with that specific paint, I like to stay much clean as possible. And y. I got ruined because of the brush pen. So I don't know why sometimes the inks go dry. Sorry. The brush goes dry, and sometimes it basically is a too much ink go through that. By the way, just keep pay attention to this part when you use the brush pen. Also remember when you use this kind of tool, there is no way to come back. So now we are doing something basically free hand and it's going to be very abstract. So it doesn't matter if you make a mistake here. But in case you are going to paint paint something needs to be quite precise, eyes open because This tool doesn't allow you to make mistake. Make a fusion between the hair and the background and then let it dry and be sure would be completely dry, and then we can start with the wash painting with watercolor over the ink. 5. Brush Inking: All right. Exactly exactly as we just finished to do with the brush pen. Now it's time to use the real brush instead of the brush pen. Just to make some bold black part on the background. And this is basically what we just did with the brush pen, but with a different brush. And actually, just to save time. Quick advice. I am using now a flat cheap brush. Well, not extra cheap, but quite cheap. Reason I'm doing that because this in specific this black ink I'm using, it's really strong. This is a doctor PH Martin Bombay black ink. And it's between they said it is a watercolor, but auction is not a watercolor. It's more an acrylic color. This is why it's dry quite quickly. This is why as soon as I finish to use the ink, I'm going to wash and rinse my blush straight away. I don't know what kind of ink are you using. Any waterproof black ink is suitable. But what I am suggesting you is as soon as you finish to use the ink, just rinse the brush straightaway. A big thing. What I'm doing right now, it is very risky. Please do it with the fontin pen with the inking pen or probably the brush pen. Don't do with this the corner of the flat brush because if you miss line, you can basically trash everything. Anyway, rinse the brush because if the ink get dry, there is no way to remove and clean it. Basically, instead of a brush, you're going to get a small spatula. In this part of the painting, feel free to do whatever you like to do. I mean, in the creative way, this is going to be very abstract. And this is why I dried the brush a little bit on a piece of paper because I don't want full ink, and I want some stripe, like I'm doing right now. Again, think a little bit before apply the black ink because this is there is no way to come back, so any mistake you will do from this moment would be permanent. So be creative, but with a little bit of attention because again, if you miss one stroke now, it's end of story. You have to start again from the beginning. Of course, if it's going to be a mistake. This sink is quite a liquid. So it takes time to dry, but again, keeping an eye on what happened on the brush. Because this is a cheap brush, right? But I don't want to trash one brush anytime I'm going to paint something. So just keep an eye on that. Again, I don't know what kind of ink you will you want to use. You can actually, you can use even a watercolor black if you have it. But just keep in your mind if you use a watercolor black, I mean, normal watercolor, not some inking like this, this is more acrylic than watercolor. If you don't have an ink, but assuming you have, and if you use the normal water color B 1,000% sure, the color is dry and just keep in your mind, the water color could be reactivated. So if you go over in the next step with the wash, with quite consistent amount of water, Remember you can reactivate the black and get any other color like muddy or muted or you can make the paint quite. So This step is very creative. You're free to do anything you want. Remember, The black in just one way. You can't come back. In fact, what I'm doing right now is to paint some very light stroke to see if that can work for me, and then go back with the strong in. As you can see, I do not have any more the reference image on my left. Of course, you can keep it. But now I'm just feeling what my crazy creative mind is going to tell to M hand to do. I'm using a flat brush, even because I can use the flat part of the brush or I can use as I doing now the in parts of. I'm not telling you you can make some lines, but actually you can. To use this kind of brush, probably you need to have a little bit of you have to be a little confident. Of course, if if you can use absolutely a normal round brush if you feel better to use that, you can use a pointed brush again, also. So use the brush you like. I use this one because with the flat part I can create a kind of al semiry. So I like to see a kind of hair because I'm working on the hair, so like like like I'm doing exactly right now. M I don't know if you have the Bombay doctor PH Martin Black Inc. It's it's an ink, very, very black. It's an ink I like a lot. They sell you Well, I don't know now. Back in time when I got it was sold by with watercolor. It's not a watercolor. I mean, it's an ink, but it's not, well, you can use with watercolor like I'm doing right now, but it is not a watercolor painting. So don't get confused about that because this is definitely more acrylic than watercolor. You can use acrylic like watercolor, that's completely fine. But remember, this is not watercolor, so there is no way to reactivate this black ink. And it will be permanent as soon as you touch the paper. The only thing I strongly recommend is before apply the watercolor wash. Make sure this blacking is completely dry. Take very short time to get dry, but also depend on the paper you're going to use. This is a cold press paper, so it's going to take a little bit more compared to the hot press paper, for example. But with the hot press paper, you Well, you can, but it's not a paper I quite like the hot press. Because with the cold press paper, I have a little bit more time to work on some color is not instantly dry as, for example, on the hot press paper, but the hot press paper got the prose of the hot press paper that is completely flat. I actually prefer a little bit of texture on the paper. This is why I mostly used the rough paper, but rough paper means cold press anyway. So you can find cold press less texturized anyway. So I think you can choose the paper. It's better for you. It's right for you, and you can use it. You can try the hot press paper. I tried once, and I think I'm not going to buy another album of hot press paper because it personal preference, of course, but it's definitely not the paper for my kind of painting and my style. So the prose of this brush, again, is, you can use the flat to make some very big computer as I'm doing right now, so you can call of very quickly, and you can use the side of the brush to make some thin line. But You can do this step with any brush you like. I think that's it for this step is very very easy, it's very creative. And just take your time, don't run and don't rush in this part because this is going to be how you build the black on the background. Again, if you miss something right now, it's end of story. So keep in your mind this. Let me know and show me maybe even this step before the wash watercolor over the black in. If you like before start with the wash, I will be very happy to help you and give you some other suggestion that I miss during my speech here. 6. Watercolor Wash (1st step): We're going to finally start with the wash. Watercolor wash step. I'm going to reactivate my colors. And as I told you, I mostly use M gram because they have A inside, so to reactivate is actually wonderful, Schmincke. And those are the two favorite color. I'm going to suggest you when you reactivate the color even basically every time. Do not pick up the color from the pan or from your palette, and go straight to the paper. You much better Take pick up the color from the pan or the palette, go to the mixing area. In this way, you can have better idea of how much color your brush is picking up. Because the color I like to use colors from tube and not from cakes. Especially in this way and especially with M gram because they have honey, so they are quite creamy. If I pick up the color straight away from the palette or from the cake and I go straight away on the paper, the risk key is to apply too much color on the main painting. So it's better if you have much more control. I'm going to suggest you something. I actually made a kind of mistake, but not a mistake, but I did this paint two years ago. So if I have to do right now this painting, I'm going to change something I'm telling you right now. From my point of view, at the moment, I have too much water on the paper. What I mean is I have not control of the color spreading on the paper because there is too much water. The suggestion I'm going to give you is let the water dry a little bit, of course, not completely, but don't get the paper too much wet like it is now. This is why you can get much more control of the color. You're going to place on your main subject. And if the color is running too much, you can stop it or I don't know, you can pick up something from the paper. So if the color is too much, you can pick up the color as I'm doing right now, but with the brush. So not just with the tissue. I strongly suggest you to do that because you can get more precise, especially in some painting needs more precise. In this particular one is not very important because we are doing something very abstract and is not the main focus is not to be precise. But if you're going to get some precise painting when you need to have more control on your color when you put from the palette, when you switch from the palette to the final surface like the paper is better if you let the water dry a little bit more than I actually did right here. In some case, after the first, after the first layer applied, you so I went straight from the palette to the paper. But that happened only when I need some point with a very deep color. Another important thing of these things I just told you is the kind of paper you're going to use. If you use hot press paper, basically, the water would be absorbed very quickly. With the cold press paper, it takes a little bit more, not so much. But Oh, another important thing is the kind of brush you're going to use. So this is a synthetic brush. When you press the synthetic brush, usually it release more water and more color. It depends if if you're talking about clean water or a brush with some color in into the bristol, but when you press, the synthetic color usually release more water color on the final paper. And this as two advice to me sounds like important. So first of all, pick up the color from the pan or from the cake and go to the mixing area, and be sure on the mixing area to get the right amount of the color you're going to go to put on your work on your real painting. The second thing is, do not apply too much butter, even if you're doing a wash, step like we are doing right now. I'm doing it right now because you have more control of the running of the. If you do not want the color, go run too much, I think it's better if you wait just a few seconds, not so much. And then you wait. The paper will absorb the final corner. In the right bottom corner now, it is the right amount of water you should have before apply the color straight from the mixing area and your palette. In let's say the middle, it is too much. And then you're going to get a kind of mark. The color is going to be sitting too much in that area. So if you want a big amount of color in that way, it's okay, but I suggest if I have to do this painting now, 2024, I will definitely wait a few seconds just to let the water and the paper join in the right way and to get the right amount of water into the painting. Mm. Mm. 7. Watercolor Wet on Dry: The second step here is to apply the wash technique on the main subject. You got to shows, and the one I actually decide the way I decide to go is to use a neutral tint on the main subject. U You see, I use the blue and the teal on the background, and one of the choice you can do is to keep the same color and the same range of hue, so go ahead with blues or teal or green blue, something like that, even on the main subject. I like to get this separation also because I think a neutral tint can match with basically everything. This is why I decide to use the neutral. Actually not really neutral. It is I'm using a paints gray. And if you know the color is basically a gray, so neutral, gray, but a little bit bluish. I found another color very useful, not back in time, not on 2022 when I did this painting or 2021. I recently found another color is the paints gray bluish. So it is still a paints gray but more bluish again. If I have to do this painting now, I was probably going to use that kind of color. It's basically a paints gray with a little bit amount of I have to say a Prussian blue. So if you want to make by yourself, I think you can try this kind of color picking paints gray, Prussian blue, let's say, 80%, paints gray, and 20% Prussian blue and see what happened. Anyway, I'm just making the volume on the face. So I'm going to put this very light painting very light paint gray. Also, if you see here, I'm using a mop brush, but I'm not using a wet on wet technique, like a wash technique, but I'm using a wet on dry. And this is help me to make some kind of glazing. The thing is, and probably in exactly in this paint, I totally decided to switch from animal paper to arches paper. Is because with arches paper, the water can get into the paper faster than he does on Hanam. So I'm talking about on the animo, I can see the paper. The water Well, sorry, the paper is still too much wet for a long time. And this is one of the reason I switch from arches. I feel more comfy about the put water on the paper because the paper will absorb the water quickly. It's not crazy the difference of the timing, but it helped me a lot, especially in a step like this to be more precise because the amount of water on the paper would be definitely lower. So The difference between the background and this particular step is to use a technique, wet on dry, instead, wet on wet and make some wash. Because in this way, I can get more control and I can do some glazing technique and be just a little bit more precise if I need it. Another small thing I'd like to let you know is for this particular step on the let's say, main subject, or the focus of the painting, eyes which to a smaller brush, still a mop brush, but is smaller than the one I used for the background on top. Those brushes made from a watercolorist, she's an artist. I got this brush, Back in time, probably a few days ago, few days before do this painting. They're synthetic, they're really good. This is the version one, I think is not is discontinued, so now you can find the version two. But I like these brushes because they can still a little bit pointed, but you can use as a mop brush as well. The only thing I didn't like about this painting from a point of view now, three years after make this is actually the paper. The paper I still thinking is the most important choice you can make before start a painting. 8. Final Wash: This is the final step, and this is quite strange because we are going to mix the background into the background. What I'm talking about is after using blue and teals, I actually going to use the same neutral tint I use on the main subject on the profile of the girl, even on the background. This will be quite light. I'm not going to make a strong paints gray, so I'm not going to cover the monochrome slightly blue of the final painting. In fact, as you can see, I'm not going to totally completely deeply wet the water and sorry, the paper. And also, I'm not going to use a full strong paints gray a rich amount of pigment. This is what I'm talking about, even because when the neutral tint will dry, will definitely be lighter. Again, I wish back in time to use Arches paper, not because I have something again the animal, the animal paper is absolutely one of the best brand ever, but from my style of painting and my workflow is much better. I feel I like much more the honeymal paper. The thing I like about this paper is because the water is not going to go inside of the paper very quick. As you can see a few seconds ago, was really easy to me to pick up the excess of some colors. Probably this is one of the best advantage of the best pro about this kind of paper because you can have a little bit more time to work on the color before get dry. I switch to a bigger mop brush from the same series of the brush used before. But as you can see, the water is too much for two reasons. I can tell the main reason is because the paper is not going to absorb so much water, but also a synthetic brush when you press on the paper is going to release a lot of water. The second reason is actually not the main reason from my point of view. The main reason of the paper still too much wet from what they usually used to do, of course, is, let's say the paper fault. Anyway, This is just the final details. I'm going to match the same color of the main subject, and this tint, I think, work very good with the blues and teal I use in the other part of the background. If you go if you use a light color, you can get darker as much as you want. 9. Greetings: All right. Thank you to do this class with me and to join the full andal course and get to the end of this. I really hope you enjoy what we did, and please send me your final result because I want to see if you took the reference image and you did it or you was confident enough to do the exercise into the exercise. Take the idea from the reference image and create something completely different. Anything you need from me, A, anything you want, just feel free to message me. Send me your work because I'd like to see the progress and in case, if you have some question about what you did or some problem you got during the painting, I'm really here and really happy to help you. Sorry again, for my English is a little bit broken, but I think with the art, we can create this join and disconnection, this connection, non disconnection. See you next time, Cho. Never stop, be creative here and here.