Non-map related Watercolor Card by me

[Jaxilon]

A few of us started talking about how we attempt to do watercolor pictures so I figured I would share my latest attempt, even though it's not a map.

I started with a half sheet of 12 inch x 9 inch Cold press paper, it's not anything fancy (90 lb / 185 g/m2) whatever that means. It's just a pad I bought from Michael's. So that's like 4.5" x 6" in size.

1) Using a pencil I sketched out my image from a photograph.
2) Next, I soaked the paper in water, I just held it under the tap for a couple minutes. I think I'll try going for a full soak next time because I still had some buckling.
3) I used blue painter's tape, because it's what I had from some remodel project and it's supposed to not stick, to hold the paper down on a board. I toweled off any excess water using a paper towel and daubing.

See the first image

4) I spent about 3 hours painting it. I start out with a wet brush with little paint to create a light wash. As that dries I got back over it with a slightly more pigment loaded brush and keep building up the colors. Towards the end I use a fairly dry brush to put highlights on. It would probably be more understandable if I had a time lapse video but oh well, I'm not that fancy.
5) I trimmed the edges because I failed to get my tape just right and it looked funky. It's nice and even now

I may look into the possibility of making cards like this and printing them up to sell. I think it's as good as what I buy from the store.

edit: the images were taken with my phone although in retrospect, maybe I should have used my scanner.

[ravells]

Really well done. The tough thing about water colour is to resist reworking an area since it is likely to look muddy if you do.

[Jaxilon]

You can definitely overdo it but I find that if you go lightly you can put many coats down. You do have to wait for it to dry however or that's when you start to get into the fibers of the paper and that's a mess. Also, it seems to help if you work dark to light. I've gone both ways but try not to overlap anything while it's wet or you can loose your edges.

One of the things I like about Watercolor is that it forces me to let go a bit. I tend to work really tight and while that's good for some things it would be nice to loosen up and let the flow happen. Half of watercolor is about working with the flow of the medium which you can't always perfectly control.

[Chashio]

Nicely done! I've been doing a lot more technique experiment with my inktense pencils recently (using a water brush to apply them). Just in my sketch book so far, but it's definitely helping me to see where I went wrong with the wip map I've been doing and what to do next time. The limited palette, however, is sort of... limited. May switch to my acrylics.

Side benefit: the traditional experimentation is helping with my digital painting too. haha