The City of Runiste

[Wingshaw]

Hi all.

I need some help from my fellow Guildies.

This is a map of the city of Runiste, and was one of the drawings I began during my [m]April 2018 challenge (Day 17). I've carried on with the drawing since then, and have been inspired by some of the excellent watercolour works that have been popping up lately (notably Abu Lafia's recent stuff, and everything by Francesca Baerald) to colour this with watercolour pencils. What you see below is the result of my efforts applied to an ordinary photocopy of the original drawing (on ordinary copy paper, too).

The problem is: I don't know how to put shading into the map. I have made a couple of attempts (the sea towers, some of the trees) but watercolouring is a bit new to me. Anyone able to give some tips on how to shade this picture?

Wingshaw

[ThomasR]

I know Blaidd does it with ink before coloring with crayons (no watercolor for him). I gets really good results. Maybe ask him through PM ? My opinion on the maps, it is superb but the colors are a bit bright for my tastes. And your towers are really well shaded

[Chlodowech]

Hello Wingshaw,

first of all, i have to say that i've never worked with watercolour pencils, so everything i'll say about it is based on things i assume by looking at the result on your drawing, which is btw a very nice one.

As to what i see, working with watercolour pencils is a lot less risky than the traditional way with a brush, and seems to offer advantages on some aspects, e.g the fluent shading of round surfaces, like the towers, which would not be possible with a brush. However, there are some upsides of the traditional way with a brush that seem to be hardly archievable with the pencils, and those a will illustrate on a short example, on which i'll also try to explain the shading the way i've learned to do it:

example1.png

[It's a small section of a town drawing i uploaded here about 2 years ago]

To my knowledge, the easiest way of putting shades to buildings or objects in general with watercolours is to use a greyish tone (and not a darker version of the surface colour, the grey does just make the original colours equally darker quite well). The rest of it works as with any other drawing/painting technique - choosing an angle and a direction of the shading, assuming a rough shape of the building to apply as outline and filling the shadow with whatever drawing/painting medium (like the watercolours in this case). As you can also see on this example, it's not too important to get the shape of the shadow really accurate, it's usually just fine as long as it's not completely off. Also when there's not just the flat ground but also smaller objects within the range of the shadow, you can usually just paint over them as if they weren't there (as e.g on that tower indicated by the blue circle).

Now, back to what i started with - the comparison between watercolour pencils and the traditional watercolouring with a brush - since here, with the shading, there seems to be a major drawback of the pencils. As to what i see, they seem to work mostly like any other type of pencils, e.g you work with lines rather than with surfaces. And that prevents you from getting a very important effect of surfaces made with a brush - the sharp outlines, as indicated with all the red arrows on the example - the most important being the one on the shadow itself, since this gives the shading very clear and readable shapes.

For that reason, if you want to take the risk of using the traditional watercolouring technique (and if you got the equipment ready, which is usually quite expensive), i'd highly advise you to do so for the shading. It'll pay off, mainly by the outlines it creates, and keeps your drawing clear and nice as the linework already is.

Greets

Chlodowech

[Azélor]

What time is it?

[Wingshaw]

I know Blaidd does it with ink before coloring with crayons (no watercolor for him). I gets really good results. Maybe ask him through PM ? My opinion on the maps, it is superb but the colors are a bit bright for my tastes. And your towers are really well shaded

Is Blaidd a watercolourist? I never knew that. I'll take up your suggestion, Thom, and write to Blaidd. And thanks for the comment

first of all, i have to say that i've never worked with watercolour pencils, so everything i'll say about it is based on things i assume by looking at the result on your drawing, which is btw a very nice one.

Thank you Chlodowech!!! That is fantastic advice and the details you have given are very very much appreciated I was concerned that grey would make the image look a bit flat, but I think your experience and tips have convinced me to give it another try.

What time is it?

I haven't really thought too much about that, actually. Usually I just pick a direction and start shading.

Wingshaw

[Chlodowech]

I was concerned that grey would make the image look a bit flat, but I think your experience and tips have convinced me to give it another try.

Your concerns are not without a reason, and i gotta explain a small but important detail about it. If you go for traditional watercolouring with separate colours, never use a pre-made grey or black - they look lifeless and dull. Instead, mix the grey tone out of other pigments - which would be red and blue (i don't know if ultramarine blue works, but from what i've learned, coelin blue is the best for this purpose; about the red, i'd advise to take a brownish red, and to mix in a just a tiny bit of clear red).

With this mix you can get everything from a light gray to black, depending on how much water you use. Be aware that the mix of pigments will not forever stay as such, and on larger surfaces you can sometimes have the colours slightly separating. But i guess when it's only about shadows on a city miniature, you won't risk getting that.

[Chief84]

First of all, I really like the style of your map. Very vibrant coloring. What I know about shading with water pencils is that you first give the surface you want to shade, a base color. This should be the lightest color in that area.
You then take a darker colored pencil and fill in the part you need to shade. If needed repeat with even darker colors.
When applying the water with a brush, always stroke the brush from the light area towards the dark area or else the darker pigments bleed on the lighter area.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G920F met Tapatalk