Voolf's miscellaneous art

[Mouse]

Oh don't be sad, Voolf! Learning how to laugh at oneself is a critical part of a child's development - even if that child is over 50!

And I really think I have a long way to go yet before I can draw a single mountain as good as one of yours

[Voolf]

I have been trying to bite the waterclour technique lately, inspired by several pieces that i saw here and there.
Despite my efforts i have completaly no idea how to colour/shade with watercolour brushes. I also cannot achive an effect that something would like "less digital".

This is what i was playing with for seveal days. Looks decent, but i couldn't done anything what i wanted. One thing i learnd from it is that i still have great difficulties drawing plain grassland.
I also noticed that there is something wrong with my ink brush for outline. The outline just dosen't look well enough. Maybe its the thinkness issue ?
If anyone has some suggestions about drawing with watercolour or achiving something similar to Francesca, Onez, or Schley, please do share

test_watercolour_resize.jpeg

[Mouse]

First off, Voolf, I'm an oil on canvas painter myself (which might explain my bright colours and preference for texture, rather than areas of solid plain colour), but I've dabbled a bit with ink and watercolour wash (which is I think the effect you are aiming for with this map), and I'd say this isn't a bad imitation

Watercolours run and bleed. A colour wash, no matter how great the paper, the paint or the artist, is usually at least a little bit uneven, but I've no idea how you would imitate that digitally. As they dry they create a subtle tide mark of slightly darker pigment around the edges - again, that's something I wouldn't know where to start with digitally.

Aside from the technique and the texture, I think you might need to make the water darker in the middle than it is around the edge. Right now, though well drawn, its giving the impression of being a mound of something because of the darker edges. The trees might benefit from a more 'watercoloury' mix of different colours (not shade but colour).

EDIT: thinking about it, the way I would describe a single watercolour wash to an alien from the planet Zog, who's never seen one before, is... like a coffee stain, but a planned shape and usually in a much prettier colour - transparent stains of pale rainbow colours.

[Wired]

Gah, how do you people manage to get those wonderful colors?!? Whenever I try that I feel like I push the saturation lever up to 11!

[ThomasR]

You might want to use a grunge brush (you'll get the unevenness) and use the wet edges setting in PS (to get what Sue is talking about).
Great looking map BTW.

[Voolf]

First off, Voolf, I'm an oil on canvas painter myself (which might explain my bright colours and preference for texture, rather than areas of solid plain colour), but I've dabbled a bit with ink and watercolour wash (which is I think the effect you are aiming for with this map), and I'd say this isn't a bad imitation

Watercolours run and bleed. A colour wash, no matter how great the paper, the paint or the artist, is usually at least a little bit uneven, but I've no idea how you would imitate that digitally. As they dry they create a subtle tide mark of slightly darker pigment around the edges - again, that's something I wouldn't know where to start with digitally.

Aside from the technique and the texture, I think you might need to make the water darker in the middle than it is around the edge. Right now, though well drawn, its giving the impression of being a mound of something because of the darker edges. The trees might benefit from a more 'watercoloury' mix of different colours (not shade but colour).

EDIT: thinking about it, the way I would describe a single watercolour wash to an alien from the planet Zog, who's never seen one before, is... like a coffee stain, but a planned shape and usually in a much prettier colour - transparent stains of pale rainbow colours.

Thanks Mouse. That is good chunk of theory here. The unevenness is probably achivable by proper watercolour brush (i may miss that one since i work in Krita with some custom watercolour brushes). If it comes to darker pigment around the edges i think it is easly done by applying inner shadow or dark glow to the layer. I actually did it only for the forest shadows on the groud. If you look closely you can see that the edge of the shadow is darker.
I am a little confused though. You said first about darker pigment around, but then suggest to use darker colour inside then aroud the edge. I think i know what you mean, but i saw many drawings with almost same colour tone inside and near the edge. beside the brighter colour near the edge the less visible shadow become..... hmm i dont know.
Thanks for the insight !

Gah, how do you people manage to get those wonderful colors?!? Whenever I try that I feel like I push the saturation lever up to 11!

Wired if you have problems with picking good colour right off the bat, change the entire colour layer with colour management window later. I do that all the time.

You might want to use a grunge brush (you'll get the unevenness) and use the wet edges setting in PS (to get what Sue is talking about).
Great looking map BTW.

Thanks Thomas I used grunge brush and watercolour brush for this one. I think i used normal pencil brush only for shadow cast on the ground. I dont have PS so i can't use the wet edges setting. But i did crate simillar effect for those shadows on the ground with layers options in Krita. Maybe it is not perfect. I also relized that making this edges for a grungy or gungry looking watercolour brush is not visible since the edges on the brush itself are very subtle and les visible.

[Mouse]

A bit of clarification - the dark edges to a watercolour wash are extremely thin - perhaps thinner than your ink line.

This is a good example. Notice how the paint is affected by the grain of the paper, and the way it bleeds into the grain at the dry edge at the bottom of the swatch. The bottom edge is also a classic example of the line of darker pigment I was referring to. Unless the paper is damp when the paint is applied this always happens with watercolour.

Watercolour wash.jpg

It really is just like a controlled coffee stain. A pretty blue one in this case

[Voolf]

Got it. I have to learn more of this, and probably find a good texture to apply. Thanks Mouse!

[Voolf]

Something i am working on now. I posted several wip on discord and thought it would be better to actually show it here on forum too. Lineart still not complete, couple more forests to go i think.

mountains small scale v1.5.jpg

[Greg]

This is looking great Voolf! Your lineart is always stunning so very much looking forwards to seeing how this goes!