A handful of watercolor experiments (be gentle ...)

[ThomasR]

Hey fellow Guildmates !

Recently, I've tried my hand at watercolors. My goal is to be able to produce a satisfying traditional piece and to take some time off the screen as I feel I burned my eyes this year

As you'll see, I achieved mixed results but I feel I'm making progress so, it's all good. I am not pleased with the maps, to say the least, but it is no reason not to post them and share a bit. By posting those, I'm also looking for advice from anyone that know a bit about watercolor. Cartography is full of details and this media might not be the best for it but I'm stubborn (and I love the washed colors).

Let's go with a chronological order (all maps are 150 dpi) :

- Aqua 1 : It's the first I colored this way. I feel I got my parchment color right (which is not the case for the others). I used masking fluid to avoid going over my parchment limits but this product is nasty and peels bad on cheap paper and takes out the pencil. It's the only map where I did the sea parchment darker than the land parchment (something I do on my digital maps) and I should have done it on the others as it makes for a great strong blue for the sea.

Aqua 1 post.jpg

- Aqua 2 a.k.a. L'archipel d'Automne : This is an A3 piece I started on a cheap mixed media pad I bought for my 3 yo. I wanted to present it for the autumn challenge but got busy with commission work. It was fun playing with the art nouveau letters (google Hector Guimard, I'm sure you'll love it) and, as it's not my strong suit, I kept it simple. I really dislike the clear yellow of the parchment but the paper had already buckled a lot so, I decided to let it be. My brush work was also really really sloppy (especially the blue). A difficulty I often encounter is to estimate correctly the amount of paint I'll need. Half way through the process, I'm always short and have to redo some colors, losing the consistency ... The tarnishing on the tears of the parchment and the cast shadow was applied using copics markers. Also the line work was done with a single 0.1 fineliner (Windsor&Newton that the local shop had and I wanted to test. Nice feel but they dry too quickly).

Automne post1.jpg

- Aqua 3 : This one was all done with a 0.3 2B pencil. Meticulously ! For once I took my time. I used a lot of masking fluid and let the map rest for way too long before coloring it (I was intimidated by the watercolors). The masking fluid took away the pencil on many parts and too many water washed a lot too. Here again, the brushwork was sloppy and I should have used a simple nib for the border details. It was destined to be framed, it won't be framed With this one, I like the parchment tarnishing and the colors. I feel the map could have benefited of some whit highlights on the mountains and maybe a bit of terrain coloring but I call it done anyways.

Aqua post.jpg

- Aqua 4 : I colored it earlier but was unsatisfied by it's clear appearance. Tonight I gave it a go and pushed it a bit. Forests were a mistake but I like the (involuntary) strange patterns on the sea (note : all the cool coloring stuff are happy accidents, I REALLY don't know what I'm doing here, I need to take some classes on the topic). Kept it simple for the rest.

Aqua 2 post.jpg

I'll do some more but not right away. These four maps taught me a lot as I had never used watercolor before but I still need to learn a lot and I do not like "spoiling" a linework I deem worthy.

As I told above, any critic and advice is welcome.

Cheers !

PS : 2 and 3 have weird colors. I scanned them on a big sophisticated Xerox at work but it's not as good at scanning colors as it is at printing them.

[Wingshaw]

Nice work, Thom. I think the colour of the parchment on #1 and #4 is nicer, but your linework for #2 and #3 is better. I think you should definitely keep trying.

I've been experimenting a little with watercolours, too, lately (not maps, though, but other illustrations), and I think I've learned two key lessons from my efforts: 1) it really matters what paper you use, and getting better quality watercolour paper makes a huge difference, and 2) watercolour is a medium that doesn't like to be too controlled, and works better when it isn't. As you say, the detail of maps can make that a problem for watercolour, but I think a 'free-n-easy' approach to colouring a map can really work wonders, too.

Wingshaw

[Arimel]

I tried applying watercolor to one of my earlier maps (never posted it though ). Needless to say, it did not look even as remotely good as yours do here. This might just encourage me to give it a second shot!

[arsheesh]

These are all really nice Thomas, no critique from me.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[Ilanthar]

I enjoy the whole series and admire your perseverance. As you know, I really dig the shades of blue for the waters.

[ThomasR]

First of all, sorry for the thread necromancy happening here and sorry for these belated (THAT's an understatement) responses.

Nice work, Thom. I think the colour of the parchment on #1 and #4 is nicer, but your linework for #2 and #3 is better. I think you should definitely keep trying.

I've been experimenting a little with watercolours, too, lately (not maps, though, but other illustrations), and I think I've learned two key lessons from my efforts: 1) it really matters what paper you use, and getting better quality watercolour paper makes a huge difference, and 2) watercolour is a medium that doesn't like to be too controlled, and works better when it isn't. As you say, the detail of maps can make that a problem for watercolour, but I think a 'free-n-easy' approach to colouring a map can really work wonders, too.

Wingshaw

Thanks George and I agree, the yellowish parch is pretty awful. 2 and 3 were linework maps before all and took way more time than the quick 1 & 4.

The paper issue is really something. I purchased top shelf watercolor paper but haven't dared yet to deface it I'll keep at it

I tried applying watercolor to one of my earlier maps (never posted it though ). Needless to say, it did not look even as remotely good as yours do here. This might just encourage me to give it a second shot!

Thanks Arimel and glad to give you that extra push.

These are all really nice Thomas, no critique from me.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

Thanks Tad, you're way too kind, as always

I enjoy the whole series and admire your perseverance. As you know, I really dig the shades of blue for the waters.

Perseverance, perseverance, est-ce que j'ai une gueule de perseverance ? Joke aside, thanks Julien and I definitely need to go back to it once I got some personal mapping time (and a lot of rest ...). The waters are fun as I have absolutely no control over the result, kind of a cathartic experience for a mapmaker