Learn a new more simplified way of painting abstract watercolour portraits.
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Watercolour portraits: The new way vs the traditional way.
Watercolour can be a challenging medium, and watercolour portraits can be the most challenging within the watercolour world. But it needn't be that way. But why is it seen as more challenging? There are many reasons, but you can get away with more with a landscape and still life than a face. But I believe portraits in watercolour can be made easier.With portraits, you spend all the time getting the sketch down and looking good, and then when you get the paint down and it doesn’t work out, you realise you’ve got to start again with the sketch. This all takes time and can sometimes be demoralising. It certainly was for me at times. Especially when I was learning. If you make a mistake or two, or something doesn’t look right, it can be hard to correct due to the transparent nature of the medium.
So let’s talk about the traditional way of painting watercolours. Portraits, in particular. Then we’ll discuss a new approach.
Traditional Way of Painting Watercolour Portraits.
With the traditional way, the general rule is you start with a large wash over the whole face. This wash is the lightest value you see. So you’re going from light to dark. After the large wash, you then add the second darkest values you see over the face. Working through the values until you eventually get to the darkest finishing points. You then have a full head portrait.
But how does this method limit you to having a more abstract style?
Well, once you’ve put that large light wash over the face, there’s no other path to go other than light-to-dark washes. That’s what limits you. And that’s why a lot of watercolour portraits look the same. And the reason this method is there? Because watercolour painting can be hard, and this gives you a structure to follow, helping to control the unpredictable medium.But what if there’s another way? A way of still having a structure to follow but one that gives the artist opportunities to create something abstract and different to the norm. By still keeping the important control that this medium needs.
Modern Method of Painting Watercolour Portraits
'It all comes down to values. Which values you start with, and which ones follow'.
I’ll explain: As I mentioned earlier, you would normally start with the lightest value in a large wash. Well, how about we start painting with the medium values? That would look weird, you might say. Yes, it will to begin with, but have faith…The idea is we paint in the medium values and then pretty much go light to dark.
Because you then have some structure to visualise, you can start adding in the lightest washes in either one big wash or smaller washes. Then adding more medium values and shadow values. This will give a more abstract look. Sometimes you can get lucky, and it looks good at an early stage. Giving an unfinished look. Something you couldn’t do with the traditional approach.
You can work around the face making each part more finished as you see fit. You can continuously check the painting to see if it looks aesthetically pleasing to you. Again, giving you the opportunity to leave it and give the more unfinished abstract look.
You will still have the issue of mistakes and the problem of not being able to cover them up. But I find because you’re working in smaller areas, it’s easier to quickly soak up a wash with tissue and try again. Something very hard to do with bigger washes of the traditional approach. So generally, with this approach, your mistakes may go down, which is what we want to achieve, reducing the demoralising thought of having to start again with the sketch!
Discover my Method to Creating Unique Abstract Watercolour Portraits - Subscribe For Your Free PDF Guide.
So try it out for yourself. I’ve put together a free PDF guide breaking down my process and how I approach portraits in this easier, more modern method of watercolour painting for beginners and professionals. You can access the free PDF guide by simply subscribing to the link above or below. You will also receive more useful info to help you on your watercolour journey...Take advantage of this opportunity to learn a modern skill and create beautiful watercolour art.
Online Video Course
If you want to be taken through the process in a lot more detail I have my video course available which teaches you everything you need to know to be able to create modern abstract portraits. Click link below for more information and customer reviews.