Sunday, July 08, 2012

experiments in skin tone

It would appear every artist has their own recipe, often kept very secret, to getting decent skin tone. I have previously blundered along doing everything in "full colour", sometimes a little luridly so. Lately I'm becoming taken with the idea of many washes in similar if not the same colour/tone. I feel it brings a luminosity to any watercolour. The great master of the many washes was John Sell Cotman and the more I read about his work the more I love the technique. Recently I bought some of Windsor and Newton's Cotman Range, they may only be "student" quality to some but they do definitely have beautiful coverage in washes, and particularly the yellow ochre, which I think bring a delicious goldenness to skin tones and at the same time doesn't muddy the other colours (which I have found previously in more expensive paints) Anyway I've been experimenting and I think I have come across a set of four colours that really do give great skin tones. I trust John Sell is not turning in his grave. Another watercolourist I really admire is Norman Lindsay, but no one yet has come out with a range of his colours, that I'm aware of.

Friday, July 06, 2012

Long time no post

I must apologize, it has been so long since I posted here I had forgotten how to do it. Maybe it was made harder by changes in google+. No worry. Its time to get inspired by the torso again and do some serious art. Here I have a wonderful model and I have been experimenting with more and "thinner" washes.In this case i got the paper so wet it crinkled badly as it dried, maybe 130gsm next time. All the same I like the delicacy of tone that comes with more than one wash is the same basic colour.

Not a 2 minute torso by any means, but one I am proud of. all the same