Watercolour experiment

[Eludia]

Hey folks,

I was a bit bored tonight so, for some strange reason, I thought it would be a great idea to try and paint a miniature with watercolours.

So I slapped on a little bit of Scale75 acrylic as an undercoat (some red and basic flesh) and once it dried I set to work for an hour or so. My early conclusions:

1. Watercolour goes on really well over Scale75 paint and seems remarkably stable once its on there.
2. You need next to nothing in the way of gear - a small box of paints (mine is about the size of a smartphone), water jar, a brush or 2 and a bit of paper towel (and something to paint of course). So ideal as a travelling kit, especially if you get all your undercoating done at home.
3. Its very easy to work with. A bit like working with acrylic glazes, but with an undo button when it all goes pear-shaped (just wipe off with a moistened brush).
4. Mixing is also very easy. And if the paint dries on your palette just swirl a drop of water in there and it comes back to life (Frankenpaint )

Anyhoo, enough waffling, here are some pics. The figure is one I picked up at Figureworld last year, its not a great casting but its a nice fun piece and good enough to practice on. I'll see how it reacts to a bit of varnish/fixative over the weekend.

 

[valiant]

Interesting idea - Ive tried using gouache some years ago and it worked well for faces as you can blend wet, like oils.

I like what you've done, so far, I look forward to more...

 

[Eludia]

How did you get on with the gouache Steve? It's something else I've been thinking about lately.

I'm intrigued about their opaqueness and their ability to wet-blend. The one thing that concerns me though is that I've read that they don't truly dry and can reactivate, even in a humid environment. It would be good to hear about your experience with them. I'm wondering if they'd be okay if sealed with a coat of Klear then matt coated.

For now, I've decided that this is worth a proper go so I'll prep this mini properly this weekend and try and do the whole lot in watercolour over acrylic. I'll see how the little bit I've painted takes a coat of matt varnish before I strip it back though

 

[Chrisr]

Hi Billy,

I had thought of using watercolours once, and am looking forward to the end result. All the best with it.

Chris

 

[valiant]

Hi Billy - the gouache act pretty much like watercolours when dry, insofar as they will reconstitute if moisture is applied. However, I have never had experience of a figure being damaged this way. I used a light coat of acrylic varnish to seal and, as yet, no problems. My first gouache figure experiment was painted way back in 1977!!

 

[valiant]

Oh, and use the zinc white rather than the permanent white, it is less sticky!!

 

[Eludia]

I picked up a intro set of gouache earlier today and had a little play about with them tonight. I'm still getting used to them but I think I like them

 

[Eludia]

A quick update, I'm still persevering with both the watercolour and gouache and slowly getting used to the good and bad points of each of them. I stripped back a flat that I've been working on last night and reprimed it. I then did a bit of light "colouring in" whilst watching telly, nothing too in depth or taxing. I'll take a photo later when I get in from work.

I couldn't help noticing your new avatar Steve, are you ex-REME?

 

[billyturnip]

Billy, Simon Hoggett who is a member of the BFFS paints flats using Designers Gouache, not sure what Designers Gouache is but you can see his gallery here, http://www.intflatfigures.org/index.php?action=gallery;su=user;cat=104;u=36

 

[Eludia]

This is what it is Roger:

http://www.jacksonsart.com/Art_Depa...ner_Gouache/c2129_2128_12556_13545/index.html

Simons stuff looks superb and it's nice to see what can be done with it. I'll have a proper look later, after work.

 

[Eludia]

As promised, a quick snap of the flat I'm messing about with at the minute. The rear quarters of the horse, the lance and the ground are painted with water colour. The face was painted with gouache, literally 3 mins work on that.

 

[billyturnip]

That looks like a good start Billy. How long does it take gouache to dry?

 

[Eludia]

It dries in seconds, even faster than acrylics, but it doesn't truly dry to be fair and can be rewetted indefinitely with water. As you can imagine, this is its greatest advantage and also its greatest disadvantage. On the plus side it can be blended in a similar fashion to oils directly on the figure (similar but not identical I might add). If you screw things up then all you need to do is rewet the paint with a brush soaked in water then wipe it off with a tissue or a cotton bud (or the paintbrush I s'pose). Also there is very little paint wastage as you don't need to worry about the paint drying on your palette, a quick swirl with a wet brush and you're back in the game.

On the minus side, it is very easy to lift the paint from the model (see above ) so it can be a bit tricky to lay on layers of paint (tricky but not impossible, you just need to have a light touch). It also obvious that you don't want to be getting water anywhere near the figure once its finished unless it is sealed with a coat of varnish. It takes a light misting of varnish just fine, I haven't tried a heavier coat yet but I suspect it wouldn't be a pleasant experience, especially if your varnish is water based. I've used W&N Artisan without any issues so far.

Some things I've found so far:

1. There is a definite colour shift from wet to dry so you need to compensate for this.
2. It is very matt, sometimes a little too matt for my liking and the finish can look very grainy (before varnish obviously).

I'm still learning but I hope this helps mate

 

[billyturnip]

Thanks for the lowdown Billy. I'm tempted but I've got nearly as many paints, oil & acrylic, as I have flats waiting to be painted so I'll resist.
I'm still interested in your experiment with gouache though.

 

[valiant]

Looking good so far, Billy - how did you do with the gouache? I quite liked it and I think its worth another try, now Ive started to use acrylics.

I'm not ex-REME, but my granddad was in when it was first formed and my dad was in for his National Service and as an instructor with the TA, so I've grown up with it as a large part of my life!

 

[Eludia]

Still learning Steve

I don't think I'll ever give up the oils but it's an interesting distraction. The main thing I like is that I can fit a full palette of both watercolours and gouache, and a couple of kolinsky travel brushes into a single tin about 8" x 3". All I need to add is some form of water container and something to paint and I have everything I need to do some painting when I'm away from my shed.

 

[valiant]

Have paints - will travel!!

 

[Eludia]

Done a bit more work on the a**e end of the horse. Mrs E reckons it looks like the a**e end of a horse and it looks 3d(ish) so I'm happy with that (she's quite honest, if it looks crap she'll tell it like it is)

 

[billyturnip]

Looking good, you could have picked an easier colour of horse to experiment with though.

 

[Eludia]

Cheers Roger

To be honest it's all new territory for me:

1. Never painted a flat before, it won't be my last however.
2. Never painted a horse before, never mind a white one (or a flat one).
3. Never painted anything with gouache or watercolour before.

I'm surprised it's going so well