Lighting your "People" Watercolors For Maximum Effect
When working from photographs, be sure to start with pictures that have a full range of values, from hot highlights all the way down to deep shadows. AVOID (like the plague) photos with studio lighting ... Olan Mills is a perfect example of the kind of lighting you DON'T want. While it makes for a flattering photo, it will yield a flat, boring watercolor
Watercolor works best when you can capture flashing whites and a striking shadow pattern. Remember...it's the shadows that define the shape and expression of your subject; they lend interest and character. Ladies: wrinkles are our friends. While these do not make for "flattering" portrait photos, they are the essence of an exciting watercolor. Even if your subject is a beautiful woman or a newborn baby, it's the shadows and wrinkles that will make your painting convincing. Keep them transparent ... not heavy ... but put them in there. Without them your painting will look like a cartoon.
The paintings shown here all use a series of glazes to build up texture in the faces, beginning with an underpainting of shadows in cool colors. Wrinkles are added in the "T-area" around the eyes and nose, then around the mouth and chin. Finally, several transparent glazes of warmer skin tones are added, being careful to preserve some whites as highlights.
Note the progression of glazes in "Bubble Boys:"
And in "Norm and His Boat," note how the colors used in the shadows on his face are reflected from the greens and blues of the surrounding areas:"
When painting, getting a good gesture is more compelling than "getting a good likeness," and daring color is often far more interesting than rendering a perfect copy of the photos in your original picture. "Push" your colors more than you think you should, use complementary colors in shadows, and dare to put colors into your faces without trying to mix the "perfect" shade of flesh. You'll like the finished product better every time.
These photos all have good possibilities as paintings, though the lighting is too extreme for portraiture: Note the high contrast, dramatic lighting, and the presence of a full range of values, from white to black.
FOR OUR WORKSHOP: Bring photos that have these characteristics! The painting process will be less critical, and you'll like your results a lot better. If you have a particular subject in mind, but don't have a suitable shot, there is still plenty of time to take them outside or near a window, and get a bunch of good photos from which to work. See you June 12.
