WATERCOLOR PENCILS

I received some favorable feedback on the watercolor pencil lighthouse tutorial!

So . . . . let me know if you created a watercolor pencil painting as a result of this series of posts! 

You can either email the info to me in the form of a small resolution photo and I'll post it, or you can send me a link to the painting on your blog.

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO – 11 - FINAL!

I added some red stripes to the flag – and noticed that the tree on the right had bled into the lighthouse.

Once again I used the scrubber brush to lift that paint – see below.

After the paper had dried, I reapplied the green more carefully to sharpen up the edge of the lighthouse. I also added the blue to the flag. When that dried I used the gray pencil for the flag pole.

Then I added the lines of the blocks with the black pencil and then went over the lines with a damp brush to soften them.

I lifted out some “waves” on the water and checked the picture. I added some darker blue/green at the base of the trees – and called it DONE!

Please don’t be too critical of my work here – remember, it is aimed at *Newbies!

Hope you had fun seeing this little picture completed.

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO – 10

I decided to combine two colors to create the roof color. I believe I used a burnt sienna and the red for the color on the left; not sure what I used for the color on the right, but that was too pink.

The colors were scribbled on top of each other and then water was brushed on.

I colored in the chimney and then used the black pencil for the windows and lighthouse markings. I wet the tip of the black pencil and colored in the black areas, then went over the right side of the lighthouse with a damp brush and blotted to lift some of the black.

I sharpened the pencil for the smaller area at the top of the lighthouse, and used an ultra fine Sharpie marker for the small black lines.

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO - 9

I’m ready to put some shadows onto the buildings, so I’m using the gray pencil again. Above I am wetting the tip and below you can see that I have colored in some small shadow shapes. They look a bit dark because the color is more intense when you draw with a wet tip.

Above, I have painted over the shadow shapes with a wet brush . . . .
And below I have blotted those areas with a tissue to lift some of the excess paint.

Above, I have used the gray pencil on the lighthouse. This time I have colored a line slightly off center, and then wet it with the brush and pulled the color out on either side of the gray line.

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO - 8

I used a drybrush technique over some of the grass area.
*Newbie Alert – drybrush is a misnomer. Your brush isn’t really dry, it’s just slightly damp. To create the drybrush effect in watercolor, you can dip your wet brush into paint, then take a tissue and hold it to the base of your brush, absorbing most of the water in the brush, then swipe across your painting using the side of your brush. Alternatively, you can wet your brush, then wipe it with a tissue to absorb most of the water, then dip it into fairly dry paint and swipe across your painting using the side of your brush.
On this painting I wiped my brush across the tip of a wet w/c pencil and then swiped it across the painting.

While the tape was still on, I darkened a few spots in the trees adjacent to the lighthouse; then I removed the masking tape. Sometimes when you remove a resist, it lifts the pencil marks, so you may have to go back over some of the shapes on the buildings or the rings around the lighthouse at this point.

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO - 7

But look what I discovered when I lifted that green spot – a long, straight line on the bottom of my cloud. YUK. Again, guess I’ve ruined the painting, since you can’t correct watercolor.
Oh – but wait, didn’t we just learn that “oh yes we can”!
Here is where the scrubber brush will come in handy.
*Newbie Alert – scrubber brushes are stiff bristled brushes specifically manufactured to scrub over watercolor paper and lift paint. I like to call them “nudge-er” brushes, since I like to gently nudge the paint into lifting rather than doing what the term “scrub” implies, which is a harsh abrading of the paper. And I will always try to “scrub” the area with a soft brush first so as not to damage the paper. If that doesn’t work, then I go to a scrubber brush.

Both of these are true scrubber brushes, the left one very round, the other more of a filbert shape.

Here you can see the tips better.

*Newbie Alert - the proper way to “scrub” is to wet the area you want to remove and allow the water to sit a few seconds to begin soaking into the paper. In this photo, you can see the shine of the water on the paper.
Then take your wet scrubber and gently rub small circles over the offending paint. Then gently blot with a tissue. The paint should be removed.

Here you can see the hard line has been softened at the bottom of the cloud.

I will go through the same process on this hard line at the top of the cloud.

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO - 6

Ooops – well, look what I did – got green paint on my finger and then laid it down in the sky. Guess this painting is ruined, since we all know that “you cannot make corrections to watercolor”!
Or – can you?? Look below – now you see it, now you don’t!
Wow, must be magic!

Sorry to burst your bubble – but it’s not magic!
I simply took a wet tissue and wiped it over that green spot – and lifted it right off!

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO - 5

I colored in various shades of greens, yellows and browns for the grass area.

Then I used my flat brush to go over the area with water.

Here it is after the first colors had dried.

I decided that the area needed more depth, so I added some darker greens in some areas.

I wet those areas and blended them into the rest of the green.

*Newbie Alert - Here is a close up – you can see how some of the area at the bottom of the painting feathered up – that is called a “blossom”. A “blossom” occurs when the painting is beginning to dry and then you add more wet paint (in this case, more water). The dryer, yet still wet, area of the painting acts like a sponge and draws the wet paint (water) into it, creating an odd edge effect in the paint. Sometimes blossoms are good, sometimes bad, but this one didn’t bother me, I think it has a grassy effect.

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO – 4

Next, the beach and trees.

I used some yellow and some raw sienna for the base color, coloring them over each other. Then I wet a brush and painted water over the sand area.

To create a “sand” effect, I took a wet toothbrush and rubbed it over the tip of the w/c pencil to pick up some color, and then “spritzed” it onto the paper over the sand area.
*Newbie Alert – I hold the toothbrush with my 4 fingers on top, and use my thumb to pull against the bristles, which causes the paint to spray off the brush. You will want to practice doing this until you get the hang of it.
You also don’t want to hold the toothbrush directly over the painting or you can get big “globs” of water-y paint to fall onto your painting. Instead, hold your painting up at an angle and hold the toothbrush in front of it; the spray will go onto the painting and any water-y globs will drip harmlessly onto the table.

As you can see, I got some “overspray” onto the grassy area, which didn’t bother me since that will be painted later.
To protect your painting, you can hold your hand over the area you want to keep clean, or use some pieces of scrap paper or even tissues to cover up any area you don’t want sprayed.

Now I’m working on the trees. Obviously, I already added water to the right tree. Below you will see the left tree as I’m adding the water.
*Newbie Alert – use whatever size brush you feel comfortable using for the area you are working on. I used a 1 in. flat brush to paint in the sky and beach, but this round brush is good for the smaller tree area. I will usually rub the round brush in a circular motion for trees, but will stroke the flat brush back and forth for larger areas.

The trees completed – for now!

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO - 3

Those blank white clouds were staring me in the face so I had to do something with them. Using gray, you can see how I added some shapes throughout the clouds to add some shadows in them.

I added water to the gray marks I had made, but it wasn’t dark enough for me. I then took a wet brush and ran it over the tip of the pencil to pick up more of the gray directly onto my brush (see above). I then painted that gray onto the cloud shapes.

Now I think t hose clouds look a bit more realistic.

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO - 2

Please note that I consider this a painting and will refer to the watercolor pencils as paint from time to time. So, don’t be confused – paint means the watercolor pencil.

I didn’t decide to blog this whole process until after I had begun the picture so . . .

What you don’t see is just the first step, which was to draw out my picture onto the watercolor paper. Since I don’t have any lighthouse photos of my own, and since this painting is only for educational purposes, I used a photo from a magazine. You can use my drawing here, or perhaps you have your own lighthouse photo to use as a guide.
*Newbie Alert - COPYRIGHT INFO – always remember – if you are going to put your painting out for sale, be sure you use your own photo or get permission from the photographer to use a photo. Never put anything out for sale, or in any show, that is not completely, totally, 100% your own. It is OK to use a photo for educational (learning) purposes – just don’t enter it in a show or sell it.

After drawing the picture onto my w/c paper, I used masking tape as a resist, covering the lighthouse and the buildings.

*Newbie Alert – a resist is anything used to prevent paint from adhering to the paper. There are special resists for watermedia called, variously, masking fluid, miskit, maskoid, and drawing gum, all liquid resists; and friskit film or watercolor washout tape, both sticky plastic tape. You can also use other tape, such as good old Scotch transparent tape, packaging tape, and masking tape.

In this instance, the masking tape is going to keep my lighthouse and buildings white while I paint in the rest of the picture. Then I will paint those objects.

In the photo below I already painted in the sky, leaving cloud shapes white.
After my sky was dry, I took another piece of tape and laid it along the edge of the horizon line so that I would have a sharp line for my horizon line between the sky and water.

*Newbie Alert – never adhere tape to a wet or damp painting; either it will not stick, or it will stick and then later tear your painting when you try to remove it. Also, the term “dry” means 100%, totally, absolutely, Sahara DRY; not even the tiniest bit damp! You can use a hair dryer or walk away for a while to let the paper dry on its own.

You will see here the difference between the sky and water – the water looks very “crayon like” while the sky looks like it has been painted. The difference is – water!

The sky was laid in exactly the way I have laid in the water – simply coloring in the area with the w/c pencil. Then, take a wet brush and wipe over the applied pencil and you are painting the picture!

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO

(* This means everyone, even experienced painters, can try painting with watercolor pencils in the safety and comfort of your own home!)

Throughout the year I teach classes in different mediums to people with varying skill levels, which can be challenging. The classes are designed to allow the students to complete a painting in 3 hours!

My most recent class was in watercolor pencil. It got me to thinking how we take so much about painting for granted; we just assume that people already have an understanding of what we are doing. Our assumption is no different from those experienced in many other fields.

For instance, did you ever buy a sewing pattern that gave directions aimed at experienced seamstresses - which you aren’t! Since the pattern assumed you already knew sewing terms, and therefore gave no definitions, you could not understand what you were supposed to do. So it is with most blogs about painting – they expect that you have some experience in the medium.

Well, the next several posts will be a detailed lesson in how to paint with watercolor pencils for all of you *Newbies to this medium.

Think of the watercolor pencil like a stick form of watercolor. As a matter of fact, a couple of paint companies have recently come out with “watercolor sticks” – a larger solid form of watercolor than the watercolor pencils, and probably of better quality pigment. I’m assuming that both watercolor pencils and the new watercolor sticks are aimed primarily at artists “on the go” who like to paint outdoors. A combination of these would allow the artist to make a sketch on site and not even have to carry water with them; they could just wet the paint later to complete their painting.

OK, now we are ready to begin our project. Have fun and follow along; I hope this painting turns out well for you – and if it does, please let me know! Results may vary!

Here is a list of supplies you will need for this project – graphite pencil, ruler, masking tape, eraser, pencil sharpener, watercolor pencils, watercolor brushes (one round, one flat), scrubber brush, tissues, and watercolor paper. I used Arches 140# CP which I cut down into 1/8 size - but you could use another brand.

You probably have all of these supplies, except possibly the watercolor pencils.
*Newbie Alert - If you don’t have a scrubber brush, you can use any stiff brush; I’ve used fabric brushes and even an old toothbrush. You can also use an oil painting bristle brush.
As far as tissues, use plain white rather than colored, since it is possible that you can add color from the tissue to your paper when you blot; also, never use any tissues with lotion in them!

*Newbie Alert – Arches watercolor paper can be purchased just about anywhere. 140# denotes the thickness of the paper, and this is the standard thickness of most watercolor papers. This paper will stand up to being erased and scrubbed. A full sheet of this paper measures 22 in. x 30 in. If you cut (or tear) this in half you will get a sheet that is 22x15 – referred to as a half sheet. Cut or tear that in half and you have a quarter sheet (11x15) and then cut or tear that in half and you have a 1/8 sheet (11x7.5). These are the standard sizes used by watercolorists.
To tear watercolor paper – fold in half, then flop the paper back on itself and re-fold on the crease you just made. Do this several times and the paper will have weakened to the point that you are able to tear it. This is how the “professionals” do it! But, if you don’t want to bother, fold it in half and then cut with scissors along the crease.

Below are some watercolor pencils you might look for, and I’m sure there are more on the market. As with any new medium, just buy a small set to see if you like this medium. Even if you don’t, you can still use these watercolor pencils to draw out your watercolor pictures. They also will come in handy if you have a l-i-t-t-l-e t-i-n-y space you need to fill in on a painting - so they won’t go to waste.

Top – Staedtler watercolor pencils – used for this painting
Next – Mongol – I’ve had these so long I don’t know where I got them or if they are even made any more
In the middle – Derwent solid pencils (no wood)
On the right – Cretacolor Aqua Monolith – also solid (no wood)
On the bottom – Caran d’Ache – solid. Sorry – the flash obliterated the name. They look more like a crayon than a pencil. I bought this set for about $15 years ago, don’t use them much. A set like this will set you back a bit; mine must have been on a clearance rack or something!