Watercolour experiment

[hrymfaxe]

I saw a fun demo the other day for doing negative painting with watercolours (negative as in painting around what is actually the main focus of interest, thus bringing it forward) - the demo was done with geometric figures, but I thought it would be fun to do with people, or more precisely, leaping men! At the very least partly inspired by a desire to do a drawing/painting of the dance of the deer as used by heartofoshun in one of her stories at one point, I did this:



It is not quite where I would like it to be - I want darker colours (but that at least is the right way to go with watercolours: from light to dark. It would be worse if it was the other way around), but I do like it all the same, and I wanted to share this with you before I'm off to a family birthday, in a few hours.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend! Besides this birthday, I have nothing planned at all, which is very exciting!

Comments

[whitewave16.livejournal.com]

This looks eye-catching, looks very "dynamic"--like you captured them mid-pose. How did you prevent the color from "spilling" into the dancers' space?

Doing well so far this weekend, I've done all my laundry and just need to buy some stuff tomorrow. My lazy muses are just lounging around the house though.

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Thanks! The first layer of colour is put down without regard for the figures but otherwise I prevent the colour from going where I don't want it by "painting" with water around the figures - the paint will follow the water and not run any further.

I have also done laundry, but there is still more *le sigh*. There is just no space for it to dry right now... The muses are whispering in my ear at this very moment, so I better go do something about it or the voice-level might rise.. Heh!

[duck-or-rabbit.livejournal.com]

I could look at your icon all day.

Hilarious!

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

The easiest explanation of many events in the Silmarillion is: They want shiny! LOL

[whitewave16.livejournal.com]

Hehehe...I actually look at it all day at work too.

[lissas-elves.livejournal.com]

They look really good, hrymfaxe. The figures are vibrant, full of life.

I'd like to see more of these. :-)

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Thank you Lissa! I found it very relaxing to do these, and it was also very nice to do something that isn't fandom-related for once. It's been a very long time since I did that last.

I don't think this is the last one I'll do, so there may be more.

[vladazhael.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's gorgeous! I'd say the experiment was successful.

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm quite happy with how it turned out too.

[morethmusing.livejournal.com]

That looks really interesting. And I like the colours.

Thanks for sharing :D

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

I thought it was a fun effect - and the colours are mixing well.

Thank you for looking!

[mrstater.livejournal.com]

Oh, I really like the painting! That could be a very cool style to try some R/T art in sometime. ;)

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! You never know what this technique may lead to.

[lethe-lloyd.livejournal.com]

I do love that, it's full of life and flowing movement and wildness! I can see it being based on oshuns fic of the dance s;-)

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was especially pleased with the dynamic composition, so I'm pleased you picked up on that.

There is just something about young strong men leaping around like that...

[lethe-lloyd.livejournal.com]

There is just something about young strong men leaping around like that...

Lol, really :D

[rhapsody11.livejournal.com]

It is very dynamic, Olympic worthy! Hmmm and loving it!

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

LOL yes, Olympic worthy! I should get London to hire me for drawing them some posters for 2012... Thank you, I'm happy you like it.

[duck-or-rabbit.livejournal.com]

You once again surprised me with your ability! This is soft and hypnotic but the outlines (I guess they are negative silhouetes?) are strong and obviously leaping men. Their anatomy looks very real, and one detail I think is interesting is that the two leapers at the top of the page have a shared leg in which the bent inward legs look as if it's one long leg with two feet. This forces me to look closely to sort out the figures, and you know I like that! (Think MC Escher at the museum with the overgroomed trees.)

Another affect I'm struck by is that the ink markings have form themselves. Perhaps you haven't intended for them to resembled figures but it adds a consistency to the entire piece that is very satisfying.

I'll shut up now.

Good work. *nods*

Edit: Primary shaped trees:

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Oh LOL - look how fascinated I am with the barrel holding that tree! Thanks for posting this - what a nice day that was.

And thank you so much for your comment! I'm really happy you find the painting interesting, and also that the anatomy looks real. For some reason I found it much easier to draw men leaping around like this, than many stationary pose I have tried to pull off. Aside from the figures there is no planning whatsoever in this painting which is also why it was so very relaxing to do.

Thank you again! ((hugs))

[javidan.livejournal.com]

This is great!
I'm impressed with the placement you've used and the colors---there's such a nice balance.

Do you consciously start out with the idea that "there will be blue here, and red here, and the figures will curve this way..." or do you just start and see where it ends up? I confess that I have little patience for any "planning" stage, lol.

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm really happy you think the composition is working!

I was looking at images of ballet-dancers and those divers in the Olympic doing athletic jumps into the swimming pool, and I picked some poses I liked and did the two large one first and then chose two others that fitted on either side..

As for the colours, I started out doing very faint washes, and then picked out the silhouettes of the foreground figures and then the background. There was no planning except for trying to have an equal amount of all colours, and to mix them, for creating even more colours. I'm really bad at planning as well, which was why this technique appealed to me. But i guess that if I want to do more watercolour I'm going to have to learn to plan...

[javidan.livejournal.com]

if I want to do more watercolour I'm going to have to learn to plan

That is a downside to this medium, isn't it? My problem is that I'm way too timid to use dark shades---I'll put a wash down and think, "Ack! It's too dark---water it down!" The whole painting ends up looking way too pastel.

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I have this problem too, which is also why working like this might be able to help me be more bold. I really do love the look of watercolours, but I'm so used to the erasability of graphite that I'm frustated by the prmanence of colour. Must lern.

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

What an interesting and beautiful effect! The images do look very sharp, like they are leaping off the page -- maybe it's the outlining that contributes to that perception? I also love the way the figures are sort of overlapping. And the combination of colors you've chosen is really nice, too. It makes me think of blue sky on an autumn day.

Hope the family birthday is nice -- and that you enjoy the unplanned weekend. Those are great. :)

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I'm really glad you like it - the outlining is something I love too, and silhouttes! I'm also pleased that you noticed the overlapping bit. I wasn't sure if it was clear for anyone but me... The colours are the ones recommended in the demo, but I agree that they are well suited for this time of year.

The birthday was very nice, good company, good food, what more is there to ask for? And now I'll relax for the rest of the weekend. Yay!

Btw, I read your fic on Meta, and I really liked it! I will try to get around to review, but I'm always completely overwhelmed by the amount of fic there...

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks! And please don't worry about writing a review -- it really is overwhelming when so much fic goes up at once.

[train-lindz.livejournal.com]

It's very pretty! I can totally see myself putting something like that up on my wall :)

Beautiful!

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Wow thank you! That is a great compliment! (I actually think I might put this up in my livingroom - I just need a frame...)

Thank you!

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

OMG! I love it. Did you ever study dance? You have the moves down. (Can I borrow it? Full credit, of course--not that it would be that much publicity. I have to finish the next chapter of that story or I will lose any potential readers.)

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Oh! Of course you can use it if you like! I still plan to do something that is more fantasy-style for the Dance of the Deer, but I'm really happy you think this is already usable for the story. And I look forward to seeing more of that story too.

I never studied dance, but I do love how dancers move and I looked at a lot of awesome photos to draw these silhouettes - I'm glad they ring true. Thank you so much for stopping by!

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

The leaps are perfect! Deer horns would be icing on the cake. If you ever do that let me know. Meanwhile, I would so love to use it. Link to your LJ?

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Deer horns are indeed the missing link! I had trouble getting them right for this, so I left them out..

Link to lj is just fine, thanks!

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Squee! Squee! Squee! (I am a very visual person--even though I don't do artwork. Someday I will try harder. I have a couple of things I've done, but nothing fantasy-based.)

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

((hugs you)) I can tell that you are a visual person from your descriptions in your stories! There are so many scenes that just appear in front of my eyes when I read your words, for example Nelyo and Fingon leaning against a railing, linking their little fingers discreetly, at Fingolfin's party. And the Dance of the Deer!

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you!

[sspring92.livejournal.com]

I'm always in Awe of anyone with artistic talent! I absolutely love the colors! I wish I had something deep and meaningful to say, but my art history classes were a long time ago! I'll just leave it at "ooh, pretty!"

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

"Ooh, pretty!" is plenty enough to make me happy! It is certainly not necessary with a whole dissertation on composition and colour-choice. If it works, it works - and I'm really happy you like it! Thanks for looking

[philotic-net.livejournal.com]

That is very beautiful! It makes me think of the Olympics, probably all the primary colors and the movement. Really, gorgeous work.

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

You are the second to think of the Olympics. And you are probably right about the colours - and also the two poses that are more in the bckground are 10 m diver-poses!

Thank you so much for looking and leaving such a wonderful comment.