Line and Wash (again)

It's been a while, so I don't mind reminding you about something. I don't get colour. It's one of the things which really frustrates me. It's not like monochrome. I get monochrome, which may well be why I like sketching so much. I'm not trying to brag, but when I make an ink, or pencil drawing, or a monochrome painting even, it usually turns out pretty much how I intended it to. As I said, I'm no genius, no expert, no professional, but I largely know how to get close to what I want in a sketch. Not so painting.

I haven't done an acrylic painting for a year, but I'd say that I have improved over the years. Compare this, my first ever acrylic painting made in 2015:-

with this, one of three Acrylic paintings made in 2021:-

I'm still very much a work in progress with acrylic, but I think it's not unreasonable to say I'm getting better. Sadly the Afan Nedd Artist's group has folded , and that's where I made the majority of my acrylics. 

With watercolour it is a different story. I don't seem to get any better. And the fact is I would really, really love to be able to produce line and wash - ink and watercolour - sketches to be proud of. I recently bought a book, "Line and Wash" Painting by Liz Chaderton. You can find it on Amazon if you click the link

Line and Wash Painting by Liz Chaderton

Using the good advice in the book, I'm trying to overhaul what passes for my technique, and start all over again.

My results have been mixed. First there was this picture of Covent Garden Tube station

It's okay. . . but, well it just doesn't look the way I wanted it to look. I had another go with Southgate Tube station this time:-

Now, I'm sure you can see part of the problem I had with this one. I used a fineliner with soluble ink. It's not a disaster, but not to be recommended. Whereas I thought the Covent Garden sketch was too busy, and could have been more simplified, I felt this one is better on that score, but the colours, with the exception of the sky, are washed out. To some extent you can blame my scanner, which hates blues, hence the grey shadow beneath the apron which is more purpley-blue on the original. I applied a lot of ink again once it was dry, and  I think this is a bit overdone. 

So this morning I made this picture of a narrow steep street in Malta. I began with a far more minimalist ink sketch than I'd normally start with:-

That was one lesson that I wanted to put into practice. Another was not to worry too much about trying to paint in details, but to paint in moods. I started with light areas, and remembered to allow them to dry before adding darker areas. Here's the finished picture

Valletta

It's better. It's not as good as I want to paint, but I think it might just be a step in the right direction. I think the combination of colours on the steps where it's in shadow work nicely. I think on a similar painting in future I could go even stronger on the contrast between lights and darks. To be fair, the scanner didn't pick out the blue of the sky quite as blue as it is. 

The next thing will be to be able to apply these tips on a scene where it's not all or mostly warm colours like this.