11.
02/11/2015
Cotman watercolour and white gouache.
I used the Mini Plus palette for this painting. Colours were fine, mixing space was fine. It's not as detailed as I'd like but for a quick sketch, I'm fairly happy with it.
12.
04/12/2015
Cotman watercolour and white gouache.
Note to self: next time, mask the jellyfish. Or don't bother with a background. One or the other. This was complete hell and I ended up just giving up trying to get it to look the way I wanted. I even have a masking fluid pen for fine details, it just never occurred to me to actually use it.
13.
16/01/2016
Winsor and Newton professional watercolour (with the tiniest amount of white gouache).
Again, didn't think I'd need to mask so I had a bit of fun with the blue leaking into everything. Was unintentional to do two paintings one after the other with a blue background and dominant red subject. This was actually an abandoned professional paints test that I decided to finish up while waiting for number 15 to dry. Professional paints are a whole new world compared to the Cotman range when it comes to mixing colours, so I'm going to need a lot of practice before I'm comfortable using them.
14.
17/01/2016
Schmincke Horadam watercolours, Copic Multiliner SP, white gouache and white gel pen.
The latter two materials are purely to correct my monumental inking fuck-up, so while the water container does have a brass-coloured lid, it's never going to have one in this sketch. It was only a quick sketch but most of it was a salvage operation. I really like pen and watercolour though and it's definitely something I want to work on improving. This is the first time I've tried it and I don't even care that it's super wonky, I still like it! Also yes, I have Schmincke paints now. So far I like them more than Winsor and Newton's professional range.
15.
19/01/2016
Winsor and Newton professional watercolour and white gouache.
Another eye. I really struggled with the professional pigments on this painting. I just could not get the colours the way I wanted them. In the end I quit messing with the skin before I made it into a bigger disaster and then finished up the rest of it. I know I could probably mix some gouache in to try and salvage it, but at this point I'd rather just leave it. It's better than the last eye painting I did for ACEO 5 and I didn't use a reference this time. It's nice to be able to see improvement as I keep doing these, even though I know I can still do better. Practice practice practice!