WaterColor Pencil on Suede: Step by Step
I’m not sure this really needs a step by step but there are a few things I’ve learned that may be useful to someone. I perhaps should have waited to do this on something other than a black horse. But here we are.
This painting is done a crescent matboard C7101 Perle.
Step 1: (Photo Left: Bottom of jaw) Color is lightly scribbled in DRY. If you press too hard you may mar the suede. You can apply color densely, just do it with minimal pressure.
Step 2: Apply water. (Photo Left: bulk of face) I’ve been using a Q-tip to do this, since it holds more water than a brush and yet no too much. Work quickly to allow for a smooth absorption so when it’s dry there will be no hard edges.
Remember Suede absorbs and pulls (wicks) moisture and color onto dry areas. So apply water to outline areas carefully.
Step 3: Wait until area is completely dry. (bottom right photo) Then you can begin working the area with either another layer of wash or the dry detail work. Since this is a black horse. I tried to keep my color mid-range so I could go lighter and darker with ease.
A Question
Something I’m considering doing for this painting is creating a covering for the background part. WC Pencil does dust some and will transfer. Again since this a dark horse I certainly don’t want it to dust onto my negative space, which will eventually become a soft blue/green background. I’m thinking some sort of low tack paper to create a mask to protect my negative space.
Has anyone ever done this? I’m thinking CP artists working on velour paper, but anyone who may have tried this or something else. (I pondered a workable fixative but I’m dubious)
I’d love to hear if anyone has created a barrier and if it was successful.
Tags: technique, watercolor pencils, WIP
This is really looking beautiful to me, Mona. Such wonderful drawing skills to create such a lovely, noble horse face.
I do not have any experience with this. But I have a CP book that talks about using the frisket paper to protect white space on regular paper when making a watercolor background. On forums, some people have not liked the effect of fixative on velour, but sorry, cannot remember why. I would be hesitant to use it on a velour, myself, though — so irreversible.
I will try to post to my blog later today. Camera still buried in unloaded car. Went to class for my possible new job yesterday and have been feeling ill ever since. Alot of sleeping going on here — on my studio day!
Thanks Angela, I’m heading to Hobby Lobby today to see what they have. I assumed there must be a product out there like that. When I did watercolor (long, long ago) I used a liquid frisket but was unaware of a paper version.
Hi Mona,
I am a pastel artist who uses Hahnemühle Premium Velour board for my paintings. I experimented with several way to protect the surface and keep the areas I’m not working on clean.I finally ended up using plain old contact paper. There was no residue even after the contact paper was in contact with the velour surface for several weeks. I do a full size sketch, which I use for client approval for size and overall direction and then I use a light table or a window to cutout the image. I then try to work from the top down, to keep pastel dust from contaminating other areas. Try it with the surface you are using. Don’t know if the liquid element of your medium would compromise the adhesive. Good luck hope this helps.
Thanks so much Carol. I had thought about contact paper because that frisket film is so expensive but was afraid of the adhesive. Either by leaving a residue or by pulling out the suede fibers. I will definitely give it a try though.