The step 14 made me burst into laughter! Such a familiar feeling that I literally FELT it. Thank you for sharing your process, it was such a pleasure to read it through. I'm also illustrating a picture book in watercolours & coloured pencils at the moment - the feeling of the drawing being a disaster until the very last step when it all finally comes together... is simply inevitable.
It's SO TRUE ugh i'm so happy you also feel that too!! It really is inevitable like you said!! Watercolors and color pencils are so fun but damn is it also frustrating to deal with. Since switching over to gouache I am feeling a lot more relaxed and not as stressed anymore haha I can see why many people I've talked to tend to shy away from watercolors! Kudos to you for painting a book with it
What frustrates me the most is when I try to add just one more layer on top of a pile of others in hope to give the colour an extra POP and the layers underneath start moving. Ohhh, the urge to tear the whole paper apart!
I'm still unsure about gouache - the way it darkens on paper once dry is what worries me the most. Or am I doing something wrong?
Ah i feel you on that! What kind of paper are you using? I find the paper quality as well as paint quality will really affect whether or not it will lift. It also helps to use a really soft brush for the 2nd layer so it doesn't lift!
Gouache does darken once dry and it definitely throws me off a lot! I still forget that it happens sometimes but once you get used to it you can kind of adjust the darks and lights once you know how much it will darken. Although I will admit it's still a surprise to me sometimes.
I'm using cold-pressed (although very smooth) 360gsm paper. I thought buying heavy paper will solve all the issues (colour lifting, wrinkling etc.) but it's not that simple. When I tested it out, it seemed good but now that I'm painting larger areas it's weird, haha! I'm also accusing the watercolours because not all of them behave the same. Do you have any recommendations on paper, though?
Gouache then requires lots of practice & patience! I will be more persistent 💪🏻
Oooh okay! There's also a possibility that you may be using too much water on your later washes which is why the color is lifting. There does seem to be a certain limit of layers watercolor can take I feel like before it does start to lift regardless. But when you get to later layers, it might help to dab your brush a bit in some paper towels to remove some excess water so it can't bring up the layers of paint underneath. When I'm painting I usually do max 3 layers of paint because I find that it does get muddier the more you paint it. It's better to be sure of the color you're putting down and making sure it's a bright one rather than building it up in my opinion. I usually start out painting very wet for the first layer and then the 2nd layer I have a much more concentrated color. My old professor used to say that the paint is called "watercolor" but it doesn't mean that you have to douse it in water. It's named the same way as oil paint which just means that it's water soluble. If you're having trouble with the paint coming out too watery, it also helps to pre-wet your palette. I have a spray bottle that I spray my colors with before I start painting so that it softens the paint beforehand and I don't have to use as much water. Also if you want a really vibrant color, you may need to paint straight from a tube, that's when the paint is most vibrant! As I said earlier, paint quality also does affect it, if your pan of dried up watercolor paint feels really grainy and chalky, it may make it much harder to lay down washes without it lifting. The higher pigment and less filler there is, the more it stains the paper in a way and is harder to lift. I like using Holbein or artist grade windsor newton paints.
For the paper wrinkling, I actually have a really easy hack that helps my paper not wrinkle! I usually use 300gsm paper but I've even painted really wet watercolors on 185gsm paper without too much wrinkling. Before I even start painting, I tape down my entire piece of dry paper to my drawing board. I paint the entire painting with it taped down really securely. As long as the tape doesn't lift, your paper will turn out flat. I find that this acts as a way to "stretching" the watercolor paper as you paint rather than "pre-stretching" it which always seemed like a hassle. The paper may wrinkle while you are painting, but as long as the tape holds and the paper has a chance to dry COMPLETELY while still taped down, it should dry flat because the tape will hold the paper down while it's drying so it will eventually dry back flat.
For paper recommendations, I do think arches is the best out of everything I've used. I did use fabriano for this book as well as a lot of my other books because it was cheaper than arches but i find that the sizing is not as even so the paint doesn't absorb as evenly.
I hope this helps in some way! Sorry if it's a lot, I just like talking about watercolor haha!
Thank you Amy! I do have a favorite but unfortunately I bought it at a specialty calligraphy brush store in Taiwan so I can't provide much information on it! I personally would recommend a brush that isn't as long, I personally like ones that are a bit stouter and thicker that tapers into a thin tip.
The step 14 made me burst into laughter! Such a familiar feeling that I literally FELT it. Thank you for sharing your process, it was such a pleasure to read it through. I'm also illustrating a picture book in watercolours & coloured pencils at the moment - the feeling of the drawing being a disaster until the very last step when it all finally comes together... is simply inevitable.
It's SO TRUE ugh i'm so happy you also feel that too!! It really is inevitable like you said!! Watercolors and color pencils are so fun but damn is it also frustrating to deal with. Since switching over to gouache I am feeling a lot more relaxed and not as stressed anymore haha I can see why many people I've talked to tend to shy away from watercolors! Kudos to you for painting a book with it
What frustrates me the most is when I try to add just one more layer on top of a pile of others in hope to give the colour an extra POP and the layers underneath start moving. Ohhh, the urge to tear the whole paper apart!
I'm still unsure about gouache - the way it darkens on paper once dry is what worries me the most. Or am I doing something wrong?
Ah i feel you on that! What kind of paper are you using? I find the paper quality as well as paint quality will really affect whether or not it will lift. It also helps to use a really soft brush for the 2nd layer so it doesn't lift!
Gouache does darken once dry and it definitely throws me off a lot! I still forget that it happens sometimes but once you get used to it you can kind of adjust the darks and lights once you know how much it will darken. Although I will admit it's still a surprise to me sometimes.
I'm using cold-pressed (although very smooth) 360gsm paper. I thought buying heavy paper will solve all the issues (colour lifting, wrinkling etc.) but it's not that simple. When I tested it out, it seemed good but now that I'm painting larger areas it's weird, haha! I'm also accusing the watercolours because not all of them behave the same. Do you have any recommendations on paper, though?
Gouache then requires lots of practice & patience! I will be more persistent 💪🏻
Oooh okay! There's also a possibility that you may be using too much water on your later washes which is why the color is lifting. There does seem to be a certain limit of layers watercolor can take I feel like before it does start to lift regardless. But when you get to later layers, it might help to dab your brush a bit in some paper towels to remove some excess water so it can't bring up the layers of paint underneath. When I'm painting I usually do max 3 layers of paint because I find that it does get muddier the more you paint it. It's better to be sure of the color you're putting down and making sure it's a bright one rather than building it up in my opinion. I usually start out painting very wet for the first layer and then the 2nd layer I have a much more concentrated color. My old professor used to say that the paint is called "watercolor" but it doesn't mean that you have to douse it in water. It's named the same way as oil paint which just means that it's water soluble. If you're having trouble with the paint coming out too watery, it also helps to pre-wet your palette. I have a spray bottle that I spray my colors with before I start painting so that it softens the paint beforehand and I don't have to use as much water. Also if you want a really vibrant color, you may need to paint straight from a tube, that's when the paint is most vibrant! As I said earlier, paint quality also does affect it, if your pan of dried up watercolor paint feels really grainy and chalky, it may make it much harder to lay down washes without it lifting. The higher pigment and less filler there is, the more it stains the paper in a way and is harder to lift. I like using Holbein or artist grade windsor newton paints.
For the paper wrinkling, I actually have a really easy hack that helps my paper not wrinkle! I usually use 300gsm paper but I've even painted really wet watercolors on 185gsm paper without too much wrinkling. Before I even start painting, I tape down my entire piece of dry paper to my drawing board. I paint the entire painting with it taped down really securely. As long as the tape doesn't lift, your paper will turn out flat. I find that this acts as a way to "stretching" the watercolor paper as you paint rather than "pre-stretching" it which always seemed like a hassle. The paper may wrinkle while you are painting, but as long as the tape holds and the paper has a chance to dry COMPLETELY while still taped down, it should dry flat because the tape will hold the paper down while it's drying so it will eventually dry back flat.
For paper recommendations, I do think arches is the best out of everything I've used. I did use fabriano for this book as well as a lot of my other books because it was cheaper than arches but i find that the sizing is not as even so the paint doesn't absorb as evenly.
I hope this helps in some way! Sorry if it's a lot, I just like talking about watercolor haha!
Wow x 1000! This is so brilliant! Thanks for the sharing the workflow. It was fascinating!
Thank you!! I'm glad you enjoyed it!!!
Such a great post - thank you for sharing your amazing process - and the end was result was brilliant.
Thank you!
This was so lovely to watch and read and feels so real! Thankyou for sharing the entire process :)
Of course! I'm so happy you enjoyed it :)
That was a fun read, thanks for sharing all these details about the process!
Thanks Erik!
MUCH respect! It’s wonderful. Thanks for sharing the process. Do you have a favorite Chinese calligraphy brush you use?
Thank you Amy! I do have a favorite but unfortunately I bought it at a specialty calligraphy brush store in Taiwan so I can't provide much information on it! I personally would recommend a brush that isn't as long, I personally like ones that are a bit stouter and thicker that tapers into a thin tip.
Thank you! My daughter lived in Taiwan for a year and regrets not bringing back all the pens and brushes and notebooks…ah well.
I get that! Every time I go back home to visit I buy way too many things