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STEP BY STEP EXERCISES
6 : Venice Grand Canal
VENICE GRAND CANAL
The Rialto Fish Market
SECTION 3
Right Hand side Buildings
Gondolier
and Water
FIRST OF ALL LET US HAVE A THINK ABOUT HOW WE HAVE BEEN WORKING
AND OTHER APPROACHES WE MIGHT TAKE TO COMPLETING THE PICTURE
Apart from the techniques for the sky, we have been working stage by stage, building up colour from the white paper by putting down dry
watercolour pencil pigment and then applying water in very modest amounts. After this more dry colour has been added to develop depth
of colour and add details. This builds colour on a foundation of tinted paper, and enables us to work more speedily than we could with just
wax type pencils alone.
Most pencil pigments are of the transparent type and opaque pigments are rare. This is because coloured pencil work relies on building
depth of exact colour through layering and if we were to use opaque pigments we would lose that layering ability. Additional layers of colour
would simply cover and hide the layers below, rather than adding to and adjusting the colour seen.
Most pencil pigments, therefore, use equivalents for the natural earth colours to retain transparency. If we were using traditional
watercolours, the tubes would have lables on them which might well indicate the transparency but pencils do not. In many cases the colours
are derived not from natural sources, but from chemical ones which in watercolours have a tendency to stain.
This is not a great worry to us unless we are trying to remove incorrectly applied colour.
You will recall that we talk of a foundation colour in the notes above.
The foundation colour is the base which further layers of colour adjust.
In the work to date, we have used a foundation colour broadly similar to the colour we are aiming for, and this is a suitable way of working
when we require bright and light colours to be seen.
There are alternative approaches and we will now look at one or two of them.
When we are in need of darker and less vibrant tones and colours, it would be a waste of time carefully laying down a colourful base - which
will then get mostly cancelled out by layers above.
We can use a process known as Grisaille ( applying a grey or similar foundation on which later layers will build colour )
or we can work with complementary colours that will naturally darken ( using colours from opposite sides of the colour wheel ).
In our case, we can work Grisaille by laying down a series of thin layers of a grey foundation so that we produce the effect of a grey and white
photo. The darkest areas in the picture will have the most pigment and the lightest have little or none. We can then work our colours of
choice over the top. I think this will be a good way of approaching the next phase of this exercise as the facing buildings are all in relative
shadow compared with the market building. The exception will be the moored boats that are on the far right of the picture and closest to us,
which are in sunlight.
Using complementary colours relies on the darkening effect of ( for example) layering green over red (opposites on the colour wheel),
or red over green ( not so effective, as green is usually a much weaker colour than red and a strong red on top tends to kill everything below.
Remember when you tried to get a pale colour by mixing two colours of paint together and you found that you finished up with a bucketful
before you hit the right mixture?
This could be because you tried applying a weaker strength colour to a stronger one.
Red and blue tend to be strong, anything with yellow in it is much weaker ( yellows and greens ). In these cases you need to test out your
actual colour choices to determine the best running order to get the result you need. Every brand will have different pigment levels and
mixing effects.
We will see this with the picture I will be working. It is no use me saying that you need to use a particular colour followed by a specific
second colour, as most of you will have different brands on different papers and will be applying colours with different degrees of firmness to
the paper. You may well also use different amounts of water when damping down or working colours. It is just a case of understanding the
method and discovering your own best options for colours.
The aim of this note has been to alert you to the fact that we will now take a slight change of direction and use the opportunity of the
shadowed buildings to develop another range of watercolour pencil techniques - working with darks.
The shadowed buildings on the Right hand side
As noted above, I am using the Steadtler version for this section
( A pen and wash version ) and you will remember that we have the
smaller box of 36 colours here. The decision has been taken ( by me )
to work this with a grisaille method to get the benefit of deeper
shadows with colour. In this case we are working the reverse way to
the earlier stages, and working with greys first rather than colour
followed by darker tones. This lays down a tonal picture in shades of
grey which we later add colour to. The colour being on the top, it
retains the colour even though the area of the picture is dark.
I have just two grey pencils at my disposal from this box. A darker
grey which has a purple cast ( a sort of Paynes Grey ), and a lighter
grey which is much warmer with a slight brown cast. The darker grey
is grey 8 and the lighter on is grey 80 if you are using the larger
Staedtler set. If you are working with another brand and/or have a
bigger choice than me, feel free to use whatever greys you wish, but
reserve the colder and darker ones for the areas which are darkest.
This image on the left is of the Steadtler picture - so far.
AT THIS POINT, I MUST APOLOGISE.
This section of the Derwent version of this tutorial was completed away from home without the benefit of the photo reference and I have not a full
description of the method used with the Derwent watercolour pencils, or stage photos . I do have a full description of the method with the
Staedtler Karat pencils so I am including that one to give you as full a set of notes as possible. Remember that the Steadtler range is of only 36
colours and not the 72 of the Derwent range.
The full Steadtler set of watercolour pencils extends to 60
The first grey tones added in
dry pencil
It is worth remembering that
GREY is usually a blend of two
colours - blue and brown.
This gives us the ability to
have cold and warm greys.
Here I have washed in the colour to
get a first even coat on the grained
paper surface. You may need to have
your brush a little wetter than
previously, but don’t get it too wet !
The second building has dry pencil
colour still. I have not added any grey
to the second building’s walls as these
are quite light in contrast the the
others
One problem with taking photos of stages, is that
the sunlight levels keep changing. This image is
more correct to the actual.
I have now completed the first layer of the grey
foundation and washed it in. You can see the
effect of warm and cold greys. The colder ones
have more blue and the warmer ones more
brown.
You can now begin to see how the whole
balance of the picture is changing with
the darker tones arriving on the right
hand side.
This will become even more noticeable as
the walls become darker. There is a
temptation to go even darker with the
greys at the beginning, but remember it
is easier to add more colour later than to
have to take it away.
And this image shows the effect of a second layer of
the dark grey being added and washed in. I have
not added a second coat to the area which will be
green on the far right, or to the first building… the
second coat is entirely of the dark purplish grey. I
think this may be enough so the next step will be to
start adding some colour.
I do not know at this point if I will be washing this
next stage of dry colour into the paper…. but I
doubt it, as I want to retain some of the paper grain
effect and some of the foundation showing through.
I do notice that those facing windows on the light
coloured building are not straight and will need
some correction when I come in with the dry
pencils.
I will explain the working of the area of green in
more detail when we get to it, as it is the only
opportunity in this picture to work foliage, and that
does work particularly well with watercolour pencils
So let us see what happens when we start to add colour. At the moment the
added colour is all dry. The first layer is a mid brown - called by Staedtler
‘Fawn’ but I don’t think it is fawn really ! ( No 49 from the 36 set ). This is the
colour you see in the first layer and visible on the right hand side of the
building.
Next I have added a further layer of Golden Ochre ( No 16 ) which adds a
stronger and deeper gold. That is the colour you see from two layers just left of
the building centre
Finally I have added Burnt Sienna (73) to the far left edge of the building.
I have been unable to resist adding a touch of the dark grey under the balcony
and also some black to the post in the water and to the two windows.
I completed the mooring post because I wanted to make sure I left that sliver of
white on the right hand side of the post when I did the rest of the building.
The grained surface of the paper means that the pigment is picked up from the
pencils and sits on the raised portions of the surface leaving the valleys of the
surface much lighter and the effect is really too pronounced.
Let me complete the building front and you will see what I mean.
I am adding a small number of other colours as I go, to get the final result you
see below on the left hand side ( marked ‘Dry’ )
I then add water very carefully using vertical strokes and blending the colours I
have laid down, without smoothing them out completely. The result of that is
on the right, below ( marked ‘wet’ )
DRY
WET
By using the damp brush carefully, I can smooth out the colour without totally losing that grained effect.
Once again, I show below the current overall view.
We need to keep standing back and looking at both the picture and our reference to see that the tones and contrasts are not totally out
of line.
At the moment, I think the building just completed is too strong and the red building behind it to the left might have to be darkened, but
I will leave that for the moment until I see the effect of adding further colour across the rest of that line of facing buildings.
One thing I should point out is how well the burnt sienna has gone over the dark grey on the adjoining roof
Various interruptions have meant that I have not always been in a position to take photos as work in progress here, and the image above
shows the Staedtler pen and wash version as at the end of February 2017. Let me go through the various changes and explain what has
been going on.
Completion of the buildings across the back of the picture are pretty straight forward. I will show a close up of the building line below.
I have put in the posts, although that was not an entirely sensible move as it would be better to do the water first and then add the dark
posts afterwards otherwise the brown and black will be in danger of spreading sideways when they have water added and worked. I have
put in a foundation of grey/green on the water whilst missing the area of light reflection in the centre.
The foliage to the right has been worked with a selection of greens and browns and then a very small brush worked in a circular motion to
pick up and leave darker and lighter areas in a random way. See detailed photo below.
The water will be worked later as the problem here is that small Steadtler set of 36 colours does not give me a lot of choice of pale greens
and greys so I prefer to experiment first with the larger sets of colours in the other versions and come back to the big challenge later !
A more detailed look at the buildings.
Try to keep the widows vertical
( yes, I know the buildings in Venice are rarely vertical and the
windows even less so, but it is good to show them fairly vertical in
a picture )
I have shadowed under the pier which makes the walkway more
three dimensional.
The moored boats at the back have darker areas of shadow at the
waterline.
I have kept that seagull standing on the post as white and hope to
make it stand out more later.
There is a closer image of the tree foliage below.
Those Trees
You need a selection of greens and either grey or
brown for the darker area of shadow. Put down
squiggles or circles of colour overlapping and when
you have a reasonable coverage of dry pigment work
the colour with a small brush in either a dabbing or a
circular motion. This will leave small areas of darker
and lighter colour all over the tree area and the brush
will merge and blend the colours so that your
selection of 4 or 5 original shades will become many.
Work from top to bottom to move your pigment
downwards and give lighter areas at the top and
darker areas underneath
LETS US NOW GO BACK TO THE DERWENT VERSION
Which I don’t think was nearly as successful at this
point.
Remember I didn’t have the photo reference so
some colours will differ from the version with the
Staedtler pencils.
Also, the Derwent pencils are a lot softer to the
touch than the Staedtler so the working point
tends to be bigger unless you keep re-sharpening
to keep a fine point. This means that fine detail is
not so easy. We can correct some of this when we
go on to work the final dry layers.
My notes for the Derwent version now move on to the water area and the Gondola.
For the gondola, I have used a Gunmetal Grey with some black added for the darkest areas ( waterline and top edge ). I have
also introduced the same bright green used in the right hand bushes, which provides a colour link across the picture. I have
selected a darker red for the right hand boat and matched it to a Delft Blue to keep the colour tones less strident on the
extreme edge of the picture. I may have to darken them again, but we will see. Putting in the dry colour for the posts before
the brush stage is not a good idea as it is easier to work the water and then put the posts in afterwards and get a good clean
edge to them. Alas! I have done it now !
For the water, I have selected a range of very suitable pastel colours from the Derwent set.
And I show here a
close up of the water
area with the first layer
of dry colour laid down
As you will see, there is no firm plan at this stage, merely a selection of colours…. but carefully avoiding the area of reflected
highlight in the water in the centre area of the picture. This ( below ) is the overall view of the picture with the dry colour in place
for the water and foundaton of the Gondola
I suppose the water is the most daunting part of the whole enterprise and there is an even chance that it won’t go as
intended - it rarely does when adding water to pencil is involved ! I have worked through the background buildings with a
small brush to smooth down the dry pencil leaving the bottom of the mooring posts and the two boats on the right to finish
off at the end.
Firstly I have laid down several layers of those 6 pastel coloured pencils shown above. There is a fair amount of white in the
mixtures as will become more apparent when we get round to applying the brush.
I have deliberately left the bottom of the posts and the gondola at the moment as I will need to do these after the water is
completed to avoid smearing dark colour over light. The dry pigment is quick thick but will quickly bed in when we add water
with the brush. I am keeping a pad of kitchen roll available as I will want to lift out some areas where the colour is too strong.
I am also using a bristle brush as can be seen below in the photo.
Keeping the brush fairly dry ( but wet enough to dissolve the dry colour ), I have blended the colours of the water area
using horizontal strokes. I have also picked out some areas with a paper pad - again keeping movements horizontal.
Once the paper has dried from this step, I will be able to add more of the 6 colours, but being more precise where I put
them.
I want to keep the water darker nearer the viewer so that there is a balance for the strongly coloured buildings. As a
matter of good practice, It is always a good plan to build in a foundation of shadow or darker tones at the bottom of the
picture to form a good base for the scene to ‘sit’ on.
Once the paper has dried off, I can go back and add a further series of horizontal lines with a selection of my pastel colours,
keeping the lines so that they start to show the swirling water and the shadows of the small waves in the water.
I then apply a small flat damp brush and work those
little waves - again horizontally. I have taken the
opportunity to put more shadow below the right
hand boats and also brush in the bottoms of the
mooring posts and drag some of the dark brown into
the water as reflections. There is now a little Smalt
blue and Cedar green in the water colours to add a
little more strength. These are darker tones of the
colours previously used. I will now work the same
treatment on the left hand side and review how
much darker I want the colours to go. An advantage
of the watercolour pencils over traditional
watercolour is the ability to use a wide range of
separate but toning colours and being selective over
how they are mixed on the paper.
Now I have more dry colour down on both areas of water and I have added some black to the gondola and I have
added colour to the Gondolier. Next step is to add water to this in short horizontal strokes so that the colours do not
merge too much.
The dark brown colour marking the edge of the quay in front of the open market area and along in front of the Fish
Market building will be dragged down into the water with a barely damp brush to show the reflected shadow.
You will see I have added green (Cedar Green) to the shadowed water below the gondola and the right hand boats.
There is still some detail to be added after I have resolved the water area - the Gondolier’s pole and the heads of the
passengers as well as the red back of their seat. I guess I will have a fair bit of fiddling to do, but let us see what
brushing in water brings to the picture for the last time
First a quick look at where I have used a clean wet brush to
soften the colour in areas of water and then lift out
immediately with a piece of clean kitchen roll. This has given
me light points in the water to indicate where the sky is
reflected in the ripples
So we now have the bulk of the picture complete.
Later on today, I will sharpen up some pencils to a good point and go round adding bits of detail and finishing off areas
like the Gondola and Gondolier and also some detail on the right hand side boats.
I have called this ‘ Possibly the final version’ of the Derwent picture.
Additions in dry pencil are around the Gondola, The edges of the red blinds on the Fish Market, The front of the facing
buildings, the foliage on the right ( added shadow ) and the right hand boats. You can always find something to fiddle
with, but when working on such a rough surfaced paper there are limits to how much accuracy you can achieve.
I think I did what I set out to do, namely see how watercolour pencil could be used on a cold pressed paper (unstretched)
to get a reasonable image down. When you compare the three versions I completed with different papers and different
brands of pencils, , it is surprising how well the limited range of colours from the 36 Steadtler box stand up against the full
range of colours from Derwent and Faber Castell. It just shows that with watercolour pencils, colours ‘in between’ can be
easily mixed on the paper..
You might like to reminded of the finished versions of the other two pictures ( shown below )
Thanks for following the exercise.
DERWENT VERSION
72 colours available
Cold pressed paper
Clairfontaine Etival 300 gsm
Finished size 16ins x 10ins
Drawn in pencil & colour added
FABER CASTELL VERSION
120 colours available
Cold pressed paper
Clairfontaine Etival 300 gsm
Finished size 16 ins x 10ins
Drawn in pencil & colour added
STEADTLER VERSION
36 colours available
Cold pressed paper
Clairfontaine Etival 300 gsm
Finished size 20ins x 11 ins
Drawn in Pen and colour added
