Very First Painting - stuck on rocks
This is my very first go at painting a miniature painting and using the rendering techniques I just learnt in Vaishali's class.
It would be great to ask some questions I have and get some feedback on techniques too, so I can make amendments where necessary and improve!
1) For my first go at rendering, I started with some clouds (first picture above) using the dry brush technique. I am happy that a gradient is starting to appear, however I am concerned that the strokes might look a bit "hairy" (this is best word I can think of to describe it!). I am wondering if I just haven't done quite enough brushstrokes to get a smooth effect, or if the brush itself may be the issue ? I am using a 000 synthetic watercolour brush from Rosemary and Co.
2) For my colour fill on my copy of Seemorgh and Zaal, I am wondering if I have gone too dark/opaque for the midtones? I am also questioning how I get those beautiful transitions between colours within a rock? e.g. a transition from malachite to deep violet? With the colour fill method I felt I needed to block off colours rather than transition them wet-in-wet as I would with traditional watercolour painting, but then I am not sure how the rendering will be dark enough to create a transition over the top? 🤔
3) When rendering over the white clouds, I found the dry brushing technique to be working quite well, but rendering over the coloured rocks was a lot harder as the colour fill seemed to re-activate a lot quicker and I was getting a lot of holes. I found that I was having to dab on the colour rather than stroke it on, otherwise the colour fill was coming off. Also my rendering seems to be a lot more "streaky" on the rocks. I didn't burnish the clouds before rendering them, but I did burnish the colour fill so it was super smooth, I wonder if this makes a difference? I am doing a lot of wondering!!! I would love any advice/feedback. Again I am using a 000 brush for this. I love the beauty of the rocks and would like to keep going with this, even if it means completing several versions before getting it right!
Looking forward to any comments.
Thanks and Kind Regards!
Sarah
@Sarah Blick I realize I did the same painting as you sometime last year! (without Zaal). let me see if I've posted about it....will tag you if I did.