Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 21

Thread: Watercolor practice - ISO style

  1. #1
    Community Leader Jaxilon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    A beach in Ecuador
    Posts
    5,548

    Default Watercolor practice - ISO style

    First off, I guess I'm frugal because instead of just practicing on a regular sheet of watercolor paper I have found I like cutting it into fourths. This way I don't feel bad about tossing a few of them in the trash. Chopping a sheet into fourths gives me smaller areas to paint as well. I'm not sure if this helps with dealing with warpage because they still tend to curl up but I can easily set them under a book or something once they are dry and they straighten out over night. I actually tapped one of them down on a thin piece of flooring board to see how that went. Worked pretty well, maybe I'll show that one in another thread.

    I am not using a fancy paper, I bought an "Artist's Loft" watercolor pad - Cold press finish - Acid free - 12" x 9" x 25 sheets that I purchased at Michael's. I don't recall how much it was but at my level of experience with watercolor I wasn't going to fork out a bunch. I like the Cold Press because it's almost smooth and certainly much cheaper than the Hot press. I don't like the roughness (or I'm not used to it) of the standard Watercolor paper so Cold Press works for me.

    I also picked up a cheapO pack of watercolor brushes also "Artist's Loft". I attempted using them and absolutely hated them. The hairs where coming out and making a mess of things. I quickly tossed them into a pile for use whenever I want to paint something with acid or something. I then went to a Jo Ann's (a type of hobby/craft store) and picked up a Koi Water Colorsocket Field Sketch Box - I love this thing. It has a synthetic brush that comes with it that has a water fillable handle so you have your water carried within the brush. I did get some extra paint but I haven't yet really needed it.

    Recently, I splurged and bought a 25.00 Princeton Neptune #16 super soft brush. I love this thing as well. The experts all say if there is one thing you must get right, it's the brushes and I'm finding myself agreeing with them.

    So that's my gear for now, let's get to it.

    I begin with a little sketch of a subterranean area drawn in pencil:
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	ISO Dungeon.jpg 
Views:	277 
Size:	147.6 KB 
ID:	53640  
    “When it’s over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking.” -John Wooden

    * Rivengard * My Finished Maps * My Challenge Maps * My deviantArt

  2. #2
    Community Leader Jaxilon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    A beach in Ecuador
    Posts
    5,548

    Default Dropping in some color

    I then used watercolors to paint it. I forgot to take a pic of it after that but then I went back over some of the lines with a Sepia PITT pen. I almost wish I hadn't because I tend to like the realist look when it comes to my art. I don't necessarily dislike it but the lines cause things to look more comic bookish in my opinion. Now don't get me wrong, I don't dislike comics, but it's just not the typical look I shoot for in my stuff.

    This is a photo taken with my Cell phone. I tried scanning it but the coloration came out funky. This has some shadow due to the lamp not being directly on it but you get the idea.

    Now, I just have to determine if I want to do anything with the floors:
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Subterranean ISO practice.jpg 
Views:	256 
Size:	189.8 KB 
ID:	53641  
    “When it’s over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking.” -John Wooden

    * Rivengard * My Finished Maps * My Challenge Maps * My deviantArt

  3. #3
    Guild Master Chashio's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Maine, USA
    Posts
    2,235

    Default

    Neat cave system. So your map is 4.5 x 6 inches? Nice use of watercolors! Did you find that the more heavy areas of pencil mixed into the paint some?
    Kaitlin Gray - Art, Maps, Etc | Patreon | Instagram

  4. #4
    Guild Artisan lostatsea's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Ohio USA
    Posts
    551

    Default

    Well that is just COOL!! Like it alot so far !!
    "Aye The skies be clear , the seas be calm and the winds be with us .....

    ARGH!! but the damn compass be broken!! "

    Capt. Noah Swalter Last voyage of the " Silver Crest"

  5. #5
    Administrator waldronate's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    The High Desert
    Posts
    3,549

    Default

    Nice work. Every time I see "ISO" in a title, though, I keep thinking "International Standards Organization."

  6. #6
    Guild Expert jbgibson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Alabama, USA
    Posts
    1,429

    Default

    Jax: purty!

    Waldronate: me too. Didn't you know though - they found there aren't any internationally recognized standards for caves, so Jax was asked to come up with some. Pretty sweet commission, though bureaucrats tend to pay slow.

  7. #7
    Community Leader Jaxilon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    A beach in Ecuador
    Posts
    5,548

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Chashio View Post
    Neat cave system. So your map is 4.5 x 6 inches? Nice use of watercolors! Did you find that the more heavy areas of pencil mixed into the paint some?
    I don't think I had the pencil mixing into the paint. More like the paint pigment starts to overshadow the pencil lines. I will keep an eye on this though. I may have this issue on the floor tiles since that's the heaviest lines. Maybe the paper makes a difference or maybe not going too heavy with the water?

    4.5 x 6 is about right so it's kind of small. I don't mind this while I'm learning. I do have an issue now however. I created a similar sized mock up of an abstract painting for my wife's office. Heh, she really liked it so now I need to make it HUGE as in about as large a sheet as I can get it. I'm not sure about how to do that so it's going to be fun trying that. It will certainly be the largest Watercolor I will have attempted.

    edit: ISO - yes..I'm out to set those here
    Last edited by Jaxilon; 04-15-2013 at 02:20 AM.
    “When it’s over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking.” -John Wooden

    * Rivengard * My Finished Maps * My Challenge Maps * My deviantArt

  8. #8

    Default

    Nice. The color blending turned out beautiful. I've been wanting to try out some traditional media myself, and this inspires me.

    Cheers,
    -Arsheesh

  9. #9
    Guild Expert Ramah's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Nottinghamshire
    Posts
    1,414
    Blog Entries
    4

    Default

    Nice map, Jax.

    I'm sure you probably know this, but you can prevent the cockling of the paper that you describe up the top if you stretch your paper first. You say you tried taping it down so you already have all the gear to do it. Just immerse your paper in water before you start, tape it down to a board and leave it to dry. Sorted.
    Royal: I'm very sorry for your loss, your mother was a terribly attractive woman.


    My Cartographer's Guild maps: Finished Maps


    More maps viewable at my DeviantArt page: Ramah-Palmer DeviantArt

  10. #10
    Community Leader Guild Sponsor - Max -'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    France
    Posts
    4,220

    Default

    Nicely done Jax! Yes it has some kind of comics touch but I kinda like it.

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •