Watercolour paintings

I know, I know, it's been a long time since I posted...AGAIN! And every time I sneak back on here, with an apologetic air about me and always say that 'things will change from now on and that I will make a concerted effort to post every week'.

Well I'm going to try another tack---because I really do love blogging, but work pressures just get in the way---this time I'm going to say: 'Dash it all, I will post when I damned well feel like it and the world and its cartoony expectations can go hang itself...'

Well lets face it, a genuine desire to produce regular posts have gotten me nowhere, so lets see if reverse psychology works.

Anyway, all that said, lets get onto today's post.
Like I said I've been busy with all kinds of projects, namely: my second Sleepy Hamlet novel, plus a new strip proposal for syndication; I've been doing special pieces for family and gift paintings for those close to me.

But more about them later...or if I can be bothered to post it here, which I can't even be arsed to think about yet...(see what I did there? Reverse psychology again. I have a good feeling about this---or bad---depending on which angle you take it from).

But the topic for today's post is a step-by-step breakdown of a painting I recently completed, which will hopefully form part of a larger body of work to be exhibited in a local art gallery, to coincide with the Rugby World Cup later this year.

The painting is titled, 'the Friendly' and acts as both a tutorial and a bit of a background insight into my working practices methods.

Stage 1:

The first thing I do on a picture of this scale is to draw it up, ink it, have it photo copied and reduced and light-box it through to the art paper.
I do this, as a picture that is this involved would be a nightmare to sketch onto the paper, and I would lose sight of what is what when it came to colouring.

Stage 2:

For the actual light-boxing of the cartoon. I placed a piece of 325gsm hot pressed watercolour paper, darkened the room and meticulously re-traced all the lines---stopping every now and then to lift the page carefully to make sure I hadn't missed any lines.

Stage 3:

Once again, due to the involved nature of the illustration, I've masked off the upper layers of the characters. I did this as when I came to painting the sky I won't have to worry about cutting in and around the rugby players.

Stage 4:

I ran a pale wash---wet-in-wet---of cobalt blue. Once that was completed, and still wet, I dipped my artist sponge onto some clear water and began to pull some clouds out from the blue sky. Once again this was done subtly as I didn't want a strong sky to detract from the main body of the painting.

Stage 5:

Now comes the initial gradient for the grass.

At this stage I just wanted to give the impression of fore and background; more detailed work on the pitch would come much later in the painting.

Stage 6:

Once the two layers are thoroughly dry I peel off the masking fluid, making sure that there are no bits left anywhere and that the illustration is clear, clean and ready to proceed.

Stage 7:

At this point I would normally methodically go through the characters, painting one section at a time, ie; all the flesh, then all the tops, then the shorts, socks, etc. But on this occasion I started doing the initial two to three tones on the flesh and then decided to put in the pale back-wash of red for one of the characters.

I have no idea why I did this but it actually helped, acting as it did as a stark contrast for me to work against for the rest of the flesh tones.

Stage 9:

With the flesh tones all done I then continued on with the red teams' tops.
At this stage I had no definite plan for which character would play for what team, so I had to do one, look at the picture, do another, then another and continue that process until the painting had an over-all pleasing colour balance.

Stage 10:

Next came the blue team, and their pale base washes.

Now, I am aware that club kits nowadays have all kinds of markings and sponsorship deals on them. But to have that amount of detail, in a picture with this level of involvement, would've been just too much clutter. So I kept it simple.

Stage 11:

Finally I worked in the dark shadows in between the players and their black boots.

At this point I still have no idea if my painting is going to work or go horribly wrong. So I stop and go off for a read and a cup of tea to clear my mind.

Stage 12:

With my tea consumed, and mind cleared I came back, and over the space of a few hours I built up the layers of deeper shadows on the players; then I moved onto the stadium and the crowds within.

I also worked on the grass; placing onto it pieces of scuffed up turf and dirt from the mayhem of the battle.

Stage 13:

Finally I could place a subtle outline around the characters. I did this with watered down Van Dyke Brown with a hint of Lamp Black.

And with the masking tape removed, the piece was ready to go, and I was ready to move onto the next picture in the series; that one to be titled: the Chase

Hope you enjoyed

Marketing the Bear

Big Ol' Bear is copyright Karl Dixon

Now this is a quick post, well quicker than normal. I've been looking into a few projects as of late, and seeing as this particular one will be taking up space on the side bar to the right of these posts very soon, I thought it best to start here.

I've created a character, a character who has already had a blog post of his very own--- he was used in one of my previous tutorials on how to do a water colour cutie---anyway, this character, called Big Ol' Bear, has been developed even more and I am marketing him through a range of products like, greeting cards, iPhone covers, iPad covers, hoodies, other clothing and possibly children's books; though the books will be done largely through through Amazon print on demand (POD) and Lulu POD.

If you'd like to go and view my initial foray into this wonderful world of artist product placement, then please click here--- view my Red Bubble page--- and see what you think. At the moment there's only one design up but more will follow over the next few days and weeks, so keep coming back and keep viewing. Your participation is always welcome.

Cheers

If you like my blog and the things that I say and do, please tell your friends; mention me on Facebook, Twitter and any of the other fine social media networking sites you use. I would love to have my work reach a much larger audience and although I could no doubt eventually get there under my own steam, I'll get there a lot quicker with your help, so please, please spread the word.

Thank you

Karl

Colouring the Caricature

First off you're gonna get two posts this week..BLAM, BLAM! That's two; not one...TWO. One's going to be a tutorial and the other isn't.

The one that isn't is this one. Its not a tutorial but then it could be seen as a tutorial. It shows you how I did a caricature, or the process I went through to colour it.

It's not about how to do a caricature as to be honest, I don't know how I do it; To be absolutely and brutally honest, I just look at peoples' faces and think: Big nose, fat lips, big ears, weird hair, etc. But if you do glean anything from this piece then it will be---for you at least---a tutorial. If you can also understand any of the above drivel then please award yourself a beverage of your choice and sit back and enjoy the nice free pretty pictures from a blog post I called 'Colouring the Caricature'

Pretty uninspiring I know but it was 1:30 in the morning and I was very tired.

1.First thing your going to need is watercolours...lots of them (well it is a watercolour picture and if you were thinking of bringing oils, well quite frankly you're probably enough of  a worry to your family and shouldn't be allowed objects that you could poke yourself in the eye with)

I use Daler Rowney Gouache and water colour tubes and daylon brushes. The mixing dishes below are for the large background washes

 2. Now I add the rubber based masking fluid to the images. I do this as I still can't be trusted to paint around the lines. That and the fact that the next stage is to wet the whole page with a natural artist sponge (not to be confused with the one you use in the bath for your hands knees and private bits)

3. The reason why I dampen the paper is when I place the background layer---in this case blue--- it covers the page a lot more evenly and you can get some pretty terrific gradient effects...not that I used any here, but take my word for it, you can

4. When the background is well and truly dry, peel off the masking fluid.

From here I usually work on the face first as this is the obvious focal point to the picture. I start with a basic flesh tone and build up the layers; in this case I used Naples Yellow and darkened it with a bit of blue and red mix for a nice shade of wine.

*A good point. When producing shadows, most people just use a darker version of the colour they are using, but a top tip is this: Mix a nice wash of ultramarine blue and red to make a soft wine pigment and place this over any colour you care to name and it will automatically look like the natural shade of that colour. Its an amazing fact and the chameleon like qualities of these two colours never ceases to amaze me.

5. After working on the flesh I normally put a base washes down for all the colours I'm going to use. This gives me a good look and sense of how the colours are going to balance off against each other.

6. Having laid down the washes I begin to build up the layers. Always decide where the light is coming from at the very beginning of the painting and adhere to it with every colour you lay down.

7. Once all the shading is completed and the paint fully dry, I go around the outer edges of the character with a No.1 Brush. I do this because when I go in later with the much thinner dip pen, there will be a noticeable contrast in the lines and this gives the final picture a pleasing effect.

8. The point I made above should now be very evident, as I render the rest of the painting with my Gelliot 303 nib and Windsor and Newton Black India Ink.

9. I then sign it, remove the masking tape and the caricature is now completed.

Hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look into my working methods. If you did, come back for more, and don't forget tomorrows video tutorial on how to draw a cartoon vulture.

If you like my blog and the things that I say and do, please tell your friends, mention me on Facebook, Twitter and any of the other fine social media networking sites. I would love to have my work reach a much larger audience and although I could no doubt eventually get there under my own steam, I'll get there a lot quicker with your help, so please, please spread the word.

Thank you

Karl