Tip of the Month - November 2002

Recently, at a watercolor symposium, I was assigned a painting site in which a dressed model was the subject. After doing several one minute poses, the model chose a pose for a long study.

I like to do preliminary sketches without a planned format. That way I can concentrate on the likeness and the gesture. Having sketched lightly with searching lines, I was able to create a contour drawing on top of the rough sketch

The model was posing in front of several windows and the counter light was something that I wanted to consider for the final work. I darkened the drawing leaving edge lighting on the figure.

My next step was to consider the negative space around the model. In this case, the windows with the visible muted landscape, was the ideal solution.

I thought my sketch had a number of formatting possibilities. The GOLDEN MEAN would need to be considered as I decided the placement of the subject for the final work. This pose would work in a horizontal or vertical format.

After making a decision on the format, I had one more element to look at - the pattern of light. I realized that the light would help with the compositional movement. I colored the areas of light in yellow to see if the sizes and shapes of the light patterns were varied and interesting.

I made a tracing of the final sketch and added a minimal amount of color to the image. I, now, had a reference for a larger watercolor.

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