Session: Watercolour Master Class
This was actually a watercolour demo given by Jill Thompson, an American who has done artwork on such comics as Hellboy, and (as of summer 2010) doesn't use the computer for art, it's all hand-done--she sends in the originals, and keeps a scan for herself in case there's a problem. She had some good tips about using watercolour paints, in case you decide to add to your artistic bag o' tricks. The following is from notes I gleaned from her session.
For a crisp border on artwork, use good quality painter's tape, and for best results with your paints, use watercolour paper.
When painting, outline it first, then do background, then do foreground.
Do the background back to front, and shade in light to dark. Use the lightest washes first, and make sure you know where your light source is first.
In terms of brushes, sable brushes are good, #6 for inking; #10 and #12 are also generally useful (the larger brushes hold more pigment).
11x17" pages, broken into panels, are used for comic pages (e.g., Hellboy).
Masking fluid is useless for watercolour (leaves marks under it, sometimes won't peel off completely, gets into the fibers of the paper). Razor blade or sponge is used for paint effects.
Typical workday = 1 page per day (6 to 14 hour days), if weather conditions are good (e.g., humidity affects paper, which in turn affects the watercolour effects).
- publishing is a deadline-based business; a comic might be bi-monthly. Look at per page payment rate and number of hours it takes you to complete a page.
- if there's oil on the watercolour paper (this can happen), the watercolour won't adhere to that spot. All a person can do is keep scrubbing with a brush until the mark goes away, and the spot blends in. |
