The "Shine On" Mandala - in the beginning...
I started the "Shine On" mandala early in January prior to starting this blog. The posting will bring you up-to-date with my progress on this painting. For this mandala I'm painting it with watercolors (mostly da Vinci brand paints). The image is 30" in diameter on 40" x 40" 140# arches watercolor paper.
The morning after I had sketched the design onto the paper, I woke with knowing exactly what color the crescent moon shapes were going to be. I saw them clearly as green marble. My challenge was...how do you make something look like marble in watercolors?
During my first session on this painting, I laid down the base coat of da Vinci's hunter green paint, leaving a slight gap between each section of marble. I put in an extra bit of paint to create the shadow effect between the two crescent shapes.
This next photo depicts several sessions...I neglected to take a photo after each session...oops :) I had the idea for the marble section to scratch away the white lines using a razor blade. I had seen this done on an art instruction show on public television. Prior to 'scratching', I added another layer of hunter green, then with a thin brush I painted the black lines.
When it was time to 'scratch' I dampened the section with a moist paper towel to soften the watercolor paper. The scariest thing for me was the first attempt at 'scratching'...it was a major commitment. It was either going to work as I had hoped or I was going to have to start all over again. Fortunately, it worked and my confidence grew with each scratching. Whew :)
For the middle section, I painted the sun with da Vinci hansa yellow light. I used da Vinci ultramarine blue on the center column. The left side was a lighter wash, the right side was a medium wash. The blue behind both suns were painted with a heavy wash of M. Graham cobalt blue.
During the next session, I added more yellow to the suns and more cobalt blue to the background. In the center column object, I painted the stripes with da Vinci vermilion and da Vinci ultramarine. I wanted to create a 3-D box-like effect in this section so I used varying values of vermilion and ultramarine to do so.
During my last session on this mandala, I painted the suns in more depth. I added vermilion and M. Graham cadmium red . I then went over the edges of the stripes and the rays of the suns with a Van Gogh water colour pencil, permanent blue violet. I softened the pencil marks by painting over them with a damp brush.
I also emphasized the slabs of marble by painting more hunter green on one side of each slab.
The morning after I had sketched the design onto the paper, I woke with knowing exactly what color the crescent moon shapes were going to be. I saw them clearly as green marble. My challenge was...how do you make something look like marble in watercolors?
During my first session on this painting, I laid down the base coat of da Vinci's hunter green paint, leaving a slight gap between each section of marble. I put in an extra bit of paint to create the shadow effect between the two crescent shapes.
This next photo depicts several sessions...I neglected to take a photo after each session...oops :) I had the idea for the marble section to scratch away the white lines using a razor blade. I had seen this done on an art instruction show on public television. Prior to 'scratching', I added another layer of hunter green, then with a thin brush I painted the black lines.When it was time to 'scratch' I dampened the section with a moist paper towel to soften the watercolor paper. The scariest thing for me was the first attempt at 'scratching'...it was a major commitment. It was either going to work as I had hoped or I was going to have to start all over again. Fortunately, it worked and my confidence grew with each scratching. Whew :)
For the middle section, I painted the sun with da Vinci hansa yellow light. I used da Vinci ultramarine blue on the center column. The left side was a lighter wash, the right side was a medium wash. The blue behind both suns were painted with a heavy wash of M. Graham cobalt blue.
During the next session, I added more yellow to the suns and more cobalt blue to the background. In the center column object, I painted the stripes with da Vinci vermilion and da Vinci ultramarine. I wanted to create a 3-D box-like effect in this section so I used varying values of vermilion and ultramarine to do so.
During my last session on this mandala, I painted the suns in more depth. I added vermilion and M. Graham cadmium red . I then went over the edges of the stripes and the rays of the suns with a Van Gogh water colour pencil, permanent blue violet. I softened the pencil marks by painting over them with a damp brush.
I also emphasized the slabs of marble by painting more hunter green on one side of each slab.
Labels: shine on
posted by Maiah at
2:39 PM
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