THEATRE GRAPHICS                                                                                    GILLIAM

Watercolor Unit

For the next several weeks we will explore watercolor as a medium to “color” design renderings.  There are many coloring methods employed by designers in the execution of theatre designs:  colored pencils, magic markers, pastels, watercolor, gouache, and acrylics.  Watercolor continues to be an industry standard as it is a medium that easily represents “light” and whose color labels most closely match theatrical paint.  In addition, the process of painting in watercolor can be duplicated as a process for scenic elevations and scenic art.

You will continue to work on your sketchbook throughout this unit.  These are due on Tuesdays.  The watercolors assignments will be due as indicated on the syllabus.

Introduction to Watercolor, Exploration of the media

Unlike oil paints, gouache, acrylics and other paints, which are opaque, watercolor is a TRANSPARENT medium, which depends on layering to build up color texture.  The color, as it comes out of the tube, is a thick paste and not suitable for painting.  It is not fluid enough for painting successfully.  Water is the vehicle that when mixed with the paste carries the pigment and allows the artist to move color around the paper. The more water mixed into the pigment, the more transparent the wash and the fewer stroke marks.  The secret to watercolor is in layering transparent washes of color to build up color body and texture.

WC #1 Watercolor Explorations

MIXING COLOR

Add a small amount of paste on your mixing tray.  Add two large drops of clean water.  Thoroughly mix.  Paint on a 1” x 1” square.  Now, using another brush, add two more drops of clean water to the same color puddle in your tray. Mix it thoroughly using the brush with which you painted the previous square. Paint on a second square.  Compare the results to appreciate how watercolor washes or glazes are created.  Continue until there is just a “hint” of color.  In pencil, record the number of drops of water per mix, two for the first, four for the second and so on. 

BRUSH STROKE

A paintbrush is NOT a pencil.  Hold your brush perpendicular to your paper or board.  Mix a generous potion of about 50% color.  (100% being pigment from the tube, 0% clear water.) Execute the following on newspapers.  Try each using 3 brushes, a large, medium and small brush.

  1. KNEE STROKES.  Lock all other joints.  Shift your body weight at the knees as you stand and move the brush across the paper.  You should achieve large and positive lines of color.
  2. UPPER ARM AND ELBOW ONLY.  Rotate upper arm and elbow only to produce controlled ARCS and broad radius strokes.
  3. WRIST.  Twisting or revolving your wrist in a series of “flip-flop” movements will create definite rhythm.
  4. FINGERS.   Pinching or twisting motion will create tight curves, the smallest texture and controlled in painting.

FOUR WAYS OF APPLYING WATERCOLOR TO PAPER

Skill as a watercolorist depends, in a large measure, on how well you can perform the following procedures.  If you are not successful on the first try, continue until you are satisfied.  As always, I will demonstrate these procedures in class and am available outside class to assist.

  1. Dip your brush into water, load it with some pigment and apply the mixture directly to the paper using horizontal strokes.  This is referred to as a DRY WASH.
  2. Draw a shape with your pencil (lightly).  Apply clear water to this shape with your brush.  Now quickly apply a wash of color directly into this wet “puddle”.  Notice that the color will only go into those areas that you have prepare with the clear water.  This is called a WET WASH.
  3. For a GRADUATED WASH, run a band of color across the top of the paper.  Keep it as dark as possible (90%), but liquid.  Quickly rinse out the brush and apply clear water along the bottom edge of the color.  Make certain you are in the puddle of color and not in front as you will streak your wash if you get ahead of it.  Pull the color down the page.  Continue doing this until the color blends out to the white of the paper.
  4. DRY BRUSH technique should be used sparingly.  To produce the effect, pick up color with a little water on your brush.  Now wipe most of the color in the brush on your towel.  Next apply some strokes to the surface on your paper, manipulating the brush to simulate the material or texture you are representing.

WC# 2 Value and Intensity in Watercolor

As you have already discovered, watercolor is a live, vibrant medium with a will of its own.  Color is both a visible fact and a miracle of light.  It is light that produces the sensation of color in our minds.  White light is made of a combination of various wavelength sizes.  You can see this when you observe a rainbow, each colored band representing a range of wavelengths of light.  The way our mind perceived color is through the absorption and reflection of these wavelengths.  The physical characteristics of surfaces absorb various light rays reflecting others.  These “other” rays stimulate the cones in our retina sending nerve impulses to the brain where we interpret the sensation of color.  A white cloth reflects all the rays whereby the combination of cone impulses views the cloth as white.  A green leaf absorbs various rays reflecting others so that we interpret the color as “green”.

The texture of a surface influences the “color” of the reflected light.  Velour is a fabric with a surface quality or nap capable of trapping light rays.  If the velour is dyed black, not only is the light trapped by the nap, but the pigment of the fabric reflecting little for the eye to interpret also absorbs the wavelengths.  We will “see” this area as a void, absent of light, a shape without detail.  This is why black velour is used as masking in the theatre.  On the other hand, a piece of metal, say chrome, has a surface texture that is closed, tight.  Light rays bounce back like a mirror to, if placed in the right position, appears to “blind” the viewer.  This area on the metal is a “highlight” or an area where we see a larger amount of reflected light, a brighter spot.

If you want to paint a red “glossy” surface, using opaque house paints for example, we will paint the entire object shape a flat red.  Select an area on the surface that would reflect the bounce light directly back to you, the viewer.  This becomes a specific shape within the red field that you would paint white. Then, radiating away from this super high light, the red goes from a higher value to a darker values.  In watercolor rendering, we need to select the super highlight first and leave it unpainted or white.  Then through transparent washes, you paint outward from high value (transparent) to flat color.  When painting a surface, you should analysis the composition in terms of reflective and absorbed light.  It should make the mystery more understandable as well as give you an approach to paint.  In watercolor, you work from the white paper to highlights outward.

High value reflects more light energy whereas as low values send less.  In color terminology, value is the additive result of white and black, or again light and lack of light.  In watercolor, you achieve a high value color NOT by adding white, rather by adding water to allow the light of the paper to show.  Adding white in watercolor will make a pastel, flat opaque color.  However, to decrease the value of a watercolor, we can add black.  If you want to decrease the value of a color, add ivory black (bluer black) for cooler colors and add Hercules black (red black) for warmer colors.

We have experienced the concept of value in the drawing unit.   Color has another quality in addition to value, INTENSITY.  Intensity describes the purity of pigment.  A surface with the most intense red would be painted where every pixel is pure red with no other colored pigments mixed in.  In this case, the reflected color wavelengths will only stimulate the red cones.  I think we experience intensity because it sort of overloads the cone receptor.  Like a flexed muscle, which begins to hurt unless you unflex if, the eye absorbs concentrated stimulus.  This narrow band of sensory impulses translates in the mind as full intensity of light.  It might even cause the eye to feel pain or bleak.  In some cases, after extended exposure to an intensity color, the closed eye will experience an after flash of the opposite color as the eye rejuvenates itself.  “That light is too intensity.  It hurts my eyes.”  Neon lights are pure wavelengths of a narrow band of light.  Neon colors are considered intense or bright.

To lower the intensity of a color, you dilute the purity of the pigment by adding other stimulus or other pigments.  In watercolor, to lower the intensity of a color without changing the color hue, you add the direct compliment.  For example, to lower the intensity of red, add a few drops of green.  Shadows in nature are transparent.  To create a shadow in watercolor, lower the intensity of the color while maintaining the hue of the object.

Time to explore Value and Intensity in watercolor.  Execute the following charts.  Remember, watercolors need to dry in-between layers.  Use a hair dryer.

VALUE CHARTS.  Mix up the three primaries into a 30% mix.  Tape out three vertical columns of approximately 1” wide and 10-15” high.  Divide the columns into eleven squares or compartments.  IN the center square of each column, paint a flat wash of 30% color.  You are to create a progressive value chart with each color.  To lower the value, add black.  To increase the value, add water.  I suggest you mix sufficient quantities of the base and black to be able to experiment.

INTENSITY CHARTS.  Again, mix the three primaries into 30% mixtures.  Create three columns of equal height as before.  At the top of each, paint the base color.  You are to create a progressive intensity chart for each color in 11 steps but mixing in the compliment of the base.  The goal is to step down the color until you have created a neutral gray.  You should not change the hue. 

OVERPRINT CHART.  In separate tray holders, mix 8 colors to 30%.  Using you large brush, paint 8 vertical strips about 4” in length (one each color).  Dry.  Repeat the 8 colors going horizontally.  Observe how layering changes the resulting color by warming or cooling it or altering the intensity.

TREE PROJECT.  In class, you will receive a handout showing a black and white progression of a tree created by overlapping layers to create texture.  Get a picture of a tree that shows the detailed texture of the bark.  Redraw this tree on watercolor paper or board.  Keep the pencil lines light, just dark enough to serve as guidelines.  Mix 4 30% colors (perhaps blue, raw sienna, dark brown and burnt sienna).  Select a direction for the sun.  Paint the blue first, heavier on the shadow side.  Then paint the warms of the sun with the raw sienna.  Overlay the burnt sienna and finally selectively place the darks.  The layered strokes need to be the jagged shapes of the bark.  Observe the internal shapes.

WC #3 Glazes

As you may have discovered, you can layer watercolor washes one on top of another to create a deep field of color, or what I would call color texture.  The secret to creating interesting color texture is in allowing each glaze to react with light.  The light should be able to travel through each layer or glaze to strike the white paper surface.  It is reflected off the white and on its return, it picks up bit of color, which strikes the eye and appear full of light, full of life … vibrant.  Keep each glaze transparent.  Consider each layer as a thin sheet of tinted ice, building one on another to create a whole.

One of the best ways to experiment with glazes to build color texture is to study skies.  Also, since a sky represents a LARGE mass in any composition, in most cases, its texture will set the tone for the entire picture.  In the theatre, the cyc sets an emotional tone.

Your assignment is to paint five skies using the techniques of graded washes.  Tape out five squares, which are at a minimum 5” x 5”.  To cover this space you will need to use your largest brush.  Since, in some cases, you will apply 6 coats of paint, your washes need to be about 10-20%, very high value.  Try to do this project in one sitting.  Test your color on a scrap of paper before committing to the sky square.  Allow it to completely dry before going onto the next layer.  If you use a hair dryer, allow the paper time to cool down.  Otherwise, you will experience difficulty in producing streak-free glazes.  Work fast and be careful not to SCRUB up the under color.  Use a LIGHT TOUCH.

You may not have the same colors as those listed below.  For your information, the following are approximations.

1.  THALO BLUE                        Green blue (Prussian blue with a touch of green)

2.  COBALT BLUE                        Medium spectrum blue (Celestial)

3.  ULTRAMARINE BLUE            Warm blue (has a little red in it)

4.  ALIZARIN CRIMSON            Cool red (Has a little blue in it)

5.  VERMILLION                         Medium spectrum red

6.  CAD. YELLOW MED            Warm yellow (has orange in it)

7.  CAD YELLOW PALE            Cool yellow (has green in it)
8.  YELLOW OCHRE                        Earth tone (Raw sienna may do)

When in doubt, try to make the sky look like the title.  Let your eyes tell you when it is subjectively right.  Or, you may wish to select photos of skies depicting the title I have given you and copy them.  Make certain you submit your photos for my comparison.

Stains include Alizarin Crimson, Prussian Blue and all the Thalos. 

Opaque Watercolors include Yellow, Ochre, Cobalt Blue, Celestial Blue and Chinese White.

ALL are GRADED WASHES.

NOONTIME ON THE DESERT

  1. UP #4
  2. DOWN #1
  3. UP #8
  4. DOWN #2

TYPICAL MORNING

  1. UP #7
  2. DOWN #2

MORNING AT THE BEACH

  1. UP #6 (Super High Value)
  2. DOWN #1
  3. SIDE RT. TO LT. #4
  4. SIDE LT. TO RT. #4
  5. SIDE RT. TO LT. #3
  6. SIDE LT. TO RT. #3

EVENING

  1. UP #4
  2. DOWN #1
  3. UP #4
  4. DOWN #3

CLEAR DAY

  1. UP #4
  2. DOWN #3
  3. DOWN #2

WC #4 Negative and Positive Spaces and Shapes

“Recognition” is a process that takes place in the mind.  Using our senses, we scan, smell, hear, touch and/or taste objects in order to make identifications.  We rely on a data bank of former experiences to make informed judgments.  If an object or situation is not an exact match, the mind depends on close matches and than a decision or conclusion is made regarding the perceive object.  Imagine the chaos, which would exist if we could not recognize similar objects from one experience to another.  I suspect a child in early development does just that.  It is not until the data back is established that the child is able to function independently.

The element of composition, line, shape, color, texture, and space are key to the process of recognition.  They are not the exclusive domains of the artist, rather are elements considered everyday by everyone.  The more we become aware of seeing the abstractions of these elements are a mean to recognize objects, the easier it will become for us to communicate object and emotions in our art work.

Shape is a great definer of objects.  Instinctively, we tend to make quick decisions regarding the safety of the shapes we see.  “Should I run? Is that object safe?”  In the wild, you would not wait to discern additional details before running.  On the other hand, given additional details, we can refine our conclusions.  “On second glance, I …”

Objects in he distance do not have detail.  They are shapes that have meaning due to the context of the entire composition.  You would not see the texture on the side of a barn that is two hundred yards away.  Color, plus shape in the environment of a farm setting informs us that the object must be a barn.  Furthermore, we would assume it is built out of barn wood.

When you paint and draw, often you can define the shape of an object by painting negative space around it.  In doing so, in paint the void, you give meaning to the positive.  Likewise, when recreating form by its reaction with light, look to the detail of shapes of tone, shapes of highlight within the overall shape of the object.  Can you see the highlight?  What shape is it?  Do you see the multiple shadows?  What shapes are they?

To explore shape in paintings, you are to execute the following exercises”

  1. Using only BLACK, recreate the handout tree.  You should trace the tree onto your watercolor board or paper.  Remember to graphite the picture with your #3 H pencil so as not to leave pencil marks.   Also, be selective in copying.  Select the right brush for the right stroke.  I would assume you would use your small brush especially with the branch endings.  Observe the shapes.  Are they sort or angular?  Also, keep your black opaque, intense, not high value (not transparent).
  2. Select a light reflective object (bottle, mirror, glass, etc.).  Sketch the object showing the shapes as they are reflected on the surfaces.  Transfer the object/s to your watercolor surface.  Paint it paying attention to the shapes.

WC #5 Shadows and Texture

Already, we have seen the importance of shadowing drawing to create the illusion of dimension.  The same dramatic results can be achieved in watercolor rendering.

A shadow is a cooler surface than that which receives direct light.  Review the sketching handouts that illustrate cast and reflected shadows.  You will note that ALL shadows are transparent.  In other words, you can see through the cooler surface t the underneath object.

You can achieve shadows in several ways.

  1. Paint a surface. Allow it to dry.  Mix a lower intensity of the surface color making certain you do not change the value.  Paint over the surface with this coat to form the shadow.  To lower the intensity, add the compliment.  I usually make it cooler as well.
  2. Paint the surface.  While the object is still wet, add to the shadow area a small amount of the compliment color and blend it into a shadow.
  3. Paint all the shadows first wit a very high value, very transparent blue or purple.  Allow drying.  Then glaze over the top with the true color.
  4. Experiment 

In class you will draw cubes and paint them with light using the methods above.

Assignment:

  1. Draw a rock or bolder form a picture or real life that shows a lighting source.   Concentrate on the shadows and texture.
  2. Drape a piece of cloth in an interesting arrangement (if you have fabric window curtains, you may use them).  Shine a single source on the fabric, lightly sketch it and then render the composition. 

WC #6 Costume Plate

A costume rendering or plate is a drawing to communicate both for the director and artistic team and as a colored working drawing for the costume shop.  The way you render the shadow determines the weave of the fabric and how you want it to drape on the human figure.  The ways you render the highlights determine the texture of the fabric/s.  In most cases, costume plates should be done as if it is photo-realism.

Photocopy the costumed figures you drew in the figure-drawing unit.  Transfer these drawings to your watercolor board or paper.  Render them. 

WC #7 Landscape

In this brief unit, you have explored the rich beauty of watercolor as a color medium that captures and recreates light.  Theatre designers, or for that matter any artist who uses the mood of lighting, should consider watercolor as a means to graphically communicate scene designs, painter elevations, property sketches, costume plates, and in some cases, lighting sketches.  In this unit, you have explored the fundamental graphic skills to communicate with watercolor.  I would not expect you to have mastered watercolor rendering.  It takes practice, which means the disciplined desire to spend the necessary time to train yourself.  Knowledge is often the product of time, patience and failures.

Your last assignment is to execute a watercolor rendering of one of our drawing either from the sketching unit or from your sketchbook.  Before you do this project, you must receive my approval of the drawing you would like to render.

The following are my suggestions for attacking the painting.

Your preparation is perhaps the most important step in the process. 

Background, middle ground and foregrounds.

Just like a photograph, focus is achieved with detail.  The background is the least detailed, and then the middle ground; finally, the most detailed area is in the foreground.

Paint the background first.  It will set the tone for the painting.  In a landscape, a bright, light sky means a sunny day.  A dark sky is something different.  The background established the shadows.  Bright equals sharp shadows, etc.  Think about it.

Block in larger colored area.  This establishes an overall color sense for the painting.  It is also called a “whiteout”.  This means you eliminate all white from the painting before working on details.

Detail the middle ground objects with shadows and high lights.

Super detail the foreground area.

Do touch-ups.

Go back and add black or maybe use a colored pencil to add sharpness.