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Medium: Acrylic, Watercolor, Pencil, Ink
Category: Fantasy, Fairy
This demonstration is "Project Three" from the book, How to Draw and Paint Fairies by Linda Ravenscroft, published by Watson-Guptill Publications of New York. Reprinted with permission of the publisher. All steps and text included.
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Autumn Fairy
by Linda Ravenscroft
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This lovely autumn fairy sitting among the just-turning leaves is painted in the warm hues typical of the season, with dark tones used to give additional atmosphere. A selection of the techniques shown on the preceding pages has been used, including the acrylic background, spattering, and pen and watercolor for the figure. Acrylics are perfect for backgrounds, and because they are waterproof when dry, several layers of thin washes can be painted over one another. These are called glazes, and the more you apply the deeper and richer the color appears.
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YOU WILL NEED -- Cold-pressed 140-lb watercolor paper; HB pencil and sepia waterproof pen with a fine 0.1 mm nib; Watercolor brushes No. 1, No. 4 and No. 6; Piece of scrap paper and scissors; Zinc white gouache; Old toothbrush for spattering.
PAINTS USED -- Acrylic paints and mediums: Raw umber, Sepia, Chromium oxide green, Yellow ocher, Indian red and Acrylic gel retarder.
Watercolors: Raw umber, Sap green, Dark olive green, Venetian red, Yellow ocher, Sepia, Warm gray, Alizarine crimson, Payne's gray, Rose madder
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1. THE DRAWING - Draw out the design in pencil, then use the sepia pen to draw around the outline of the figure and leaves, leaving the background twigs in pencil. Add extra details to the foliage and figure with the pencil and bring in some shading, which will show through the watercolor washes.
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2. STARTING THE BACKGROUND - Using the No. 6 brush and a wash of raw umber acrylic (mixed with a little gel retarder to slow down the drying time), cover the whole of the background, carefully avoiding the figure. Don't worry if the paint looks streaky as it will be covered by further layers.
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3. GLAZING TO BUILD UP COLOR - While the pencil lines for the twigs are still visible, go over them with the No. 4 brush and a thicker mix of sepia acrylic. When dry, apply a glaze of chromium oxide green acrylic with the No. 6 brush, allowing some of the original color to show through in places. Now apply further glazes of Indian red, raw umber, and a little yellow ocher, painting them on quite roughly and in patches to create a mottled effect, with more color in some places than others.
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4. THE FOLIAGE - Watercolor is used for the rest of the painting. Paint a wash of sap green mixed with a small amount of dark olive green watercolor onto all of the leaves using the No. 6 brush and lifting out a few highlights before the wash dried. The pen and pencil drawing provides most of the modeling on the leaves. Paint a very pale wash of sap green on the fairy's wings with the No. 4 brush.
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5. THE FAIRY - Paint yellow ocher on the dress and over the top of the sap green on the wings, and while still slightly damp add Venetian red to the edges of the clothes and wingtips to give an orange glow. Using the No. 1 brush, paint a light wash of sepia onto the rest of the garments, the undervest, and arm decorations. Add some detail to the hair, and when dry, paint a wash of raw umber over the skin with the No. 1 brush--raw umber is an excellent color for skin tones.
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6. PAINTING THE SHADOWS - Make a mix of warm gray and Payne's gray, and still using the small brush, paint the shadows on the twigs and branches beneath the fairy. To give more dimension to the branches, apply small washes of the same mix with a little more of the warm gray added. Make another mix of Payne's gray and dark olive green and use the No. 4 brush to make the shading underneath the leaves and on the fairy's outfil, noting that the light source is at the top of the painting in front of the figure.
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| 7. ADDING DETAIL AND COLOR - Using a deep mix of sepia with a little Payne's gray, apply details to the wing tips and add some striping to the top edge, using a No. 1 brush. Add any extra deep shadows if they are needed. Paint a little rose madder onto the fairy's face, cheeks, and tip of her nose. Using the No. 1 brush, add a wash of Venetian red to the tips and veins of the leaves to give them a more autumnal feel, and then apply more sepia to the fairy's outfit. Use a very dark mix to define the armbands and stitching across the front of the dress, and intensify the tones and colors of the hair with the same mix. Paint alizarin crimson on the edge of the jacket and on the berries on the headdress, leaving tiny white highlights, and paint the lips with the same color. |
8. SPATTERING - Roughly draw and cut out the shape of the figure from the scrap paper to mask it from the spattered paint--you don't have to be too accurate as long as the paper shape fully covers the fairy. Mix some white goache into a milky consistency, then load up the toothbrush, place it over the image, and spatter with droplets of paint. Continue until you are happy with the result, then remove the masking.
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9. THE FINISHED PAINTING - The dark tones and rich colors of the background show the pale body and glowing colors of the wings to best advantage, and the spattered white paint suggests the stars emerging as the night draws in.
.Autumn Fairy
Watercolor, Acrylic, Ink, Pencil
on 140-lb watercolor paper
by Linda Ravenscroft
Visit Her Website
See the full listing for Ravenscroft's book, How to Draw and Paint Fairies, at Amazon
This demonstration is from Ravenscroft's book, How to Draw and Paint Fairies, published by Watson-Guptill Publications. Reprinted with permission of the publisher.
Artwork and Text Copyright 2012
by Linda Ravenscroft.
All Rights Reserved.
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