Art: Ginny, Snape, and more Snape (all G)

[sigune]

I did a few pictures last weekend, trying out my new (and tiny) box of watercolours. It's a Cotman set - that is, the cheap line of Winsor & Newton. The main difference seems to be that these paints are made with substitutes for some of the more expensive pigments. My watercolour handbook strongly advised against buying anything that is not the professional standard, but I thought I should get a feel for watercolour first, and I always feel guilty when I make a mess with what is essentially very good material :/.

sscrewdriver warned me that the cheaper watercolour paints are usually less transparent than the expensive ones. Because I haven't any real comparison, I guess this is something I may see with my own eyes in the future, when I am confident enough to start using the Winsor & Newton set that is as yet stashed in my cupboard... The only thing I can say so far is that I do see a difference with my (even cheaper) watercolour pencils. The pencils' pigments appear to my untutored eye more luminous than the Cotman set's (?). But to be honest, I don't think the paint is to blame for anything that went wrong with my pictures - it might just be my lack of skill :P.

Anyway: my recent exploits are below.




I guess this is just less good a picture than "A Scarlet Ribbon" was, but I do think the skin tones I used for Eileen were really more luminous and transparent than those I got out of my Cotman set... Hm.

I'm not too happy with this picture, for some reason. Part of it is that I think I set the eyes off too much. It seems I will really have to make a choice between my comics-like style and realism, because I feel uneasy about the combination that I get here.




Again, mixed feelings about this. I dropped all attempts at realism and using the paint as anything more than just colour. All the colours are of my own making, except for the Cadmium Red of Ginny's hair and the Burnt Umber of her shoes. Unfortunately I don't think I did a very good job :/. Also, the skirt's folds aren't particularly well-done.




This was fun. I do adore my marten and petit-gris brushes; this was an improvisation with them, drawn directly with paint. All went well as long as I stayed with the Snape figure. Then I had to cook up a background, and I think it is quite obvious that I hadn't given it any thought :P. I drew a tree, but it looked stupid, so I covered it with broad brush strokes, but you can still see some of it, and the result isn't particularly clever or good either *g*. Ah well. I enjoyed myself, and I do like the hues.

...I really should take classes, shouldn't I? But I have no time at present, and I can't keep myself from pottering around until I do...

Comments

[lewlinx.livejournal.com]

WOW

That's what I said when I saw Snape's portrait.

Fantastic work sigune!

Why does Ginny look so sour? Has Molly finally come to her senses and forbiade her from seeing the (as SIW says) scar-headed prat? LOL

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

*g*
Well, Ginny... something happened when I transfered the drawing to the watercolour paper. In the original pencil picture she had a cheeky little smile; then when I was ready with the paints, I suddenly noticed that the smile had gone! I had been to focused on the paint that I hadn't noticed. So, um, it's an accident... :)

[kaskait.livejournal.com]

This is very nice work. I love all of them. :D

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so glad :).

[ex-neke.livejournal.com]

I like all three of them, for different reasons.

1) Gah. I actually like the comic like style. What really kills me is the brushstroke that is his shoulder.

2) Love the colours and her stockings.

3) The figure of Snape is well done and I like the cloak.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

The brushstroke for Snape's shoulder in the first picture is something that was impossible to do until I had my new brushes - the old synthetic ones just wouldn't hold enough paint for something like that. Now I have two petit-gris brushes; they are brilliant! The cloak in the last picture is also due to the petit-gris.

Ginny was of course merely an excuse for painting red-and-white stockings ;).

[ex-neke.livejournal.com]

I adore striped stockings. ^^

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

Enjoyed, particularly the Snape. I can see what happened with the tree on the third, now that you mention it, but I like the effect of the figure dividing a light and dark background anyway. It means the profile is emphasized, which works well here. Well done! Maggie

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thank you! With a picture like the third, the thing I found myself wondering about was how I could use the darkness to offset Snape's face while not losing the shape of his cloak... This is what I came up with :).

[florence-craye.livejournal.com]

I think these are all quite good! I don't know that I have any concrit to give as you are very good at seeing improvements in your own work.

I also like the comics style in the first one. I think it works really well! I love the top of the hair, the way you left it without pigment. I am bad about not leaving those areas, so I love to see people use them well!

Ginny's expression in the second is great. I also like her stockings quite a bit, as they remind me of the Wicked Witch of the West. lol

The white area between Snape and the background in the third draws my eye to him immediately. I love that contrast! You really use negative space so well.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

I think the negative space thing is something I bring from my b/w ink work... I just had to be told by ook that it goes for watercolour as well - my first idea was that painting means filling everything up with colour :).

I was more or less forced to draw Ginny as I could hardly give Snape red-and-white stockings ;)... It was good to try new colours too.

Thank you!

[sylvanawood.livejournal.com]

I adore both Snapes. Ginny I'm not so fond of, but more because of the colours, not because of your skills or style. That first Snape is just ... wow. The second, too, but the first... Swoon!

[sigune.livejournal.com]

*giggles*

Thank you!

[inevitably-grey.livejournal.com]

wow

I like these; especially the last picture attracts: I love the different layers of black, how it fades and gets more and more translucent until it meets whiteness. The lines around the moon implying skies are all very well done. Lovely work.

Ps. http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/turner_ext.html
Am I right you love 1800-1900 century paintings? This one is one of my favourites, and he does both oil and watercolours. Large versions of his paintings are at the bottom of the page (just click on the painting's titles and they will appear).

Hope to see more watercolour paintings from you. :)

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Hee hee. There's no one like Turner to show you what watercolours can look like when done by a real artist ;). Of his oil paintings I actually love those best that go most towards the abstract, and his cloud paintings of course...

The last picture could only be what it is because of the petit-gris brush. Squirrel hair can absorb a large amount of water and releases it slowly onto the paper; that way, you get the wonderful effect of fading. I'm so happy I bought one of those! It makes such a difference.

Thank you! :)

[veradee.livejournal.com]

I particularly like the two Snape paintings because they are not realistic. The highlights on the first Snape's face, where the light is reflected, are fantastic, and I like the fact that you used different colours for his face without really mixing them.

About the second Snape I particularly that both this hair and his cloak taper off so that they almost become part of the background.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

I like thinking of Snape as some sort of blot sometimes - just a mass of black. Paint is a better medium to achieve that sort of effect than my inked lineart.

As for the colours of the face, I found it difficult to decide whether to make them blur into each other or not... I softened a few edges, but I left most because my art is never very realistic, and it might look a little off. Realism has never been an aim in any case :).

Glad you like it!

[rexluscus.livejournal.com]

Oh wow FANTASTIC, especially that beautiful Snape portrait, but the others too. I like how in the B&W Snape figure, the background seems to be making a wake around him. Like he's repelling even the darkness! :) And the Ginny piece is nice - I was actually just thinking I *liked* the skirt folds. She looks like one of those catty talk-behind-your-back middle school girls. :)

[sigune.livejournal.com]

I could have been more discreet about my (recent - thanks to HBP) dislike of Ginny, couldn't I? But it had to be her in the picture - she was the only girl character who could serve colours like those ;).

Snape and darkness never stop fascinating me. I should like to try more with washes, now that paint allows me several effects that I couldn't create with lines. It's fun! And your interpretation is delightful :).

As for the portrait, I still have to come to terms with seeing Snape in such colours :D. It's strange to me *g*.

[unlikely2.livejournal.com]

I really like the last one, especially it's simplicity and sense of movement. Wonderful expression on Snape's face.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm very glad you like it. It's funny - I still find simplicity more satisfying than more complex stuff - though in itself it's difficult too. I should have thought a little longer before I actually started painting that last one :D - it could have been better.

[http://users.livejournal.com/phistolemon_/]

I wish I could give you some helpful advice on watercolours and so forth,
but I'm really not an expert in such things. :(
I just hope you can find what you're searching for.

the pictures look awesome as always to me :)
love your comic-style in #1 and the colours you use!

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thank you :). I'm carrying on with my experiments - I'll let you know when I'm content *g*!

Meanwhile it's just fun, even though a little frustrating at times...

[schemingreader.livejournal.com]

I am learning so much from your watercolor work! Thank you for sharing the process. Maybe the colors aren't transparent, but your process of learning how to use them is. It's nifty, for example, to know that you mixed the colors in Ginny's clothes and Snape's complection. It looks like nice work to the untrained eye, how you got his skin tone to be sallow.

My son (Kid A) sends his love. He liked the pictures too. (He's in my lap right now and wanted to be included in what I was typing!)

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Little A is so cute! Do hug him for me :).

I've been thinking that perhaps I should try adding a little gum arabic to the paint; that might make it more transparent... I'm already happy that I can mix decent skin tones - I remember that being a constant problem in the past, when my people would always look plain pink or orange :P. The trick to achieve sallowness is to add some pale yellow to the usual skin mix.

I think that in paint, skin tones always have to be mixed. For the rest, I really like the colours unmixed - I don't think mine usually look quite as beautiful as the pure stuff from the paint box. But sscrewdriver pointed out to me that you can make colours match better when you add pigment of one colour to another, and it is true that the result is much more balanced. I'm still very envious of the way mneomosyne mixes her paints - her colours are so beautiful and warm! I have a lot to learn...

[msavi.livejournal.com]

Ahhhhh, sigune. I love your Snape. Love, love, love. He's not attractive, but there's something about him...something that draws you in and you're hooked forever, just like canon!Snape. And of course you already know that watercolours make me salivate with joy. Your Ginny is wonderful; I particularly love her posture and her lips. But your Snape. Oh dear. I'm in love.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

*grins*

Why, thank you :D!

(Mwuahahahaaa! Evil mission accomplished!)

[corvus-coronis.livejournal.com]

A nice set, I really liked the Snapeses (as I would), the first one has a nice haggardness & severity to it which I like (especially the way that comes through even though he looks like he's in a good mood), like the way he looks mysterious & knowing in the other one. Good Canon Ginny, too - she looks the sort who'd be fast with the hexes if annoyed.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I'm not sure - I suppose I just have to get used to seeing my Snape in colour. Maybe it just makes him too real ;)?

I'm very glad you like them :).

[sscrewdriver.livejournal.com]

I'm particularly fond of the bottom one - so that's what you meant when you said you were experimenting! It turned out really well, very dramatic, though I like the Ginny too. She's fun, grumpy and perky. Alice in Wonderland tights.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

I have long been interested in sumi-e, and have dabbled a bit in it, but my great problem is that I'm never zen :). I guess that shows in the bottom picture *g*. Somehow I have the feeling that my paintings would be better if I didn't work them quite so much - that, as in sumi-e, I should think them out first and then paint them in one go without any of the pencil stuff that I usually lay out. But in order for that to work, I need to be very confident and know my paint and brushes like the back of my hand.

It's like two very different approaches... Pictures of the Ginny kind are fuelled by colour, and I do love colour. But there will always be something about monochrome and simple shapes that somehow I like even better. :)

[lunafish.livejournal.com]

Haha, did Ginny charm her eyes to play into Harry's Oedipus complex? ;-)

I really love the coloring with that one, esp. the awesome stockings. The Snapes are both gorgeous, imho, but the second really appeals to me. It makes me wonder what he's up to.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Er - ouch. Did I get the colour wrong? I didn't really check it (wouldn't know where). It just looked nice with green... At least canon doesn't proscribe the design of Ginny's stockings ;).

It's always good to wonder what Snape is up to, I think *g*.

Thank you! :)

[lunafish.livejournal.com]

According to the HP Lexicon, Ginny's eyes are brown. *bows before the awesomeness that is HP Lexicon* ;)

But, seriously, the green does look nice--it works well with the rest of the coloring, and those eyes just seem to fit her personality. I like them!

*Gazes adoringly at Snape once more*

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Eek! That will teach me to check the all-knowing Lexicon before I start colouring XD! Mind you, I can easily change green eyes into brown; it's the reverse that would have been problematic :).

(Look, the_bitter_word gave me an appropriately blushing icon! *g*)

[riibu.livejournal.com]

I really like them - especially the ones with Snape.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

I think the first two are great! I love Ginny's expression (and her stockings!), and Snape looks like a real person, and much as I imagine him. Great work!

[sigune.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you like them!

I'm not sure how real I want Snape to look :P. He scares me!

[lampblack.livejournal.com]

These are lovely! Such beautiful washes in the third painting!

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

I think I will always like blacks and greys best... The third painting is of course entirely in "lamp black" *g* - it wasn't in my box, so I had to buy it separately, and it was only then that I understood your username :D (I'm a pigment ignoramus, but working on it).

[lampblack.livejournal.com]

Ah, you are the *only* person who has noticed where my lj name derives from!