Art: Famous Grey Nightshirt (G)

[sigune]

My latest experiment with watercolour - Snape, nightshirt courtesy of Goblet of Fire, utterly G.

Concrit very welcome.






This time I used a method totally different from my usual stuff. Instead of making a detailed pencil drawing, I did a light sketch that served just to make sure that everything would end up in the right position; then I drew just about everything with my paintbrush. The paper has a very grainy surface - it's the same as I used for The Beautiful Narcissa.

In a sense I'm pleased with the result, but not entirely. I don't know - I don't seem to be able to do really fine work with watercolour, and half the time I'm not sure just what I'm doing and what effect it's going to have. I kept adding to the background washes, and I just couldn't get them to look the way I wanted them to :(. It was difficult to figure out when to stop - I had no idea whether I would improve the picture or make it worse. I also lacked the courage to paint closer to the outline of the shirt, the flame and the candle. There is always this white line between my figures and the background :/.

...Just how often do I have to tell myself to take classes before I'm actually going to make time and really take some? :P

Comments

[inevitably-grey.livejournal.com]

Okay. I'm giving you a challenge now. Will you accept it?

Well. I want you to go away from your comfort zone and draw something in abstract, vague lines (double-meaning, faint things that may imply something deeper [for instance, there's a hint of joy at the front of the painting, at the surface, but in the distance, behind the surface, there's a house burning, or something else that implies double-meaing and theme to the poem]).

You don't have to do this but I think it would be mighty interesting (for both me and you).

I liked your play with light colours at the front, and darker at the back in this painting. Interesting.

Best,
James.

[inevitably-grey.livejournal.com]

poem = painting.

What's up with me? *Scratches head*

[ada-kensington.livejournal.com]

Kudos to you for even trying watercolour. It scared the living daylights out of me when I did art at highschool (back in the day).

It's lovely. I have nothing constructive to say about it at all. ;)

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Heh. Thank you! :)

You did watercolour at school? We only used gouache once or twice, and I didn't like that very much (probably because I didn't learn how to use it properly). Watercolour is scary, but I like the transparency and the petit-gris brushes :P.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Ha! I have a simple answer to that: you're a poet ;).

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Hm.

I don't know, James. It's interesting, and I won't dismiss the idea, but I doubt that I'll be able to make something of it - my imagination is all about figures; the abstract doesn't appeal to me. Sometimes I find it beautiful, but it doesn't inspire me, and I don't think I would manage to make a decent painting out of something I can't grasp. In painters who favour the abstract, their move towards it is usually a slow and natural evolution; me, I'm only just discovering my skills in the colour field. Until a few months ago, I'd never held a proper paint brush; I'm a comics artist, and a simple one too. I'd like to learn about other things, but you can't hurry that process of conception. You have to feel it, not mimic it.

Anyway - I'll think about it, and I'll let you know if anything comes from it :).

Thanks!