WetCanvas: ArtSchool Online: Watercolors: Watercolor Painting, My Way!: Autumn Leaves

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Watercolor Painting, My Way!: Autumn Leaves: L4/5

Author: Rod Webb, Associate Editor

We now have a leaf with two water droplets.
However, we still need some highlights to give it some addtional shape and shine.

There are two ways to acheive this.
The first way is by lifting paint by simply dampening the surface.

Have some paper kitchen towel, tissues or a piece of toilet paper ready.

Using a small reasonably stiff brush, wet carefully the area where you wish to lift the paint.

Then dab with your tissue.

By using a small brush you can get varied shapes by carefully dampening small areas.
You can see the lifted paint on my tissue.

Keep repeating the process until you have sufficent shapes of a now lighter shade.

The original yellow wash will show through.

Your leaf should now look like this.
Allow the paper to dry compleletly.

A hairdryer will speed up the drying.

Another way to add shape/shine is by scraping the surface to lift paint.
After lifting paint with the damping method, which gives shapes of lighter colour with soft edges, we will use a craft knife to scrap the top surface off, revealing the white paper.

This method requires rough watercolour paper to be effective. Holding the blade vertical and flat to the paper, it is lightly scraped across the surface. This only removes the highest spots of paint on the rough surface.
Using the tip of the blade small spots of white paper can be revealed in the middle of the previously lifted areas. This will give the extra effect of a shiny leaf surface.

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	We now have a leaf with two water droplets. However, we still need some highlights to give it some addtional shape and shine.
	There are two ways to acheive this. The first way is by lifting paint by simply dampening the surface. Have some paper kitchen towel, tissues or a piece of toilet paper ready. Using a small reasonably stiff brush, wet carefully the area where you wish to lift the paint. Then dab with your tissue.
	By using a small brush you can get varied shapes by carefully dampening small areas. You can see the lifted paint on my tissue. Keep repeating the process until you have sufficent shapes of a now lighter shade. The original yellow wash will show through.
	Your leaf should now look like this. Allow the paper to dry compleletly. A hairdryer will speed up the drying.
	Another way to add shape/shine is by scraping the surface to lift paint. After lifting paint with the damping method, which gives shapes of lighter colour with soft edges, we will use a craft knife to scrap the top surface off, revealing the white paper.
	This method requires rough watercolour paper to be effective. Holding the blade vertical and flat to the paper, it is lightly scraped across the surface. This only removes the highest spots of paint on the rough surface. Using the tip of the blade small spots of white paper can be revealed in the middle of the previously lifted areas. This will give the extra effect of a shiny leaf surface.