#glueblade

Hello. The Dunsparce tryptich is now a real thing that exists.

(cont) I might just have to invest in some intesely pigmented properly dark paints, but there's probably ways to get better results with my current set as well. I tend to not really do proper washes and mostly work in one or a handful of layers, so that's probably contributing to the less intense colours. I never really got any formal training and just trial and error'd my way through, so I'm probably missing knowledge on some really basic techniques

You're welcome! The follow up question makes me wish I'd made that galaxy tutorial I have been wanting to do for years but alas, no time. So I'll try to explain it.

There are two things that factor to this. One is that watercolour is a transparent medium so you typically don't get super intense colours or dark tones with them. Two, cheaper watercolours don't often have enough pigment to achieve what you have in mind.

What you described with the "gradients becoming messy" is what happens to me often, too. When you layer too much watercolour they become muddy and that is what you generally want to avoid. Because watercolour is a transparent medium it relies on having some of the paper white shine through to make the colour look vibrant/intense. So when you block all of that you lose the colour.

To paint a night sky or a galaxy in watercolours you can rely on relative colour a lot. For example, in this whale piece the darker areas look dark because what's around them is light.

The way I did this was by doing a very wet and light wash for the wave, mixing teals greens and blues randomly and just let the paint take the shape. The lighter areas around the whale are the first wash. The more detailed and darker bits were added on top and if you look closerly at the mid greens they're not really that dark but the lighter wash that lets some of the paper white show through makes it look more opaque and dark. The dark blues are just full pigment so they appear the darkest in value.

It's also good to keep in mind that what you see on the screen is not what it looks like in real life because your computer/phone screen is not a paper or a canvas. So don't let that fool you. This scan was enhanced so that it would look good on a computer screen.

One good way of avoiding overworking your piece and preventing the colours from turning muddy would be to build some kind of value scale you can reference as you work on your painting, just to remind yourself what does the darkest colour look like and what are the mid and light colours you can use.

It's really easy to overwork a watercolour piece and I do so constantly. I have started entire pieces over because of this but the internet never sees it.

LOL dw, I'm going to omit 9 though because that got answered already. 5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself I used to post almost everything I drew and I think that got switched around, lol. Nowadays it's like 10% posted and 90% hoarded into my deepest folders or only uploaded on patreon.

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate All kinds of traditional art at this point. I'm really not good at them and the only thing I enjoy is pencil sketches or charcoal doodling so I'm just staring at others who master that stuff.

12. Easiest part of body to draw Hands?? Somehow. Shoulders. Arms in general.

As an aside, do you recommend that people read the Dumas Pastiche with magical elves?

The books in question are the Khaavren Romances by Steven Brust. It’s been a long time since I reread them, so I can’t make the most informed recommendation right now, though I can warn that the worldbuilding is pretty impenetrable if you go into them blind. They’re spin-off prequels of the author’s preexisting fantasy series with a much more conventional narrator who’s aware that he’s explaining the nature of the world to someone from outside it, while these books are in-universe historical fiction that takes for granted that, for instance, the in-universe audience knows what species most of the characters are.

On the other hand:

Imagine Edelgard asking Hubert what he thinks of Ferdinand and the ominous laughter gets longer every time and that's how she knows Hubert is slowly falling in love