Fire Salamander and Alpine Ibex: Dealing with Different Challenges.

Working on commission means being ready for any types of challenge. A couple months ago, Sandro Bacco, the art director of Technologist, a European magazine of science, asked me to create one whole visual of 3-page article showing 6 species that are affected by climate change. It included two subjects that are a contrast to paint, wet-looking and glossy Fire Salamander and furry Alpine Ibex.

Painting Wet-Looking Salamander with Masking Fluid

To be honest, the idea of painting something so slick and glossy for the first time was frightening me. The "bumpy" skin of the salamander required many tiny "white" spaces (highlights) and, at the same time, a smooth gradation between shadow and mid-tones, which is harder to paint than a surface that is glossy but smooth and even. Moreover, I thought white gouache was not the correct answer. A few tiny dots of white gouache could be unnoticeable but for this focal-point highlight, the opacity and thickness of gouache would look totally out of place with the transparent watercolour. It can make the painting look shabby.

Since I mostly paint using wet into wet technique, my initial thought was using masking fluid to protect the intricate highlights of the salamander's skin while spreading paints effortlessly.

Masking fluid on the yellow markings and white highlight

If you need to know what is masking fluid, you can read my older post here and how to use masking fluid without ruining your painting or brushes here.

Painting salamander deepened my understanding of using masking fluid. Different from using masking fluid for separate parts (e.g. my previous work: masking stamens from petals of cherry blossom), creating highlight is trickier. The reasons were (1) the highlight had to look like it actually came from the same colours with the base; (2) sometimes it has a slightly different colour as a reflection from surrounding; (3) it has varied edges, such as hard/crisp, soft, and sometimes lost edges.

And here were some insights I took note of to remind myself:
1. For parts in different colours, I prefer to paint them first before applying the masking fluid, e.g., the yellow markings of the salamander. It reduces the risk of hurting my paper's surface because even a little damage on the surface will be amplified when using wet into wet (my main technique).

2. Consider the sequence of how you remove the masking fluids before you apply them, because the cohesiveness of dried masking fluid will pull everything off at the same time. Case in point: the masking fluid of the highlight and the yellow marking were prevented from coming into contact with each other. In so doing, I could keep the masking of yellow marking stay on until the painting was done whereas the highlight was removed quite earlier.

3. Highlight is actually not a pure white and some edges are soft and lost. Thus, I removed the masking fluid of the highlight after the first 3-4 layerings of paints. If I removed it in the late/final stage, I would get hard-edged, too contrasting, and unnatural highlight. After having it removed, I carefully added the next paint part by part to keep the highlight and create the soft and lost edges.
[My tips]: eradicator brush can soften the edges. I used my 1/8" sized flat brush the same way I did here and here.

And below is the final illustration after I painted cast shadow under the amphibian.

 

Painting Furry Ibex with New 'Spiky' Comber Brush

Different from my first experience of painting furs in my earlier illustration of brown bear for a wine label, this new commission required a more photo-realistic result, with more varied colours and contours of the fur. And I was happy that I bought a new 'Spiky Comber' from Rosemary&Co. I think it is an advanced version of the flat comber brushes I used before. Compared to my flat comber brush, the curved edge of the new 'spiky' comber brush creates not only many tiny strokes at once but also varied lines. With 1/4 sized brush, I could vary the amount of lines in 1/4 inch or 6.35 mm width of space, from many tiny lines (>15) to 1-2 lines if I lifted the brush.

Here are some stages I took to paint the ibex:
1. I painted the general shape of the ibex with wet into wet washes using round brush. It didn't have to be perfect and precise, but clear enough to indicate the contour of the furs. *My apologies, I didn't take picture earlier. The lower and left side of the ibex no.1 are what I meant with the initial wet washes.

2-3. After the painting was dry, I built up the fur with dry brush using new 'spiky' comber brush and sometimes round brush. *Further info about the technique can be read in my previous post.

[My tips] [1] I sometimes added wet into wet washes upon the layers of the dry-brush to darken some areas more quickly or to slightly soften the dry-brush edges. It would not lift up the previous layers of paint if you did it on a completely dried layers of dry brush and only brushed the wet washes lightly.

[2] If your paper is as forgiving as mine (Fabriano Artistico HP 300 gsm), you can even enhance the highlight by softly erasing the paints using eradicator' brush. I wet the area to be removed with clean water by stroking a damp brush gently, then pat the pigment away with tissue (I wrote the technique here).

I think this post is already too long. I hope you find it useful. And here is how the illustrations look on the magazine's layout. Enjoy!

[TIPS] Cherry Blossom: The Fear of Masking Fluid

Last week, I and a friend, a wonderful botanical artist, had a chat. She was working on an illustration of lovely streaked red-yellow apples with light brown spots spread over the fruits. When I saw her specimen, I immediately thought of using masking fluid for the light brown spots, but she said she was afraid of using it since masking fluid tends to ruin her works. A few years ago, I will say the same. Using masking fluid is an easy way to leave detailed or intricate white spaces but it can also ruin my hard work when applied inappropriately.

How to avoid masking fluid from ruining your work?

1. Masking fluid is not suitable for regular paper, such as cartridge paper, regular sketchbook, Padalarang paper, etc. These papers would be peeled off when I removed the masking. Test the masking fluid on the watercolour paper before applying to a real painting. I found that I need to be more careful with cold-pressed paper than hot-pressed one when rubbing masking fluid.

2. Masking fluid must be applied to a perfectly dry paper and removed only when a painting is completely dry. The wrong choice of time in applying/removing masking fluid is the main reason of ruining a work.

3. Never use a fine brush! I use my inexpensive synthetic brush (actually I got it free from buying a watercolour pencil set) or a dip/ ruling pen.

4. Dip the brush into liquid dish soapy water, rinse slightly and then wipe it before and after using the masking fluid. I used to ruin my brushes with masking fluid but since I treat the brush regularly and repeat the soap step before applying more masking, I never clog my brushes anymore.

5. Make sure the masking fluid is completely dry before putting a paint or glazing the paper. Be careful with thick masking fluid, it may look dry on the outside but wet inside, the brush's pressure can scrape the paper and spread the fluid out. Masking fluid will be more transparent once it's dried.

6. From a completely dry painting/paper, gently remove masking fluid by rubbing it off with dry and clean fingers or rubber eraser. Be careful with a greasy finger, it can smear paint onto the newly uncovered area.

7. Pat down the painting to make sure all the masking fluid removed. I check any missed spots by running my fingers lightly across the paper surface. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Masking fluid made my painting process on this Cherry blossom much easier. The masking retained the tiny white area of the stamens and carpels of the flowers while I was painting the other area freely, putting darker shadow or making patterns and veins. For this painting, I used Winsor & Newton masking fluid. You can read on another post about the brand of masking fluid I use HERE.

I used Fabriano Artistico hot-pressed paper and let the masking stay for about a week without any trouble removing it.

Pebeo | Winsor&Newton Masking Fluid

A few years ago, I won't have many options for watercolour papers or medium in Indonesia as I have now in the UK, such as masking fluid, a latex-rubber fluid that is applied to retain the white watercolour paper or wash underneath. I used to know only Winsor & Newton art masking fluid.

Since I start practising botanical art which often requires delicate details and sometimes a very tiny area to preserve, I made a time to browse a better option for masking. I found Pebeo drawing gum and I am happy I did it!

I like that Pebeo is significantly coloured (grey). It is nice to easily see where the masking is already applied. I love that Pebeo is thinner or more liquid than W&N masking fluid, so it is easy for making sharp edges and reaching the paper's deep texture quickly. I'm also fond of Pebeo for lasting a long time and not making solid gum on the bottle's neck and cap when not in use. I like that the cap is also easier to open than W&N.

I haven't tried other brands yet. I heard about other masking fluids whose bottle has a special nib so I don't need a brush and just gently squeeze the bottle to apply the masking. I may tried them later but for now, I am happy with what I've had. I never be worried about paper tearing or brush clogging as long as the masking fluid used appropriately. Read more tips HERE.

Comparison of the colour. Using dip/ ruling pen will give thicker masking and so darker colour than using a brush. Since I use brushes more often, I prefer the grey Pebeo that is easily seen on white paper.

Comparison of the thickness. I can't show you well the significant difference of thickness between Pebeo and W&N masking fluid but it was easier for me to move the brush/dip pen with Pebeo than W&N masking fluid. You can see the the branch silhouette in left painting has longer and steadier strokes.

Comparison of the sharp/clean edges. I love that the anthers of flower in the left image have sharper and rounder edges than the right one.