Carolyn, Winsor & Newton Professional Water Colour Desert Set on 140lb watercolour paper, (38x28cm)
Tony Paul explores Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolours for portraiture.
The paints Tony used here were taken from a limited-edition Desert Set which included the colours above, minus the permanent rose.
The set Tony used is no longer available but all Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolours can be purchased as individual tubes or pans and in a range of sets.
About Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolours
Top features include:
- Excellent Light-fastness (ASTM I)
- No granulation
- Produce even, flat washes
- Clean, clear colours made from monopigments
With four of the six being of earthy hues, in colour mixes it was expected that in the main restrained, yet rich hues, would result.
I made two mixes from each colour. I particularly liked the soft, dusty character of the mixes shown in the right-hand column. Such neutrals are very useful, and being based on mono-pigments they don’t look dirty or dull.
These colours are made from fairly newly introduced pigments, and only one, gold brown, being an iron oxide based colour. The remainder are metallic-based colours, with the orange and blue being synthetic organic colours.
We are very familiar with the excellent phthalo blue, a beautiful, powerful and reliable colour that used to be known as Winsor blue. The vibrant phthalo sapphire is one of many blues that have been developed from the base pigment.
Tony's colour mixes
How to use the colours
I took the colours to the portrait group that I attend. The model was Carolyn.
To the six colours supplied by Winsor & Newton I added permanent rose, as I needed a cool red that couldn’t be obtained from either the transparent orange or Indian red deep.
The secret of watercolour is getting the density right. Test out your washes on a piece of similar paper, or areas of paper bordering the image.
I used a good pointed brush throughout and a small No. 3 for the detail at the end of the painting.
Reference photograph
Step one
I clipped the paper on to a board and set it vertically on a half box easel, placing a small folding palette and a water pot on the sliding drawer.
I then drew the portrait with a good, clear line.
Top tip
Getting the drawing right is the main priority, and having the picture plane vertical eases the transfer from the model to the paper. If you measure, you won’t be wrong; if you don’t, you probably will.
Step 2
- Mix Indian red and phthalo sapphire to make a dull purple. Dilute this to a tone similar to that of the background and wash it in.
- Dilute the same colour mix and place the tone of the lightish shadow that runs down the right centre of the face from forehead to chin. Add this tone to other areas of the head, neck and hair.
- With a stronger mix of the same colours, place the slightly darker shadows: mouth, eye sockets and hair. When this is dry, use a very strong mix of the same colours to place the dark areas. This loose tonal modelling already creates a sense of light in the portrait, giving a sound base for the colour work. Don’t worry if it’s a little ragged; you can lift off areas that are too firm or soften them.
Step 3 - The finished portrait
Carolyn, Winsor & Newton Professional Water Colour Desert Set on 140lb watercolour paper, (38x28cm)
- Transparent orange is perfect when well diluted for the warm (right) side of the face. The richness and transparency will make the flesh colour glow. Modify it here and there with a touch of well-diluted yellow titanate. The tonal under-layer will blend with the superimposed colour to model the forms.
- Indian red deep is perfect for a base for the hair and to modify, where necessary, the permanent rose to be used on the cool side of the face. Bear in mind that the flesh of the left side of the face is paler than on the warm side so don’t make the colour too strong and use a light touch.
- Add a pale green mixed from the blue and yellow titanate to give recession to the eye sockets, chin and neck areas.
- Blends of Indian red and blue should now be used to add definition to the eyes, nose and mouth. Use a strong mix of these colours to add more darks to the hair.
- The neck scarf is next. Model this softly with diffused wet-in-wet blends of gold brown, orange, Indian red, blue and yellow titanate.
- The extreme darks of the hair, the jacket and eye detail should be made with mixes of phthalo sapphire and dark brown. And the portrait is finished.
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Please note that the video above is taken from the Winsor & Newton YouTube channel.