Tonal Watercolour
26th March 2023
In: Art
Painting with one colour can simplify the watercolour decision making process. It removes all considerations of colour and colour mixing, allowing the concentration to be centred on the tones and the brush marks.
This was something that I discovered early in my watercolour practice. I was struggling with the whole process and then, after seeing a video on YouTube, I painted the castle in Newark-on-Trent with just sepia paint. Suddenly, I was painting with a greater freedom of expression, I was doing things that had failed up to this point, and now I understand why.
Painting with one colour forced me to simplify a scene, to observe and connect the big shapes, to consider the sequence of washes, where the hard and soft edges might be, and how to render the detail and shadows, in particular.
In many ways a tonal sketch is a rehearsal for the full colour version, a way to learn and adjust a composition, to set a full watercolour plan. If a tonal sketch doesn’t look right when it’s completed, it is unlikely that it will be any better in colour.
That said, some tonal sketches have more impact than the colour versions and standalone as a finished piece, perhaps in the same way monochrome photography can often work.
This is the Newark Castle painting, completed a few years ago on Arches rough A4 pad paper:
These are my latest tonal sketches: The Yard and The Cow Shed (A4 size on practice paper). Both scenes include strong contrast and although there are errors, I like the range of textures in The Yard scene and the negative painting in the Cow Shed. All good practice…
This was something that I discovered early in my watercolour practice. I was struggling with the whole process and then, after seeing a video on YouTube, I painted the castle in Newark-on-Trent with just sepia paint. Suddenly, I was painting with a greater freedom of expression, I was doing things that had failed up to this point, and now I understand why.
Painting with one colour forced me to simplify a scene, to observe and connect the big shapes, to consider the sequence of washes, where the hard and soft edges might be, and how to render the detail and shadows, in particular.
In many ways a tonal sketch is a rehearsal for the full colour version, a way to learn and adjust a composition, to set a full watercolour plan. If a tonal sketch doesn’t look right when it’s completed, it is unlikely that it will be any better in colour.
That said, some tonal sketches have more impact than the colour versions and standalone as a finished piece, perhaps in the same way monochrome photography can often work.
This is the Newark Castle painting, completed a few years ago on Arches rough A4 pad paper:
These are my latest tonal sketches: The Yard and The Cow Shed (A4 size on practice paper). Both scenes include strong contrast and although there are errors, I like the range of textures in The Yard scene and the negative painting in the Cow Shed. All good practice…