Dreamscapes Magical Menagerie Stephanie Pui-Mun Law Contents Introduction Materials & Techniques Selecting Pencils Choosing Brushes and Other Tools Finding Paints Gathering Extras Selecting Paper Stretching Watercolor Paper Understanding Color Suggesting Edges and Incorporating Spills Laying a Flat Wash Laying a Graded Wash Glazing Layering Glazes Blending Using Salt More Watercolor Techniques Positive and Negative Space Using Opaque Whites Lifting Out Using Ideas Around You WATERS Fish Paint Koi Paint an Eel Sea Horses Draw a Sea Horse Paint a Sea Horse Paint a Sea Turtle Sea Dragons Paint a Sea Dragon Skies Birds Paint Bird Eyes Wings and Feathers Paint a Mourning Dove Paint Ravens Paint an Owl Paint a Raptor Paint a Peacock Paint Distant Blackbirds Paint the Phoenix Butterflies Paint a Butterfly Kaleidoscope Woods Cats Paint a Cat Paint a Lion Foxes Paint a Fox Horses Paint a Wild Horse Paint a Pegasus Earth Dragons Dragon Body Types Paint an Earth Dragon Ideas. Instruction. Inspiration. Introduction When I was studying at Berkeley, I came across a story about a man who had the (mis)fortune to be loved by two women, both of whom came into his life under mysterious circumstances. One of the women was eventually revealed to be a ghost, and the other a fox spirit. The story lingered in my mind. I found I could not stop thinking about it, just as the man in the tale could not stop obsessing over the two trickster creatures who had possessed his mind and life. Years later I attempted to hunt the story down with the scant information I had. Used bookstores abound in Berkeley—you could visit a different one each day of the week. I loved to spend long hours browsing the aisles filled with relics and treasures of paper and ink. For years I haunted the folklore shelves, until finally one day I came across a book entitled Chinese Ghost and Love Stories. It had a horrid yellow cover, and the binding was coming apart. In a roundabout route of translations, it had arrived in the English volume I held in my hands via German from the original Chinese. But it contained the story I was searching for, as well as many other Chinese fairy tales about ghosts and fox spirits. The morality of the supernatural creatures in these tales is not quite in step with that of humans. They are drawn to and fascinated by humans. The ghosts long for an essence they no longer possess, and the fox spirits never possessed it to begin with. Like moths to a flame, they hover around the bright flare of humanity, sometimes wreaking havoc with the strength of their yearning. And yet they are an integral part of the world and the natural order of the universe they exist in. There is an intimacy and a naturalness to their stories—they slip into the lives of the protagonists the same way they slipped into my art. One can draw and paint animals for mere love of nature and wildlife. There is undoubtedly that aspect to my pursuit of the natural world in artwork. But there is a mythic tie that myriad creatures in uncounted cultures have had to humans and to gods. They are a reflection through which we can see ourselves, with our most noble qualities as well as our most base, simplified and distilled into the traits and characteristics of the natural world that we are surrounded by. And so, as our stories through time are filled with rich metaphors and fantastical creatures, there is a wealth of inspiration to draw from in artwork. PART ONE Materials & Techniques It can be a daunting task, indeed, to sit in front of a blank sheet of paper with the expectation of creating something magical. Yet possibilities and inspiration lie all around you. From the myriad of legends and stories of the past, to the works of other artists, to the inherent beauty that exists in nature, there is no shortage of places to look for ideas. Even the mistakes you make when painting—those unplanned, and at times, highly frustrating marks or spills—can be utilized to create unexpected and unique results. So, while it certainly can be intimidating to stare at a stark white piece of paper and wonder how your composition will turn out in the end, don’t let fear hold you back. The good news is this: By obtaining knowledge about the tools of the trade and being familiar with the basic watercolor techniques at your disposal, you can help ease the transition from nebulous imagination to successful painting. With time and experience, the medium will simply become an extension of your imagination. After all, practice is the only way to turn a once-blank sheet of paper into a colorful, whimsical and magical world filled with iconic figures of fantasy. Selecting Pencils In this book you’ll use pencils in your studies of drawing ethereal fantasy creatures with the goal of a painted end result. Though the focus here is on painting with watercolors, pencils are a viable tool for completed works of art. Selecting an Eraser Vinyl erasers work fine for sketches, to clean up a piece after all the painting is completed and for removing bits of dried masking fluid. Kneaded erasers are needed only if your intent is to create finished pencil drawings, because you don’t want to lay in heavy graphite under your watercolors—it will muddy the colors. Leads Are Available in Varying Degrees of Hardness 8B is the softest lead, while 8H is the hardest. HB is a medium hardness. The softer the pencil lead, the darker your mark. If you use too soft a lead, the pencil will smear and make your painted colors look dirty. If the pencil lead is too hard, you will have to press harder to draw your lines, creating indentations on your watercolor paper with the point. For this reason, HB and 2B pencils are good choices for sketches that are going to be painted over. Selecting a Pencil Traditional wood pencils are a good all-around choice. They have an expressiveness that tends to get lost with mechanical pencils. Mechanical pencils, however, are convenient and consistent. They come in a variety of thicknesses and don’t need to be sharpened. The downside of mechanical pencils is that you lose the organic flow that a uniform thickness of line cannot accommodate. If you’re planning to paint on the surface afterward, don’t use much shading if you wish to keep the colors pure. If you are just sketching for ideas or doing a pencil drawing, then go all out. A lead holder is a particular joy to use in that case. A lead holder is similar to a mechanical pencil but can hold a much thicker lead so you can draw with its edge or sharpen it to a point.