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WATERCOLOUR MINTING The Ron Ranson Techniqi [Cjjif\ fZ0ty/*&6Y\ JS**N* IVi"•j(?Sfa:i;i_*i' \ RonRansoncallshimselfa'watercolourfanatic'.He believeswatercolourpaintingshouldbebothsimpleand excitingandwithoutanyfalsemystique.Inthisbookhe givesarefreshinglydown-to-earthillustratedguidewhich willhelpbothbeginnersandexperiencedpaintersto rapidlyimprovetheirtechniques.Itisbasedonhishighly successfulpaintingschoolmethod. Mostpeoplewhotakeupwatercolourpaintingare misledintothinkingitisbothdifficultandgovernedby rigidrules.Asaresulttheyslowlypicktheirwaythrough tinypictures,afraidtomakemistakesorexperiment.In teachinghundredsofstudentseachyear,RonRansonhas beenabletodeviseeffectiveremediesfortheseandother commonfaultsandfears.Heencouragesalooserandmore fluentstyleby,forinstance,theuseoflargebrushesand fewermaterials.Heemphasisestheneedforexperiment andrecommendslarge,generouspaintings,withasfew strokesofthebrushaspossible,whichgettheessenceofa scenewithoutsuperfluousdetails. RonRanson,whowasanadvertisingexecutive,tookup watercolourinmiddleageandnowmakesalivingentirely bypainting.Herunspaintingcourseswithhiswifeattheir homeintheWyeValley. Readerswillfindhisenthusiasmforwatercolouris infectiouswhilsthispracticaladvicestimulatesarapid improvement. * • Watercolour Painting F&m aH <**±6r\ ~T WATERCOLOUR PAINTING The Ron Ranson Technique BLANDFORD PRESS POOLE DORSET • fBRIGHTON First published in the U.K. 1984 by Blandford Press, Link House, WestStreet,Poole,Dorset,BH15 ILL. Copyright© 1984Ron Ranson Reprinted1985 DistributedintheUnitedStatesby SterlingPublishingCo.,Inc., 2ParkAvenue,NewYork,N.Y. 10016. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Ranson,Ron Watercolourpainting. — 1.Water-colorpainting Technique I.Title 751.42'2 ND2420 ISBN0-7137-1396-8 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedor transmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical, includingphotocopying,recordingoranyinformationstorageand retrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthePublisher. TypesetbyPolyglotPrivateLimited Printed in Italy by Interlitho, Milan Contents Acknowledgements 6 Introduction 7 Faults, fearsandphilosophy 8 Materials 12 Thehakeandhowtouseit 18 Usingtheflatbrushes 22 Usingtherigger 24 Wet-into-wet techniques 26 Dry brush 30 Combining all the techniques 32 Colour 33 Thestudio 38 Paintingoutofdoors 42 Pencilsketching 48 Tone 52 Composition 54 Aerialperspective 57 Counterchange 59 Linearperspective 61 Skiesandclouds 66 Treesandfoliage 72 Paintingbuildings 81 Boats, harboursandbeaches 88 Shadowsandreflectedlight 96 Mist 100 Figuresandanimalsinlandscape 102 Portrayingwater 106 Winterlandscapes 114 Additionaltechniques 119 Usingphotographyproperly 129 Paintingcourses 134 Evolving your own style 139 Photographingyourpaintings 142 Presentation 146 Marketing 151 Whatofthefuture? 157 Index 159 Acknowledgements I would like to offer my grateful thanks to Julia Evans and Megan Harrisfortypingthemanuscriptfrommyalmost unintel- ligible scribble, and to Ray Mitchell for taking all the photo- graphs. Being determined to design the book myself, from cover to cover, I would like to acknowledge, gratefully, the hours of patient collaboration that Sue Lovatt has given me in this direction. Finally, I am indebted to my patient and understanding wife, Audrey, who as well as providing thousands ofcups ofcoffee at all hours, has supported me loyally throughout this long task.