Urban Watercolor Sketching: A Guide to Drawing, Painting, and Storytelling in Color

305 Pages·2014·71.73 MB·English

by  Felix Scheinberger

Copyright © 2011, 2014 by Felix Scheinberger and Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by WatsonGuptill Publications, an imprint of the Crown
Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New
York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.watsonguptill.com
WATSONGUPTILL and the WG and Horse designs are registered trademarks of Random House
LLC.
Originally published in hardcover in Germany as Wasserfarbe für Gestalter by Verlag Hermann
Schmidt Mainz, in 2011. This translation arranged with Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz.
Translation by Faith Ann Gibson.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Scheinberger, Felix.
[Wasserfarbe für Gestalter. English]
Urban Watercolor sketching : a guide to drawing, painting, and storytelling in color / Felix
Scheinberger. — First American Edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Watercolor painting—Technique. I. Title.
ND2420.S32313 2014
751.42′2—dc23
2013019316
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-0-7704-3521-9
eBook ISBN: 978-0-77043524-0
Design by Nicola Aehle, Felix Scheinberger, and Katy Brown
v3.1

CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
INTRO
Watercolors—In or Out?
A Painting for the Emperor
Gum Arabic: Where the Watercolors Grow
Pigments: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of
Yellow and Orange: Of Camels and Crocuses
Red and Purple: Of Bugs and Snails
Blue: Of Lapis Lazuli, Indigo, and Woad
Green: Of Plants and Poison
Introducing Color to Sketches: We’re Not in Kansas Anymore
FIRST ATTEMPTS
Multiple Choice: To Design Is to Decide
From Dusk till Dawn: Shadows and Light
Black Is Back: Glazing with India Ink
Layer for Layer: The Glaze
Mixing Colors with Glazes
Fish Soup: Practicing the Glaze
The Wash: The Paint Does as It Pleases!
On the Run: Graded Wash Techniques
Once More, with Feeling!: Washes
It’s a Give and Take: Applying and Removing Paint
Wet-on-Wet
Combining Techniques: A Little Bit of This and That
EXCURSION IN COLOR THEORY
Where Do Colors Come From?: The Simple Science
Arranging Colors
Opposites Attract: Color Contrasts
From South Park to Stoplights: Types of Color
True Color: The Effect of Light
Every Color Tells a Story: Intensifying Your Sketches
It’s All Relative: The Effects of Colors
Color Harmonies: Simple and Complex
Analogous, Monochromatic, and Complementary Harmonies
Triadic and Tetradic Harmonies
Cool-Cool and Warm-Warm Harmonies
Collecting Colors
Designing Color Harmonies: Working with Color Code Strips
Getting Out of Your Color Comfort Zone
The Blue Ridge Mountains: Color and Perspective
YOUR OWN STYLE
Less Is More
Me, Myself, and I: Finding Your Own Style
Style and Creativity
Throwing Down: Loosening Up Your Painting
Seek Not and You Shall Find: Imagination vs. Internet
Make It Matter
Priorities
BASICS / TOOLS
Paintboxes
Watercolor Pencils
Buying Paints
Mixing Paints
Impossible Hues: Bright Colors
Pimping Watercolors: Making Colors Pop
Liquid Watercolors: Bright Now, Pale Later
Into the Wild: Brushes
Even More Brushes
Paper
The Permanent Wave: Stretching Paper
The Contents of My Bag
OUT & ABOUT
Bad Weather: Painting Outdoors
The Other Viewpoint: Changing Perspective
Painting Water
Air, Fog, Smoke
Smog and Atmosphere
What Is Beauty Anyway?
TIPS & TRICKS
Composition and Design
Smudges and Spots
Painting What’s Not There: Negative Space
White: A Special Case
Studies, Sketches, and Drafts
Undo
Merging Colors: Working from One Color
Working with Colored Paper
Special Effects
Lettering and Writing
Layouts, Scribbles, and Storyboards
Watercolor Illustrations
How Much Is Your Picture Worth?
Everything Ends: When Is a Picture Finished?
About the Author
Index