Starting a New Project, part 2

In my last post, I described my preparations for a painting of lupine that I was commissioned to do.  My client said I could paint any lupine I wanted, so I chose the graceful native variety that grows in the eastern Columbia Gorge, Lupinus latifolius x sericeus.  With my client’s permission, I decided to add balsamroot because it grows in the same habitat and the blossom colors are complimentary.

While doing my color studies, studying the plant form and making my initial drawings, I am thinking about how I want to depict the plant in my painting. I want to accurately display its habit, and more that that, it’s ‘personality’, in my rendering. Ideally, I will highlight what attracted me to the plant in the first place, what I find most beautiful or interesting. I usually do a quick, rough sketch of my idea with loose lines to indicate the concept I have in mind.

Next I begin layering the drawings on tracing paper into the composition that I sketched out. I do my drawings on tracing paper because then I can adjust the various elements by moving them around until I come up with a pleasing combination without a lot of erasing and redrawing.

Putting together drawings by layering tracing paper.

When I think I am getting close to the composition I want to use, I put a fresh sheet of tracing paper on top and trace a rough bold outline around the elements to be included. This allows me to see how the shapes work together, and just as importantly if the negative spaces (the ’empty spaces’ between the shapes) are pleasing.  Also, I like to use a large neutral colored mat around the composition so I can better imagine how it would look framed. I have cut apart the mat on two sides so I can adjust the size to any drawing or painting.

I roughly outlined this composition, and I can see that it is not quite balanced so I will adjust some of the leaves.

Now I’ve adjusted the composition and carefully finalized my drawing on a sheet of tracing paper…well I see a couple of possible tweaks so maybe not quite finalized…

Now I can relax a bit, knowing that my drawings are ready, or almost ready, to transfer to the watercolor paper. I’ve decided on my basic palette, and I have reference photos if needed.  My next step is to figure out which watercolor paper I will use.  I’ve always relied on Fabriano Artistico HP, but rumor has it that it has gone through some production changes and its surface is no longer as amenable to the crisp detail of botanical art.  I’ve purchased a variety of brands of paper and will do some small tests on them to see how they perform in comparison the Fabriano. It should be interesting…

What is your favorite paper?