To line or Not to line with watercolor
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@demotlj Sounds like we are in the EXACT same boat. At least i know I am not alone. Let me know when you "find the answer".
I agree. Line is WAY easier for me, but many times feel amateurish to me. Then I hatch the hell out of stuff and say "HEY, see I can do this too" and then I don't love it either.
I'm just stuck. Who knows.
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@fullerj I use everything from fountain pens to bic and pencils for hatching and linework. I used a dip pen for a while as well.
I am now looking up the golden age of illustrators and there is some BEAUTIFUL stuff in there. Maybe I just need to "be quite" and go Master Copy them for a while and see what comes out.
Thanks for that recommendation. I'm going to Pintrest save the mess out of them
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@bradyblack Keep posting what you are discovering. As I said, this is something I have been wrangling with for about two years and it is probably the central question I have been facing in trying to develop a consistent style that I feel good about. I'd love to read more of what you are finding.
Laurie DeMott
instagram.com/demotlj -
@demotlj I will. I think after looking at the Golden masters I am just going to give in and do linework/ pencil work with washes over them. It is good enough for those guys, I'm just going to give in and do it.
I about freaked out on Pintrest gathering all manner of examples and such. So much fun
I will keep posting what I find
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@bradyblack I have a book on pen and wash and they said it depends on who you want to be the star. If you want the colors to be the star, watercolor first and do linework after. If you want the lines to be the star, do the opposite.
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I'd say they both look great and it depends on what look you're going for. Personally I love using linework since I like the cleaner, graphic quality to it. But you can get more realistic shading and hazy shapes without it.
You can also play around with using linework in some areas of a piece and leave others without, either to bring the focus to a particular point, separate the foreground from the background, or emphasize different textures (ex fluffy sheep in watercolour with just the head and feet outlined so the wool look fuzzier)
I would just keep playing around and see which one you like best, but you can definitely use both or just see what works for the piece you're creating!
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@bradyblack I’ve actually been struggling with this myself. When I’m painting, I feel like I need line to accomplish a finished looking piece, but l look at other watercolor artists and I’m drawn to more unlined work. It looks so clean to me. I was thinking about doing some master copies specifically of the watercolor illustrations I love, so I could maybe discover what is going on in their work that I’m not doing in my own.
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I've been studying some artists from the "IllustrationGolden Age" and have noticed they use linework on harder edges, but often leave the softer edges blank. They will also use linework to show the contour of an object or bring your focus to something. So I guess, the linework is there to enhance the paint. Also, sepia ink tends to blend into the paint more than black.
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@chrisaakins nice. That is a helpful way to think about that
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@Pamela-Fraley agreed me too. I think I am trying to understand when to use what in the tool box, and what each style communicates.
Glad to hear I'm not the only one asking this
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Wow, this is such a great topic, and something I've been debating for months now. Even tho I'm working digital - which presents other problems, trying to get a watercolor look - I've been totally struggling with line/no line, black line, color line, etc.
What I seem to like best are illustrations that use line sparingly, or all scratchy and loose. I've never worked like that, so I'm fighting the urge to fall back on solid black outlines. Doing master studies seems to help, so I've been doing some in an attempt to loosen up.
I realize lately that I often thought I was doing it wrong if it seemed to easy. Sort of like what you said, @bradyblack and @demotlj , thinking the way you were working wasn't artsy enough or something. I think it's because I see myself as such a terrible amateur that if something comes easily, I assume it must be bad. I'm trying to let go of that and just make something, experiment and see what happens without judging if I'm struggling enough.
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I did master studies of Lita Judge who uses pencil and watercolor in a lot of her work. She's not as well known but has published numerous books and copying her has helped loosen me up (though I still revert because I don't trust my own judgment.) Here's an image search for some of her work. Lita Judge
