CREATE TEXTURE IN WATERCOLOURS

AUDREY BENJAMINSEN explores her watercolour process, from initial design to painting techniques, as she creates a golden mermaid full of luminous layers

- AUDREY BENJAMINSEN

There’s much to be said about the power of shapes, textures and colour, and the wild variety of ways you can make them play together with watercolour. You can control the medium to an extent, but there’ll no doubt be unexpected opportunities and surprises.

I suspect this is why I love it for fantasy art; the material just suits the spirit of the subject matter. This workshop will show how you can take a simple sketch, and transform it into a fully imagined fantasy creature through the magic of watercolour.

You don’t always have to have a sketch to paint in watercolour, though. You can jump right in and draw your concept on the paper from your mind. I work both ways, but love the process of drawing my ideas, then designing, editing and planning a bit. All the big questions about shape, structure and colour are answered in my sketch and colour study, so I’m free to explore techniques while knowing everything is going to (hopefully!) turn out okay.

I’m drawn to the tangible world of traditional materials. It’s a marvel the range of techniques you can get from water, brushes and a small amount of pigment. I look at the work of Holbein and Alan Lee and am awestruck that it, too, is watercolour.

One of my favourite tools for building up intricate layers of washes is a Round Kolinsky sable hairbrush. Nothing compares to its ability to retain water and shape. I’d also recommend using synthetic ones. They both have their own unique strengths, but one doesn’t require the hair of the Siberian weasel. (I mostly use synthetic for this workshop.)