Masking fluid problems

It happened to me before so I can say I have been prepared.. But actually, every time it happens it shocks me and is a great (and sad) surprise.

When masking fluid goes off with paper and your painting.

Previously it happened to me because I wanted to rip off the fluid when the painting wasn't dry enough. That was my mistake and now I always wait as long as necessary or even longer, just in case. But this time I have no idea why it happened. And as you can see it went off with a lot of the outline.

 Thankfully those ripped off spots are not that visible on the finished picture.

However this one ladybug is kind of fluffy ;)

After this dramatic situation every time I use masking fluid I'm afraid it will ruin my painting. Wonder what was the reason. Maybe you know?

A.

Bye bye winter

Next part of progress photos. This time I was making two big illustrations to nursery rhyme about winter going away and a beginning of spring.

In the first picture there was a lot of snow and ice shown so I had to use plenty of masking fluid to cover it, just in case. My way of making first two layers of watercolour paint is rather spontaneous so many areas are painted even if they shouldn't ;)

For applying masking fluid I use old and cheap brushes. Those are the three I've used this time (I have a big bunch of them). From the left: used to make masking fluid outlines, used for smaller parts, used to covering bigger things.

Easy way to add details and make picture look more complicated - spots on bushes or trees or grass. Then you can leave them white, colour them so they look like flowers or fruit or cover the whole element with another layer of green paint and it just makes a nice texture.

Almost finished painting. It's hard to paint with light like that - paper's texture is too visible and disturbing.

 See what I mean? You can overlook some details and forget to paint them ;)

 And, at last, finished pictures :) I've taken this photo at night with my table lamp so the colours look actually a bit different. Don't you think that those clouds are fabulous? :D

And Marie Antoinette again! :D I must say, I had no idea her tail has got a brown end! Lately, she hasn't been sleeping in her bed because there was not enough sun here. However, spring started today and it's already more sunny :) So I hope she will come back to her pillow, just next to me.

A.

First nursery rhyme done

Right now I have more illustrations made but since I haven't shown all the photos I've taken just when they were up-to-date, now I have to divide them into smaller parts :)

Part one: The making of next 2 illustrations to a first story about a naughty little girl who makes pranks. In the previous post you can find the 1st illustration of this set.

I was making two big illustrations at once. One is a kitchen scene and the other one shows a bit of a living room.

First of all, after preparing the paper (what was described several times) I have put on a masking fluid. You can see the bottle of it on the photo.

Cat in the picture :) I wanted to add the cat, the one which got its tail green, somewhere in the presented room. But since there was not enough space I've decided to make a picture of it.

 When the masking fluid was drying I could use my desk again. However, it dries quite quickly so I got back to work soon.

I've bought myself a new green watercolour. Just in case. You can see the two greens I have - one is emerald and the other one is dark and dirty, so it's sometimes hard to make a perfect shade of green out of them.

 

 In the painting process. And a cat :) There must be a cat!

 I like the moment when the colours start to look so vivid and bright.

 Finished! They look nice together :)

And my kitty at the end :) In the sleeping mode - as always.

Hope you like the pictures!

A.

Sleepy day but with no sleep at all

I am recently illustrating a children's book with nursery rhymes so I don't know how much time I'll have left for personal work. I will surely make all Illustration Friday pictures but to keep my blog more busy and you more interested I think I will show photos of how progress is going :)

So let's start with today:

I have changed my cat's bed's place so now it's next to a window right beside my desk. The cat likes it so I can watch her sleep almost all the time now. What makes me sleepy too =o=

Yesterday I have prepared outlines for three illustrations to one of the stories. It's about a little girl that makes tricks to her family.

First of all I have used tape to stick the paper to a board. Then I have "painted" it with water. In that way no matter how much water you use later the paper won't get wavy.

 

But first you have to let this water layer dry completely. It's best to leave it for the rest of the day.

 Because I couldn't work on that illustration for a moment I've started another one - this one is smaller and won't have a background so there was no need to soak it with water first. I have used masking fluid to cover places where I definitely want white or places that shouldn't get brownish while painting fur.

 Then goes the painting process. My cat enjoys walking across wet paintings, licking paint and drinking water from a water jar... And if the level of water is too low and she can't reach it then she just puts her head inside and stares through the glass ;P

 Finished illustration :) It will be on the 1st page of the book. Cute beginning.

And then the sun came to my window and I felt like sleeping on my desk :D But I just glued the 3rd illustration to another big desk and soaked it. So for tomorrow I will have them both ready for painting. The beginning process of such big illustrations is rather slow: I make several overall layers of paint waiting between each of them to dry (so I won't get nasty stains). It takes a lot of time and it doesn't even feel like PAINTING. But I can work on one when the other one is drying. And I have more sketches and outlines to prepare too :)

Busy busy me, oh how much I like it ^^

A.