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STAGE 5 DEFINING THE FEATURES
As I work on the features, my brush is constantly searching around the palette
for a touch of this, a touch of that—Winsor blue, with Winsor violet and Indian
red, a touch of permanent rose or burnt umber. I let the paint bleed into slightly
damp patches and guide it with a damp brush of plain water around shapes to
avoid making hard edges. I’ve added a light blue tone for the first layer of the
background, which creates separation from the subject.
I removed masking fluid from the eye and the forelock, put back some tone on
the lashes, and added more washes and dark flecks to define the distinguishing
mark above Delfin’s eye. There are more very light glazes of blues/browns/greys.
The deep brown of the head collar is painted in varying mixes of burnt umber,
Winsor blue and Indian red for opacity with touches of Winsor violet.
For the muzzle, I remove masking fluid area by area according to which I’m
working on, using a ball of congealed fluid that I’ve gathered from inside the lid
of the bottle and allowed to dry—I’ve found this is the most gentle and efficient STAGE 6 THE MANE AND NECK
way to do it! This picture shows where I’ve removed some of the masking fluid It’s coming together now—those exquisite features and the
from the muzzle but not the background, and what I used to remove it. Later soulful eye are Delfin! I’m working on the mane and have
I will smooth out the rough edges that the mask left, and at a later stage I’ll add painted some glazes on the neck. The leather and metal
washes of color to soften the harshness of the white paper. pieces of the head collar are nearly finished.

Watercolour Demonstration 87

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