Painting Expressive Watercolours. Mike Chaplin

pad of white paper. It is purely about making very quick linear notes to use as an aide-mémoire later on. Another bag has a box of paints with a folding brush, a pot of water and a small camera, giving me the facility to make more complex notes about colour and tone while still being very light to carry. These two bags are for drawing on the hoof, looking at lots of subjects in anticipation that one or two might be worth returning to.

      It is a mistake to set out every time with the expectation of doing a very formal painting as this imposes pressure upon you. Much of my working time is spent taking sparse notes to get a feel for the place and I might make several visits before I arrive with a kit that is the full works, with easel, stool and umbrella. By this time I will have formed a strong idea about composition, colour range and tonal range and I will be ready to go.

      With this amount of equipment a car is more or less essential, but weight is still something to be considered. Lightweight foamboard covered with plastic on both sides is ideal for travelling. I take two sheets with the paper sandwiched in between to keep it flat, then use the two sheets together to make a rigid drawing board. I have a strip of Velcro on the back and a corresponding piece of Velcro on my lightweight easel, and this gives a solid structure. In the absence of an easel, the foamboard can simply be rested on the knee.

      A bin liner is excellent emergency cover for both painting and materials if it rains. Equally mundane but useful are plastic trays such as party dip containers and airline plates, which make good palettes. In art shops you can buy a lightweight stool with a bag attached that is carried as a rucksack on your back – but you can find them much cheaper in a market, so shop around.

       This is my typical painting bag. It is waterproof and contains a paintbox with 14 half pans, a water-carrier and minimal palettes. Also included are tissues, loose sheets of paper, a camera for recording detail and a selection of drawing tools.

      Working at home

      Having the luxury of a studio is not given to everyone, but if you do have spare space in your home it is your good fortune that no one but you will want a north-facing room. North light is consistent and quite cool, and the colour balance will not change while you are painting. The disadvantage of a south-facing window is that you may get strong shadows moving over your painting, which is very disturbing. Try to put some sort of diffuser over the window, even if this is just a sheet of tracing paper, to avoid the sun causing very dark and very bright areas which make it difficult when you come to paint with colour and tone.

      The light changes colour towards the end of the day, so as soon as you are aware it is getting dark turn the lights on. Do not rely on normal bulbs, which have a red bias to them that will affect the colours you are mixing. Invest in some daylight bulbs, which have quite cold blue light that emulates the north light – you should be able to find these in a craft shop. They are more expensive than ordinary bulbs but, given that you may paint in artificial light for half the year if you work during office hours, well worth the money.

      Paint, paper and brushes will repay every penny you spend on them, but there is no need to pay art shop prices for other items such as drawing boards and sponges. MDF (medium density fibreboard), available from a DIY shop, is perfectly adequate for a drawing board if you roughen the surface with sandpaper, as is Formica – but beware of using wood that may stain your wet paper. With a supply of cheap boards you will be able to spend time stretching numerous sheets of paper which can be stacked up ready for days when you are itching to paint.

       In this photograph you can see part of the etching press in my studio. Ranged around are a variety of found objects such as the peacock feathers on the windowsill that I like to have in view simply for their interesting line, tone or colour.

Techniques

      However excited you are at the prospect of making a painting that says important things about your subject, you have to begin by considering how you are going to approach it technically. This chapter offers advice about handling watercolour and other associated media that will give you plenty of choice as to how you express your feelings through paint.

       SHEPPEY MARSHES

      66 × 96.5cm (26 × 38in)

       Contrary to popular belief, watercolour is a medium you can manipulate in a number of ways and this large painting gave me plenty of scope. The paint has been put down, lifted back and reworked using a variety of techniques.

      Putting down paint

      Once you have chosen your subject and made decisions about size, format and colour range it is time for those first attempts at putting down paint. Nothing is more daunting to the artist than an immaculate sheet of clean paper, and your first washes will ease you into the painting process and give you confidence as well as laying the basis of your picture.

      Whether you are working from a pencil drawing or going in fresh, your first colours will probably be concerned with covering quite large, loose-edged areas. The most obvious way of achieving these first washes is to use large brushes, for which you will need to mix up plenty of paint. Experience will tell you how much, but if you are not yet sure of quantity the best rule is to prepare a good deal more than you think you will require. For these big washes it is a good idea to add a few drops of ox gall to the mixing water to improve flow and increase drying time, allowing you a longer period in which to work with the wet paint.