| Author | Message | ||
  Joni St. Martin |
A watercolor artist friend of mine taught me a neat trick. She draws the basic picture on tracing paper with a Sharpie pen (with a medium tip)and then tapes the tracing paper to a window. She then tapes the watercolor paper to the window, overlapping the tracing paper and the image shows through. Then she just draws what she wants of the original sketch onto the watercolor paper. It's kind of like using a lightbox. I've used the technique, and it works for me. If your window happens to be in the front of your house, you might get funny looks from your neighbors, but hey, it's worth trying!! | ||
Oma |
Recently I did a series of trees in different seasons and nearly went out of my mind and cramped my hand painfully by rubbing the reverse of my original drawng with a soft pencil then tracing onto wc paper. Finally smartened up and used my light box - yep, I could place a fresh piece of wc paper over the first painting(also wc paper) and see clearly and trace it. No smudges, faster job. Not cheating to my mind since it was my original work and who can plagarize one's own work? | ||
John Preston |
Very interesting idea, Bruce: finding the key points and corners. I'm going to try a modified version of your idea next time I enlarge a drawing to a canvas. Been using the old grid method, and the larger version is never quite as snappy as the original. | ||
Mike Scott |
I just finished a series of 4 landscapes(4 seasons) for someone. By the time I got to painting #3 I was sketching freehand rather than tracing with graphite. Achieved a much more natural feel and it wasn't as difficult as it might seem. | ||
drollere |
you can also transfer an image to the watercolor support using the "flip flop" method ... tape the image to the paper with masking tape along the side opposite your drawing hand, then use the free hand to flip the image away from the paper and flop it back down again. fix your gaze on a point in the image with your eye, pull the image away, mark the point with a pencil, and flop the image over it to check the position. with practice you can do this quickly and very accurately. you shouldn't "trace" the image with continuous lines, simply indicate the important corners, edges or centers of masses, then connect these freehand, using the image as a reference. i find this creates a more supple, relaxed transfer: literal tracings very often look stiff or lifeless. freehand you can also correct proportions or details in the image you don't like. the benefit is that you don't have to mess with graphite, or damage a valuable image (such as a magazine page) by drawing over it: your pencil never touches the original. this only works if the "traced" image is exactly the size you require on the support. if not, use a xerox machine with an adjustable image reduction/enlarging feature to scale it, or use the ancient but effective "squaring" method. | ||
John Preston |
Sid, Thanks for the tip. Never thought of bypassing the graphite paper and using the drawing's graphite...less smudging... and if you're borderline dyslexic like me you can transfer the image in reverse (or retrace backwards for normal orientation). When I used to get slides back of my pictures, I often liked the composition better in reverse. Of course now I can just flip it in Photoshop. | ||
Dake |
Hi Joanne, What matters is that you create a piece of original work from your own vision. How it transfers to the surface does not matter. If freehand is the best way for you, fine, if a projector or tracing is easier then use it. It saves time which is the most precious thing we have. A preliminary draft gives you the opportunity to work and rework until you are completely satisfied with the composition...especially if alot of detail is your thing. | ||
Cathy |
Hi Joanne, I agree with feather, sid and john.... good comments all! I use it sometimes when I need a short cut- it helps get the dimensions right fast, then I go in and do a finer sketch. I have also found it useful to keep my tracing paper sketches in a reference file. These are usually traced after I have done a very detailed drawing and then I trace over it and have it for future reference. For example if I need a chicken, I can pull out one of the traces, put it in a totally different background, and create a whole new painting. And I don't have to redraw the darn chicken again. :-) I think though, that it should never replace your ability to draw, it is just a tool to use occasionally. | ||
feather |
If you are already accomplished at drawing, don't think that using tracing paper is cheating at all. It's simply a tool to use inorder to skip a step that you've already "been there - done that" on. Why re-invent the wheel everytime you want to paint? Many many artists, amature and professional alike, use tracing paper. They also use projectors which are even easier to copy/draw out and enlarge your photos to boot. I've found my projector worth it's weight in gold in the time I've saved. I have noticed that there is a difference in quality of tracing paper. Some brands are definately more see-though than others. | ||
Sid |
Tracing paper is also useful when developing the composition. (1)You can draw a first attempt, then lay a clean sheet over the first and you can then see your original work as you make any corrections/adjustments.You don't have to draw the whole thing over again from memory. (2)You can also draw a "focal point" subject (a bird, in my case!) on a separate sheet place it on or under your background drawing and move it around until you decide where you want to place it. I use booksfull of the stuff! Who says it's cheating?? Whatever works to get what you want is "legal." Tracing paper works. To build on John's idea--you can also just flip over the tracing paper drawing (if it is done in soft pencil) and then trace over it with a ballpoint pen. That will transfer the pencil drawing onto the wc paper. Try it! Sid | ||
John Preston |
Well, there are probably more uses than this, but one good one is to trace a drawing you wish use as a painting . Then, place graphite paper between it and your watercolor paper and draw over the tracing, transferring it to the watercolor paper. You can do the same thing to a canvas using Saral paper. The advantage is you can start over if you don't like your painting, since you still have your drawing. Back in the fresco days they pricked tiny holes in their drawing and "pounced" it with a bag of powdered charcoal to transfer the contours to the fresh plaster before painting. This drawing was called a "cartoon". | ||
joanne reiners |
I always thought it was "cheating" to use tracing paper...would someone clue me in on how to use it..I paint with watercolors. thanks. |
