COMIC BOOK HERO IN WATERCOLOURS

US illustrator BEN HARVEY walks you through his painting process that combines traditional mediums with a digital sketch to create a portrait of the Rocketeer.

- BEN HARVEY

When I first decided to take my craft seriously I knew I needed to branch out into the world of colour theory. This terrified me. Growing up, I was trained primarily in drawing. Occasionally, I was exposed to various painting mediums, but came away thinking they were too cumbersome to handle. Finally, I decided that watercolour would be the most approachable of the lot to get into. The paints last longer than acrylic or oil and it’s far more portable when doing plein air work.

Watercolour behaves like no other medium. It can be unforgiving at times while yielding effects and textures that are wholly unique. Maintaining a careful balance of water and pigment is the most difficult aspect to master. Persistence is key, along with curbing the urge to oversaturate your brush.

Colour shape, form and values should be prioritised along with careful brush strokes to avoid creating a muddy, asymmetrical appearance. The success of your washes depend on the watercolour paper you’re using. I find that a cheaper, cellulose-based paper is much more forgiving when it comes to adjustments compared to a higher quality, cotton-based paper, which can have a death grip on the pigments used.

Over time I was exposed to gouache as a secondary medium. This combines the opaque qualities that acrylic and oil offer with the added benefit of being water soluble, similar to watercolours. I enjoy how it enables me to fix or add as I progress through a piece. The mix of both watercolour and gouache combined with a few other mediums makes for a diverse set of tools that can be utilised to tackle even the most advanced of pieces.