Kat Beyer
artist & writer
art@katspaw.com
| My technique examined: the headless bikeman
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| I scanned in each phase of this painting to give you a look at what happens in the studio.
Here's how I did it. Click on a frame to see a closeup and commentary, or just scroll down the page.
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Since I have only limited use of my hands, I don't often have the luxury to make detailed sketches before I begin the final work. So I usually start with a sketch like this, just to get the general idea down. |
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After the quick sketch above, I started on the final painting right away, laying down a detailed pencil drawing. I forgot to scan in between pencil and ink, so you see the pencil drawing and the first inking here. |
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I then erased the pencil lines and noticed which bits I had forgotten to ink. |
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I made a few small corrections. Can you see them? |
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Next, I started painting. In watercolor the general rule (not always observed by me or others, depending on what effects we want) is to lay down the lightest colors first. |
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I continued with lights and brights. |
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I almost never know exactly what colors are going to go down. I usually have a general idea, assisted by my research if I have a specific subject, such as the uniform of a Hessian soldier, and by my knowledge of color theory. But I still need to feel my way as the painting progresses. Here, I wanted neutrals and heavily mixed colors in the background, so that my spectral bicyclist would stand out. The more pigments you mix together, the duller the color, because each color you add absorbs more light from the spectrum. More or less. |
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Once I had added in lights and neutrals, I started putting down very specific darks in order to heighten the contrast between bicyclist and background. I also added pale blue shadows, slightly diffuse. We have come upon this bicyclist at dusk, the time when we often see things we don't think we've seen... so I wanted light that was dusky and otherworldly. |
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I then added a few creepy darks between the trees, made sure I wasn't leaving any large blank areas or missing any details, and called it a day—September 21, 2007, in fact, a couple of days before the equinox. |
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After each of my paintings is finished I have to color correct it so that any reproductions I make will be as true as they can be to the original. Since printer inks don't match the purity of paint pigments, I always have to aim for the same feel, the same balance of contrast, without worrying about exact matches for color. I've had some practice and I do a pretty good job. Can you see any differences? |
