It must be the emerging signs of Spring but I found myself trying out some new watercolor techniques. I started out with a simple sketch of a rainbow trout that ended up working fairly well so I grabbed some watercolor pencils and a Kuretake waterbrush and tried some new ideas that I've been reading about on James Gurney's fantastic blog. For those who have never tried out a waterbrush, you can probably find them at your local art store or can order then online through JetPens.com.
Anyway, this sketch was initially drawn with graphite pencil until I was happy with the general structure and tones of the piece. I then sprayed it with a couple of coats of a workable fixative which sets the graphite on the paper. This method has a fancy French name of grisaille but the term underpainting works just fine as well. Once this was completed and the fixative dry, I used a watercolor pencil to begin adding color to the piece which I then blended and smoothed with a waterbrush. This was the risky portion of the drawing and the one I tacked only after scanning and saving the graphite-only version (you never know when a drawing is bin-bound).
I then subtly toned the water around the fish to bring out the warmer tones in the head and did a little touch up with graphite pencil and some additional watercolor pencil. Overall, I like the effect and will probably explore a brown and cutthroat trout in the next few weeks.
Please feel free to leave comments or simply let me know what you think. The print is available for sale through my website.
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