Hi it’s Anna Mason, and in this video I wanted so show you
how this mouthwatering chocolate came to life simply by me layering up watercolour.
I worked from a macro photo which had captured loads of detail and made enlarging easy.
Scaling up, first with my outline drawing, meant the painting would have impact and...really...who
doesn’t want BIGGER chocolate?
I began with a pale layer to match to the lightest highlights within the chocolate,
leaving just a couple of small areas for the brightest of highlights with no paint at all
on them
Once that was dry though I applied a second layer everywhere EXCEPT the highlights.
So this allowed me to identify them clearly and already start to establish a bit of shape
to the chocolate.
When that second layer had dried
I mixed up a REALLY thick, dark brown mix to try to match to the darkest tones, or values,
within the chocolate.
I always like to establish the light and dark ends of a paintings tonal range first off.
One of the main reasons for this is that I don’t want to waste a tonne of time painting
the mids only to realise much later on that the whole painting needs to be darker.
Because we perceive tones as relative to the ones around them, it’s much easier to see
how dark you need to take your colours when you already have a really dark tone in place.
So from here I can work on the darkest midtones, that connect up with the darkest tones.
This one tip of working with your darks early on, can help you overcome an issue I see a
lot with new watercolourists - and that’s paintings that look washed out and lacking
realism because they’re just too pale.
It makes the painting look disjointed at this stage, but trust me, it’s going to come
together.
I continue to work UP the tonal range - changing the colour of my mix to match what I see in
the photo.
I pay attention to the edges of the shapes I’m painting - adding texture to them where
I see it.
The texture of the edges is going to be key to creating the shiny effects.
Again I work up the tonal range - now firmly in the midtones with a more watery and therefore
paler mix
Now I’ve worked on the darks and mids, its so much easier to tell that my lightest tones
need to be taken darker - so I work with a really pale watery mix to darken them a bit
- using a bigger brush and aiming to create a nice smooth finish for the sheen to the
top of the chocolate.
I deliberately use a mix lighter than I need so that, once it dries I can apply a second
one to the sheen.
Working in pale layers like this makes it easy to get a smooth effect without unwanted
hard line edges.
With the lightest tones darker, and after adding some details I could see that I still
needed to take my darks and midtones darker, so I made some tonal adjustments by applying
a further layer.
As I apply the wet paint it looks really dark, but it dries a fraction lighter.
So as each area dries I can see further areas to darken….
Then finally I add some extra details with my tiniest brush.
And I went on to tackle the rest of the painting in exactly the same way.
A full video class of this chocolate is available now in my online School.
If you’ve enjoyed this video, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and share it with your
friends.
And if you’d like to take one of my tried and tested video classes FOR FREE, hop over
to AnnaMasonArt.com where you'll find even more resources to help you pick up your brush
and paint the way you've always wanted to.
Remember, you won't improve your painting unless you make the time to paint
so be sure to schedule in some me time this week and paint something that you love.
And if you need help with that, my website has also got plenty of tips to help you make painting a priority
Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you soon to help you create watercolours with WOW.