A watercolour session with Ulrich Lassek |
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Ulrich Lassek has worked with Gerstaecker before in leading us through Mussini oils. This time Lassek takes us through another Schmincke brand Horadam watercolours, and gives us the fascinating initiation in watercolour techniques.
The Horadam range offers 110 shades to satisfy the needs of all artists. The colours are sorted according to their chromatic quality and their light resistance. The binders used are also of decisive importance: fluidity and quality of application of the colour depend on it. Accordingly, the ox gall is a genuine keystone of the Horadam colours. This rigorous application of the traditional method of manufacture by Schmincke, give these watercolours intensity and a transparency that cannot be ignored by lovers of this medium.
An enthusiastic painter in watercolours, Lassek uses all combinations of nuances of Horadam watercolours and gives them all the virtuosity of his sweep of brush.
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Materials used
- Schmincke Horadam Watercolours
- Canson Arches Hand-Made Watercolour Paper
- Gerstaecker Red Sable Watercolour Brushes
- Plastic Mixing Palette
- Natural Sponge for Watercolours
- Paper-Fixing-Tape |
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Tip! Watercolour paper offers a structure similar to no other and makes it possible for the watercolour painter to play with the grain of paper. Indeed, the watercolours, from their transparency, emphasize the marked structure of watercolour paper in a captivating way.
In addition, watercolour is a technique of spontaneity: one should not especially polish a work one thinks completed, with the risk of spoiling it. It is important to be guided by instinct and the nuances on the paper. |
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Pre wetting of the support (fixed with the help adhesive paper tape) allows you to obtain interesting effects and facilitates application of the watercolours. For this reason Lassek uses a wet sponge to prepare the surface of the sheet, however always having a rag to hand just in case he feels it to be too wet. |
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| Lassek starts his work with washes of brown and green. Frantic lines drawn are full of promptness and freshness. Then yellow, then dark orange will allow him to soften it altogether. |
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3. Intensity on the traces of pointillism |
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The neo-impressionists such Signac and Pissaro but also Seurat invented this process of the juxtaposition of small points of pure colour. This technique was much appraised by the cubists and the fauvists. The distribution of the light that results from it is more equal.
Lassek composes a subtle amalgam of spots of colours. He intensifies it all with the help of the red and orange transparency. Some points of �Blue Mountain' and ultramarine help to bring it all together again whilst enriching it in a captivating way. |
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4. Capture the light and make it more intense. |
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| These points will be the departure point of graded washes. The movement and energy of Lassek as he works are the words of this composition where the changes of rate and rhythm are constant. Lassek then paints a light sky with a little turquoise. Natural brightness must always be with your spirit and guide the choices of nuances and colours used. |
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5. Give another dimension with motifs. |
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| Finally Lassek draws a series of trees, starting each time with the branches, and thus bringing another plane and more depth to the piece. These final motifs also result in a subtle play of colour and will constitute the exquisite final key of this watercolour. |
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