Tutorial N°19 : Seashells (two versions of the same subject).

With this tutorial, I suggest you restore two very different atmospheres for the same subject.

In the first watercolor, the background is cold and even; in the second, the bottom represents the sand on which the shells rest.

Paper: Hahnemühle watercolor, fine grain, 300g / m2.

Colors: yellow ocher, burnt sienna, burnt umber, sepia, cobalt blue, indigo and neutral tint or black.

Brushes: a Raphaël 303 small squirrel brush, n ° 2; a Dalbe 200 brush, sable n ° 8.

1. Photo of Pastel. I found an old drawing made in pastel (photo 1) from which I will draw inspiration for the subject; for the background, however, I copied a watercolor sketch (photo 2).

2. Watercolor seashells.

3. Drawing. After drawing the seashells, I put tape around it to protect the edges.

First Version, plain and cold background.

4. Prepare a large bluish gray by mixing cobalt blue, indigo and very little neutral tint (or black). Wet the paper well, leave the shells in reserve and apply the mixture to form the bottom. Let dry.

5. Start painting the top shell with a yellow ocher wash. Leave some white unpainted paper. Let dry.

6. Add burnt sienna wet-on-wet which will partly mix with the ocher.

7. Add a mixture of burnt umber and sepia to the shadows to give relief.

8. Paint the right shell with ocher, the brush follows the curved shapes of the model. Continue as for the first shell.

9. Add the shadows with a very dense mixture of sepia and burnt sienna. With the brush define the shapes with the same color.

10 Paint the seashell in the same way at the bottom, don't forget lo leave some white unpainted paper

11. Shade with the same mixture of burnt umber and sepia.

12. Mark some drop shadows with the same mixture as for the background with more indigo and neutral tint or black. Close to the shell, the shadow becomes more dense. Mark some details with the tip of the Dalbe brush n ° 8 (burnt umber and sepia).

13. Add a few strockes of very diluted cobalt blue to the shadows.

Second version: bottom imitating sand.

14. After drawing the seashells, put adhesive tape around to protect the edges. Wet the bottom with Raphaël's brush n °2, leaving the shells in reserve. Apply a yellow ocher wash with the Dalbe 200 brush and let it dry.

15. Meanwhile, draw the shell shapes on tracing paper, cut them out and place them on the paper to protect the blanks. Using a toothbrush, spray a mixture of ocher and burnt umber. Keep absorbent paper handy to remove excessively large drops or unsightly streaks.

16. Make darker projections with mixtures of burnt umber and sepia and sepia and cobalt blue. This time we use the Dalbe 200 brush. Vary the size of the spots to avoid monotony. To make larger spots, fill the brush with a lot of paint and tap harder on the brush. Let dry.

17. Remove the tracing papers.

18. Paint the seashells step by step, Take the step by step from photo 5.

19. At the end, add touches of cobalt blue in the shadows and in places in the lights. Mark the drop shadows with a mixture of cobalt blue and indigo or neutral tint or black.

Good luck and good watercolor!