Wet-in-Wet Watercolor Painting with Sgraffito

By Brenda Scott of Follow My Heart Studio

Email address: followmyheartstudio@shaw.ca

Gallery: http://www.picturetrail.com/followmyheartstudio

Sgraffito is from an Italian word meaning "to scratch." It is a technique where a top layer of color is scratched to reveal a color beneath. In watercolor, the sgraffito techniques are a bit different - they are reverse sgraffito. They create dark lines within a wet painted area rather than light lines within a dark field. The lines can be drawn with any instrument that has a dull point (paintbrush tip is good). Once the scribes are made, the watercolor collects in the disturbed surface fibers to form legible, sharp lines--great for detail work and textural additions to abstract and impressionistic works.

Definition taken from http://www.arttalk.com/archives/vol-14/artv1405.htm

Materials List (editors note: The artist has used these colors for this painting - you can substitute colors for your own painting)

• 140 lb Bockingford cold-press watercolor paper cut to 3 inches by 4 inches.
• Da Vinci Watercolor paint in tubes
  239 Gamboge (light yellow)
  205 Burnt Sienna (red brown)
  243 Hooker's Green (dark green)
  264 Perm. Rose (crimson)
  284 Ultramarine Blue (dark blue)
• Palette knife

  

• Hake Brush

  

• ½ Small Angle Brush

  

Preparation

Attach the ACEO blank to a board using masking tape. As you tape each side of the paper measure from the inside edge of the tape to where the next piece will be placed. When you are done taping you will have a paint area that is 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches.

Technique

Wet the paper by dipping the hake brush into clean water and then rubbing the brush against the side of the water container to remove some of the water.

The paper should be evenly wet without any pools or puddles of water. Allow to sit for approximately 30 seconds.

Applying the Color For this technique it is very important that you use thick paint. If the paint contains too much water you will not be able to use the sgraffito effectively. I use watercolor paint in the tubes which is squeezed into a covered palette. I spray down the paint five minutes before I am ready to work in order to moisten it.

Using the angle brush (or whichever brush you are comfortable using) dip it water to moisten the brush and then into the paint. Apply directly to the paper without adding any more water. This technique requires quickness as the paper will become too dry to use this technique within a matter of minutes.

Gamboge. Place the yellow randomly - whatever looks good to you. If you are painting flowers the yellow can be placed where the heads of the flowers will be.

Burnt Sienna - place this color overlapping the gamboge but be sure to leave some of the yellow showing through.

Hooker's Green - overlap the green over the other colors and fill in some of the blank paper with the green. Leave some places white.

Perm. Rose - color the remaining areas of white paper with the perm. rose. Add some of the rose overtop of the other colors in some places.

Ultramarine Blue - add random spots of ultramarine blue over the other layers of paint.

Now all the paint has been applied the next step is to create the detail or design using sgraffito.

Sgraffito To create large flat areas of detail such as petals or rocks hold the palette knife in your hand with your index finger pressing down towards the tip of the knife. Enough pressure should be applied to bend the knife slightly. Pull the knife down towards you or down and to the side. The pressure on the tip of the knife will bring more of the knife into contact with the paper. (Petal Technique.jpg) As you pull the knife down it scrapes away the paint layers and pools the paint in the area where you lifted the knife. (Close-up of Shadow Areas.jpg). The more pressure you apply the larger the area that is scraped away. To create grass or narrow strips hold the palette knife in your hand with your thumb higher up on the blade of the knife. Stroke the tip of the knife upwards. The more pressure that you apply the wider the strip will be.

In the following picture you can see the sgraffito on the right side of the painting. The left side has not been touched with the palette knife.

You can use as much of the sgraffito technique as you would like. Experiment with the different effects you get by moving the knife in different ways. You can create the look of rocks, trees, grass, fields, etc. just by moving the knife in a different way. If you draw the knife across the paint in a horizontal direction it will create the look of water

or ground

depending on the color of paint.

Let the painting completely dry before removing the tape.

. Remove the tape by pulling it at a 45 degree angle as pictured. This will prevent the paper from tearing.

The finished painting will have a white edge surrounding it. If the edge is trimmed off you will be left with a painting that is the standard ACEO size of 2 ½ inches by 3 ½ inches.