| Bern Sundell uses a surprisingly messy palette for
his watercolor paintings, but it serves his purpose well. He
mixes a constantly changing variety of colors in the center area and adjusts his combinations
as he paints the rocks in Stone Spirit.
Each rock needs a different color and texture so this is an
ongoing process. The pictured palette is shown ready to begin painting
a reddish rock.
This rock is first painted with plain water, staying strictly
in the outline of the intended rock, to prepare it for the first
washes of paint. Bern paints into the wet area so the
washes blend and spread to make the beginnings of a rock.
Bern recommends using great control over the water and paint
in the brush itself. For washes he uses a wetter brush but for
later painting he will often touch the brush to a towel to
remove excess moisture for precise control when he touches the
brush to the paper. Experimentation and practice refine this
technique to a high level of precision.
Bern also recommends using excellent quality watercolor paper
and brushes. Poor quality paper simply does not allow the paint
to work properly and create the desired effects. A poor quality
brush makes it extremely difficult to control the paint and achieve
the intended look as well.
He uses the drying cycle of the paper to good advantage.
After the first wash is in place, he works on another rock for
awhile, allowing the first wet wash to dry. He may return to it
before it is completely dry to add more detail while it still is
showing a tendency to blend. Then he is off to another rock
while that stage dries in the first rock. After the rock is dry,
the fine details such as lines and cracks can be precisely
painted into the rock.
Bern may rub the partially wet surface with his fingers to
disturb the surface of the paper slightly. This changes how the
paint lies in the paper and can add a different texture to a
rock, particularly when this is over painted later in the
process.
He works through the normal watercolor sequence of gradually
adding darker and darker areas to the rock, leaving the original
white paper itself for the highlights. With practice such
painting takes on a graceful rhythm as Bern moves from rock to
rock, painting on each according to its current state of wetness
or dryness. Watercolor paper that is firmly stretched
and taped to a board while it is being painted will dry flat.
Since Bern often prefers to keep his paper loose, he sprays the
back of the paper with pure water from a spray bottle when the
completed painting is dry. Then he lays the painting flat
between clean sheets of mat board and places weights on it
overnight. By morning it is flat for framing.
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