A few recent watercolour/gouache paintings. I love working digitally, but there is something really satisfying about watercolour that I can’t seem to duplicate on the computer. The unpredictability and lack of undo function probably!
Tags: gouache, painting, watercolour
The third one is lovely! You’re so talented it’s crazy, Kris!
I really enjoy painting with watercolors too, I’ve even painted my whole blog in watercolor:)
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kris atomic says,
January 17th, 2012 @ 8:20 pm
Thank you!
Your blog looks great :) I’ve been playing around with watercolour type too lately, I love how it looks. x
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I LOVE these, they’re so beautiful. I’m vastly envious of anyone who can paint and draw.
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kris atomic says,
January 17th, 2012 @ 8:22 pm
Thank you! But anyone can draw/paint, just buy a starter set of paints and get going! It’s all just practice, no-one starts out good. x
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wow, they all are beautiful, but the second from the end is my favourite!
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kris atomic says,
January 17th, 2012 @ 8:24 pm
Thank you :)
Lovely photos on your blog! x
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Beautiful as always :)
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kris atomic says,
January 17th, 2012 @ 8:25 pm
Thank you! x
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Wow, these are gorgeous!
Any tips for scanning the artworks? I’m having lots of troubles with it… thank you!
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kris atomic says,
January 17th, 2012 @ 8:20 pm
Thanks Laura!
What problem are you having when scanning?
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Laura says,
January 17th, 2012 @ 10:00 pm
Mostly with color balance and contrasting the image… the scans always comes out with a “heavy” background, as if I used grey or yellow paper! >:(
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kris atomic says,
January 17th, 2012 @ 10:07 pm
Yeah, that happens to me too! Using smoother paper helps (watercolour paper is harder to scan than moleskine pages for example, but obviously it depends on what you’re working on). You could fiddle about with your scanner settings because they all vary, but what I do is just scan as it does automatically and then make adjustments in Photoshop. I scan at 600 dpi usually because I like having huge files just in case.
When I open it in Photoshop I usually adjust the Curves to get a brighter white and a darker black, then Colour Balance or Hue/Saturation which is good for taking off a yellow cast I sometimes get and selectively adjusting the colours, e.g. to make the reds pop.
Does that help at all?
Kris x
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Laura says,
January 17th, 2012 @ 10:15 pm
Oh thank you so much!
I use “regular” paper since I mostly work with ink pens and pencils, so I think I should waste more time on Photoshop… I adjust the Curves and then Brightness/Contrast, but never thought of selective colors adjustments! I have to try immediately!
Have a great evening my dear
Laura <3
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Lovely!! I was impatient, looking forward for see something new in your blog!!
I love everything you do!!
Kisses from Basque Country (excuse me for my english)
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kris atomic says,
January 17th, 2012 @ 8:26 pm
Ah I know, I was busy working on new things and didn’t really have time to post. Lots of new drawings coming up now though :)
Your English is great! x
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I wish you had share buttons for facebook\twitter under each post! :(
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kris atomic says,
January 17th, 2012 @ 9:09 pm
I’m actually working on a redesign for the site/blog at the moment and I was thinking about it! They are just so ugly and cluttered though.
I never use them, so I didn’t really know how necessary they are, but I’ll definitely keep it in mind :)
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Beautiful, Kris! I love following your blog, every update is a treat.
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Aah my heidi-braided girl! Love. I love them all. I’ve just bought some gouache paints, I’m hoping to produce something at least half as good as these! We’ll see :)
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These are beautiful! I agree; there’s no substitute for hand-painted work. I know digital has a million benefits, but I think I will always prefer work done by hand.
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I love these! you have such a whimsical, nostalgic style that I LOVE.
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They are all beautiful, but the first illustration I love the most… I like the colors :)
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How do you make your paintings so lovely layered? It looks like you have painted it in different layers! How do you use your watercolours? Bye! love your work. keep it up.
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kris atomic says,
January 18th, 2012 @ 4:14 pm
Hi Nellie!
I do basically work in layers, starting with watercolour washes and doing the details last. I do a really light red pencil sketch first, then washes of watercolour. This bit isn’t too neat but it’s just about getting the right colours down.
I took pictures as I was working on one of the paintings above, so this is the flat watercolour stage:
Then when it’s dry, I use gouache paint to put in smaller details and lines. Gouache is opaque, so it covers any wobbly lines or mistakes from the watercolour stage.
I hope that helps!
kris x
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These are amazing. Are you planning on having any watercolor work in your shop? I’d love to own one!
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kris atomic says,
January 21st, 2012 @ 1:05 am
Almost certainly! I just can’t decide if I want to sell prints or the originals yet…
& thank you! x
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Lovely!!
thanks also for the tips in the comments about getting your paintings into the digital realm. All my fashion illustrations are done in guache and I’ve had a hard time getting them to scan without really messing up the colors (and I worked so hard to get them right the first time!) but I’m going to try your tricks! :)
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