Sketchbook Day 19 - layers

We will continue with the 'scratch-out' method as I have discovered that it is can give quite exciting results.

TODAY'S TASK - Use wet colour such as paints, inks and water soluble pencils to build up layers of textured colour.
This will record two elements within your observational frame -
The linear patterning and the main areas of colour.

- Start by making some 'scratch-out' marks on a plain paper.
- Then add colour with a large, soft brush and watch the burrs trap the colour. I used my Koh-i-Noor paints and the Stabilo pencils as you noticed yesterday.

Notice whether there is a colour difference within your 'frame', perhaps lighter at the top area and darker in the bottom area; maybe there is a difference  because of what you see behind your leaves/stems or maybe the top area is against the sky and the lower area darker because it is in the depths of the plant or surrounding plants. Use these observations to suggest what colours you use and where you place them - perhaps choosing only two or three at the most. Allow these colours to gently merge so that the boundaries are indistinct.

- Add more 'scratch-out' marks and then another layer of colour, perhaps not over the entire drawing. Be restrained and look at the colouring within your frame. The drawing below shows the added layers of 'scratch-out' and colour to the drawing above.

Further layers could be added tomorrow!

TODAY'S TIPS - It's easy to get carried away, making sweeping lines with your 'scratch-out' tool; try to make these marks reflect the general character and rhythm of your observed lines of the stems/leaves.
Try scratching out when the colour is dry and also when it is wet as you'll get different effects - you might be able to spot the differences in the top image.
Enjoy the fact that you can get 'two for the price of one' by closing your sketchbook  while the colour is still wet. When you add another colour, close it again and you will notice how the effect builds upon the opposite page too - sometimes more effectively!