Return of the Stained Glass Trees (3 pictures)

Hollow Light
Approx 9 x 10 inches, acrylic ink and watercolour on bamboo paper

 ... and this time they're packing watercolour.



It's serious stuff, watercolour. Deceptively difficult; it looks simple (and in a way, it is), but it's not easy to do well, and I am no expert. However, the watercolour in these pictures was supplementary to the acrylic ink that was used to draw the trees. Rather like line and wash, but using a slightly different technique.

In each case, I used Carbon Black, Raw Umber and a little White acrylic ink to draw the trees. I used the droppers that came in the caps of the ink bottles - incurring much dripping and dribbling - and my fingers and fingernails to pull, smudge and spread the ink out further.

Then, having let the ink dry, I used watercolour to create the stained glass effect. In many ways, watercolour is perfect for this; it is transparent and - as long as it's not overmixed - glows nicely.

Manor Light 1Approx A3, acrylic ink and watercolour on Langton paper

Manor Light 2
Approx 16 x 12 inches, acrylic ink and watercolour on Bockingford paper

As I worked through these three images, I reduced the number of pan colours.

• Hollow Light has a whopping eight pans in action (Phthalo Blue, Ultramarine, Cerulean, Winsor Violet, Permanent Rose, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow, Quinacridone Gold and Lemon Yellow);
• Manor Light 1 has five (Phthalo Blue, Winsor Violet, Permanent Rose, Quinacridone Gold and Lemon Yellow);
• Manor Light 2 has four (Phthalo Blue, Winsor Violet, Permanent Rose, and Lemon Yellow) and is deliberately cooler.