About Sandrine Pelissier
I grew up in France but have been living in Canada for the last 12 years, I am currently located in North Vancouver and work from a studio on Pemberton Avenue.
Watercolor is my medium of choice because of the unique way it allows me to render light. The transparency of this medium can make it look like the painting is lit from behind and the light is shining through the paper In my portraits, I like to tell stories about the people around me. I am very interested in childhood fantasy or fairy tales (I wish it would snow Flowers, Hair Balloon, Georgia, the Spanish dress and the Eclectus Parrot). I also like to induce a dialogue with the viewer in some paintings dealing more with introspection and mood (Mixed, In the studio).
Those portraits are not about likeness or knowing the people that are being painted, as I see my models as actors in a movie, they are the faces that will allow me to tell a story or to show emotions. Those faces are a source of endless fascination and I find the subtlety that can be achieved with watercolor well suited to the complexity of the human face.
My technique involves the accumulation of many transparent layers of watercolor. Then I like to incorporate mixed media in the background, work sometimes with some contouring. I also sometimes like to add some drawing on top of the painting or some graphic elements…
Watercolor and Gouache Painting Tutorial
Painting a forest with watercolors and mixed media : Seeing the Forest through the Trees, watercolor and mixed media on paper mounted on board, wax finish
(Please click images below for larger views)
Seeing the Forest through the Trees Watercolor and Mixed media on paper mounted on board wax finish, 30 x 30 inches
My latest watercolor and mixed media (gouache) on paper mounted on board, it is for a group exhibition coming up in February 2013. The painting had to be a forest, I had a line that had to be part of the painting and it had to be 30 x 30 inches. Here are pictures of the step I took, there is also a video at the end of the post where you can see the whole process in a time lapse video.
Some artists will paint their painting on paper before mounting it, I prefer mounting the paper before painting as I stretch the paper at the same time I am mounting it by mounting it wet
You can see a more detailed post about mounting watercolor paper on board here: Mounting watercolor paper on board.
Here is the palette I an using on the foliage, various mixes of :Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Green, Russian Blue, Cadmium Orange, Raw Umber (not on the picture).
I then paint all the foliage with the various mixes of green
To paint the tree trunks I am using the same colors with the addition of Permanent Red violet and Burnt Umber.
I paint the smaller trunks in one time, mixing colors directly on the paper.
For the bigger trees I will apply several layers to render the tree texture.
I paint the trunks moving through the picture from left to right.
Once I painted all the elements, I add some darker browns on the trunks to increase contrast.
I am also adding a layer of white gouache diluted in water in some areas of the painting to add light and texture.
Then I splash the finished painting with drips of water, diluted watercolor paint and diluted gouache paint.
I let the paint move and make some adjustments by taking off some paint with a tissue paper
Once the painting has dried , I apply a layer of wax with a soft cloth, then I am using an hair dryer to make that wax layer more even and remove brush strokes.
The finished painting:Seeing the Forest through the Trees Watercolor and Mixed media on paper mounted on board wax finish, 30 x 30 inches.
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Very interesting and nice. But don’t you paint the light colors last and dark first or am I mixed up. I paint in watercolors. I like flowers and river scenes. I also like sun set and sun rises.