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Series
This is the second part of a series of experiments to find an easy technique of drawing a dark color around light colored detail. The series consists of:
- An easy artsy way of drawing fireworks
- An easy and dirty way of drawing fireworks
- A quick and dirty way of drawing fireworks
- The easy and greasy way of drawing stars
- (You might also be interested in my easy technique to draw fireworks with crayons)
Liquid masking film
Artist who paint with acrylic paint also run into problems with painting lighter colors on top of darker colors. They solve this problem by using something called liquid masking film. A fluid that resembles white paint but when it sets you get something with a rubber feel that you can very easily remove by scratching it away.
When painting you yently paint over the film and remove it when you’re finished. When drawing you scratch pigment on the paper and could very easily remove the film before you’re done.
Draw darker with wax
Since it is so easy to accidently remove the film from the paper makes it all but useless for drawing.
To use the liquid masking film you should have some trick to get more pigment on the paper without having to press very hard.
After some drawings you find that you inadvertent left some fingers on the paper that turned into nasty colored stains. That’s because you fingers leave a fatty residue that picks up much more pigment then paper.
In this instance we can use that to our advantage.
To get more pigment on the paper without pressing I used the kind of wax women put in there hair. (It’s quite possible that butter would work just as well but it will get smelly after a few weeks).
Fireworks easy and dirty
Here I’ve drawn the fireworks. Put the liquid masking film on and painted wax on top. The film and the wax are colorless so you can’t see them. (I used a sheet of plastic to protect my scanner.)
Getting the liquid masking film on the paper was a bit of a problem. At first I tried painting it with a brush but that ruined the brush. I got some advice at my local art shop. Turns out you have to use a (pointed) blender.
(Pointed) blender
A (pointed) blender looks a bit like a bruch and has about the same size as a large brush. But where the hairs would usually go you find a rubber point.
Fireworks easy and dirty
Here I’ve used one layer of blue. To get the best result you should use two layers of blue. preferably two hues. more then one color works best when using a crosshatching technique (drawing horizontal and then vertical).
You can use the paint brush and little bit more wax to blend the color.
Fireworks easy and dirty
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I used a knife to remove the masking film.
Finishing up
At this point the drawing is very greasy and it won’t dry.
To prevent my drawings from staining I always fixate them with a little hair spray. This time I needed more then a little. But the drawing isn’t fatty anymore.
Faulty
At first glance this seems like a good technique to color around details. But if you look more closely you see that there is a lot of white around the details. The problem is that it isn’t possible to paint small details with liquid masking film. Using a brush to paint with it, you hardly get any liquid on the paper an using the blender you get to much. It shapes like a droplet and flows over the edges.
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Noli Novak must be one of the most patient people alive. She draws portraits a dot at the time.
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