Nikahrat colour (POINT 2 & 3)...

Sketchbook page showing colour mood-board.

I first started to make a mood board of colours that I imagine suit the Nikahrat character the most.

I have chosen blue and purple hues to compliment her fragile and feminine nature.

As seen from the colour testers, I have been very strict with myself when criticising the colour mixing. This is because it is very important for me to get the right colour but also the right consistency of paint and texture.

So far I am using only gouache paint. This is because it is what I feel most comfortable using and, after all, this should still be showcasing my strengths and overall style of illustration work.

I had a few happy accidents in this process. The most significant was discovering how my water-brush created a much softer, translucent effect when it had got a range of different colours still on its bristles.

This was originally the piece of paper I was cleaning my brush on before I attempted to mix more colours.

My other 'accidents' were more intentional. After trying my water-brush, I wanted to test how a normal brush would react with the same paint but with different water consistencies.

For this I used Winsor & Newton Poster Colour Gouache in 'Ultramarine Blue' and a Winsor & Newton Watercolour Cotman 999 series brush (16mm).

Dry Brush

Relying on the moisture of the paint to carry the paint along. Effect achieved by sweeping the brush back and forth to spread the paint as much as I can.

 Damp brush

Very little water on the brush. Effect created by pulling the brush back and forth to add pressure. Each stroke pattern blends with the next smoothly but with some texture.

Wet brush

Brush is soaked under a tap and applied straight to paper with the paint. Single brush strokes which bleed into each other. Extra paint spots added to bleed into water by their own accord.

With these experiments I decided to use photoshop manipulation to play around with textures, colours and overlay.