Written by Hi, my name is Dhruba Mazumder and I am a watercolourist. I live and work in Bucharest, Romania. I started painting with watercolours around 8 years back. My first inspiration about watercolour painting was when I visited an art event called Chitra Santhe (meaning Art Fair) in Bengaluru, India, in January, 2009.
The medium intrigued me with its bright, dynamic and spontaneous appearance. In spite of watercolour being considered an unforgiving and complicated painting medium, I took the challenge of trying my hands on it. I immediately fell in love with this beautiful medium. Ever since then I have been learning a bit more about watercolour painting every single day.
I also conduct watercolour painting workshops, teach drawing, sketching and take painting assignments.
Art Materials For Watercolour Painting
The two most important art materials in watercolour painting are good quality pigments and papers. The watercolor pigments I use are Kokuyo Camel, MaimeriBlu, Mission Gold and Gouache from Winsor & Newton. I paint on artist quality, acid free, 100 percent cotton watercolour papers.
The watercolour brushes I use are made both of natural and synthetic hair. These are flat and round shape brushes of various sizes depending on the measure of the artwork. Any round brush with a fine point and water holding capacity is good to work with. I prefer a watercolour palette with big mixing areas.
My Inspirations
My painting style is modern impressionistic and I love to paint landscapes as well as cityscapes. Vast and wide spaces are always interesting to be captured in paintings. Yet it is not the subject but the mood, light and atmosphere of it that inspires me most.
Light creates amazing magic when it scatters over different surfaces creating beautiful abstract shapes. These shapes as a design are the first inspiration for me to create a visual composition.
I get inspirations to draw and paint everywhere. I keep a sketchbook, a few pens and pencils always with me and try to sketch. These sketches help me in observing and solving visual designs. Later on, some of these sketches become resourceful for bigger paintings.
Importance Of Sketching
I love to sketch and paint live which gives fresh and spontaneous results of a scene, rather than from a photograph, be it on location or inside.
Unfortunately, photographs average out everything from tonal value ranges, colors to edge quality, reducing depth and space. These are vital elements with which to create a successful visual composition.
My Painting Process
My painting process is simple. I prefer to paint on a quarter or half of an imperial size watercolor paper depending on the subject. Watercolour is a dynamic medium. The pigments diluted with water need enough surface area on the paper to move and mingle to do their own magic. Working on smaller size papers reduces this opportunity.
Before starting a painting, I try to have a clear idea of the three major aspects of the composition:
- The tonal value shapes of light, mid-tone and dark.
- The color scheme.
- Lost & found edges.
As we know, watercolour is either a transparent or semi-transparent medium. Laying a layer on previous layer(s) results in changed hues and tonal values. Painting without a basic plan may lead to an unexpected and often unsatisfactory result.
I start with a HB/2B mechanical pencil to do the initial underline drawing. I put only the main and important shapes as suggestions. Our minds tend to hold on within shapes. It is easier for our minds to paint beyond and over boundaries when less drawing is used.
Depending on the subject and technique, I either pre-wet the paper fully, partially or at times not at all to achieve edge variations. Mostly I paint from lighter to darker tones and bigger to smaller shapes from the start to completion.
I start with a big wash laying the basic underlying colors and tones as per the initial design. Within the wash I add various thin and thick consistencies of pigment to the water mix. During this wash, various effects can be achieved depending on the moisture level of the paper and the consistency of the paint. I let the paper dry completely before adding the next layer to define more positive and negative shapes.
I try to keep the number of layers to the least possible. This results in a painting with fresh and vibrant colors. The darker areas of watercolour become muddy and opaque if painted with many layers. The best way to paint these shapes are with fresh and vibrant dark pigments in one single go. My painting should work as a whole conveying the correct feelings.
The elements in it should complement each other without competing. During its progress, many times I look at the painting in reverse in a mirror and from a distance. This immediately helps the mind to observe it with a fresh perspective identifying any flaws.
At the end, I add some directional lines, any highlights lost from the previous layers and spots of saturated colors to move the viewer’s eye over the painting. Finally, the time arrives to add the signature and complete it. I review my paintings after a couple of days with a fresh mind to check if any further adjustments are required.
Closing Words
Only a few basic techniques are necessary to do a successful watercolour painting. It is better to practice and know very well the effects of these few techniques than trying to paint with many. But it is also important to learn new techniques from time to time.
Watercolour deserves respect. It is unpredictable and cannot fully be controlled. Once we accept these facts, the fun of painting begins. The fresh and spontaneous results of the watercolour medium show when it is painted with courage and with less control. Only then the medium reveals its potential, energy and starts connecting to the artist.
Thank you vey much Charlie O’Shields for featuring me as a Guest Artist on Doodlewash.com!
Dhruba Mazumder
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I have enjoyed your work as long as I’ve been painting. It was interesting to read about your materials and process–thanks so much for sharing it here!
It’s wonderful! Really!
Thank you for sharing. Something to aspire to.
All so very beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Wonderful post, Dhruba, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
Beautiful work and thank you for sharing your process.
Just beautiful, I am now a HUGE fan! Thank you!
Every word reveals something important about watercolor painting and each of your paintings shows the hand of a master. Beautiful, just beautiful, Dhruba.
I love the soft edges in your work. Just beautiful!
Dhruba, your art is amazing! Thank you for the tips and good advice!
I have always been in awe of your work, Dhruba! Thanks for sharing your process with us…so inspiring! You do amazing work!
Thank you for sharing your works and techniques. They are beautiful.
I am a proud owner of one of Dhruba’s work. He is truly an amazing artist!
Wow, so perfect! 😍
Your work is very beautiful, thank you for sharing your gift! 🌟
Excellent water color work!!!!!!! i love ur work!
Dhruba, a good friend and great artist! Love his work and approach to subjects! His flowers are delicate and use of colour is masterful! Great series Dhruba Congratulations!
Thank you so much for sharing your painting process with us! I really enjoyed your paintings!
thank you Dhruba for sharing your experience with us, thank you Charlie for hosting doodle wash!
Wonderful! I really love your paintings!
Amazing 👌
Since the day I first came across your paintings I’ve been hooked on to them. Just beautiful !
Wonderful paintings! And thank you for the story 🙂
THESE ARE INCREDIBLE. I AM SHOOK. I’d love to paint in watercolour like this one day – send help! M x
I saw this only now (May 2019). Thank you Dhruba for explaining stuff so beautifully and clearly.