If You Are...

I am working on my contribution for the Harry Potter Art Project at LJ. The chapter I get to illustrate is Chapter 36: The Parting of the Ways from Goblet of Fire. Of course I want my work to look good next to that of the gazillion other artists taking part, so I am anxious to create a strong and beautiful piece. My first idea was to use inks, because that is probably what I am best at - but then suddenly I felt the urge to try my idea in watercolour. So that is what I did.

Only, it didn't work out quite the way I had hoped. The dark colours of Harry's robes and Snape's right side look all funny. The first layer was fine, but when I added a second layer, the first came off and the pigment started to move around, even though I had waited until the first layers was quite dry . Can anyone tell me what went on, and how I can improve my technique?

All concrit and advice are very welcome!


Here is a list of the materials I used:

Paper: Moleskine watercolour sketchbook, 200 g/m2, cold pressed.

Paint: Winsor & Newton Rose Madder Genuine, Cobalt Blue and Aureolin Yellow, in tubes.
At one point I added a little Gum Arabic to my dark Cobalt Blue/Rose Madder mixture in the hopes that that would stop the paint drying so quickly on my palette.

Brushes: Da Vinci petit gris pur nr. 8, marten extra nr. 7, and Da Vinci Nova (synthetic) nr. 5.