Lisa Wang is an amazing watercolour artist whose style really inspires me. Here is a collection of work that she shared during a live workshop, showing her process from initial drawing to mid-tones and finally, dark colour and detail.
Lisa mentions that the quality of her drawing is the secret to the end result. Having looked at her work below, I think she massively understates her skill level with figure drawing. If you try to replicate one of her drawing you will appreciate the knowledge, skill and years of practice that Lisa has in this area.
In addition to Lisa’s high drawing skills, she has an excellent knowledge of light and the way it interacts with objects to cast shadows. Then comes her actual watercolour technique, in particular complimentary colours to produce the correct shadows and how to accurately reproduce light on an object. The dark hair in the paintings jumps out at me, so easily overlooked but it really brings the form to life.
At times, Lisa creates her final composition with a combination of parts from many different pictures. Here for example, the barista wiping the pot looks great but his action is not as interesting as the image of the milk being poured.
As well as using the hands pouring the milk, the back ground in image 1 works much better with the coffee machine because it creates more contrast.