Simplified Diamond on Black Paper using Metallic and Interference Watercolours

The Diamond is the Birthstone for April and this simplified painting breaks down the shapes to build up a structured, complex shape of the diamond. Luckily, I have a large plastic Diamond, which will help work out the structure of the clear, clean edges.

I start by using a wipe off pen to map out the shapes making it simpler to draw out.

The first shape is a circle which you can either freehand, use a compass, circular template or simply draw around a circular object.

The circular object i have used is a small pot. I painted along the edge of the pot with the iridescent white and printed this on to the black watercolour paper. Once the circle is down, then comes the square in the middle of the circle.

Another square crosses the first, making an eight-sided octagon shape in the middle, with triangle facets off each edge.

A line is drawn from the point of each of the triangle points, and then i mark the middle point between these lines, drawing a line to create a triangle.

Mark the centre point of the face on view and 8 line radiates from the centre point. Sketch these lightly as these are the details at the back of the diamond which are viewed through the clear shape.

Pink and white shimmering colours have been used on black watercolour paper. I wanted to add a little sparkle, so I have used the metallic Pink from the Derwent Metallic pan set and a Royal Talens Interference White watercolour tube. On the black surface these colours shimmer and sparkle. Look at where the light catches some of the facets and use colour in these areas. leave some areas without colour allowing the black surface to add dimension.

You can see the shimmer of the colour when you angle the paper, and it catches the light beautifully. Once you understand the basic structure and facets of the shape then it becomes easier to create the same shape from different angles.

There you have a simplified Diamond, the birthstone for April.