ONLINE CLASSES by
HÉLÈNE & JEANNE
from Paris
KARPOV
DIAMOND 101
© KARPOV 2021 TRANSCRIPT / ENGLISH
ONLINE CLASSES by
HÉLÈNE & JEANNE
from Paris
KARPOV
In jewelry, when you paint gemstones and jewelry in general, there is a convention about light
and shadows: you must always assume that whatever you’re painting is lit from the top left, at a
45° angle. This will help you build your volume and keep a complex drawing coherent.
We have chosen not to center the camera on what we are painting because we want to show you
how we put gouache on our brush, how we make sure it has the right consistency, and how we
sharpen our brush to get thin lines. These steps are essential to master gouache painting.
We have been painting for a very long time so we will probably take less time than you to go
through them, but you, at home, should pay attention to these steps.
They are the most important !
Always keep a piece of paper towel on hand. You will use it to wipe your brush if it’s got too much
water. Also keep an extra piece of grey paper near your painting. You will use it to test the tip of
your brush or sharpen it.
We made you diamond templates that you can directly print on grey paper with a laser printer.
They are in different opacities so you can choose the right one for you.
Very important : tap the surplus of graphite with your kneadable eraser : that way, it won’t dirty
your white.
Brilliant cut
1- Start by applying a white wash, not too transparent and not too opaque. Apply it on the whole
surface of the stone.
2- Once it’s really dry, grab a lead pencil and a light stump. Apply your shadow in the top left and
in the culet of the stone.
3- Put some shadows in the bottom right part of your stone to build the global volume of the
stone.
4- Draw a triangle slightly darker in the center of your shadow inside the culet because this is
where your shadow will be the darkest. In the same way, you can add a bit of shadow in the
bottom right.
5- Load your brush with some thick gouache and make sure your brush is sharp by turning the
tip on itself. Make sure your line is precise on the extra piece of grey paper you have on hand. You
can draw the outline of your stone. Feel free to turn your sheet! You need to be as comfortable as
possible.
© KARPOV 2021 1 TRANSCRIPT / ENGLISH
ONLINE CLASSES by
HÉLÈNE & JEANNE
from Paris
KARPOV
The more comfortable your hand’s position, the more precise your lines will be. We can’t
turn our sheet here because for your comfort of watching we have decided not to move the ca-
mera, so we have to twist, and as as a result, our drawing is not as precise as we would like it to be.
6- In the same way, draw the facets of the diamond. Turn your sheet.
7- Find out where the culet is and place a white dot in it.
8- Draw lines that join this point and the center of the star facets. It should form a kind of star.
9- Load your brush with a bit more water this time. The gouache should be less thick than to draw
the facets. Then draw triangles of light in the bottom right of your culet: this is where the light
will be the strongest, in this part of the stone. The triangle of light in the center will be a little
thicker than the ones around: we’re trying to create a feeling of diffuse light.
10- Load your brush thickly with gouache and fill the star facets on the top left. This is exactly
where the light will be the strongest. So it needs to be really really white. You can wait for your
layer to dry and then add another layer.
11- With a white wash, apply some light on a few facets in the top left of your stone.
12- With some really thick gouache, make two white dots, really really round, in the top left of your
table.
13- With a well-sharpened pencil, draw the table again in the top left of your stone. We’re doing it
freehand but you should use a ruler, you’ll be more precise.
14- Last step: still with a well-sharpened pencil, redraw the outline of your stone, in the bottom
right. You’ll gain in contrast and it will make your stone stand out from the paper.
© KARPOV 2021 2 TRANSCRIPT / ENGLISH
