Wednesday watercolour tutorial – 13

In this quick landscape exercise, I am using some of the same techniques used in my life paintings.    There are only a few basic techniques in watercolour painting.    The key is to master each technique and this only comes with practise. 

A friend and fellow artist sent me the beautiful gift of Schmincke Aquarelle Lasurorange translucent orange and so I thought I would try it out in this warm up exercise….and it is indeed a beauty. 

Frame 1

In this frame, I have suggested an horizon line and then wet the area above the horizon, leaving the paper beneath the horizon line completely dry. 

 

Frame 2.

I have loaded my brush with paint and introduced the colour just above the horizon line….allowing the paint to bleed.    For this I am using a mix of Cotman Dioxazine Violet and Alizirin Crimson

 

Frame 3.

I now introduce some of the Schmincke Lasuroragne and allow it to bleed to the top of the paper.   At the very top I have added a little Naples Yellow, which is a more opaque pigment.    I love the way transparent pigments work next to opaque pigments…again an idea to play with. 

 

Frame 4.

I now add some more juicy paint  (mix of Violet and Crimson) into the wet area at the horizon line.   Then I take a clean, wet brush and gently pull colour down into the dry area….note that I am leaving some areas of dry white paper next to the horizon line. 

This technique of using a clean, wet brush to pull out paint is possibly one of the best watercolour techniques….It helps to prevent muddiness!

 

 

Frame 5.

In this frame, using the violet and crimson mix, I indicate tree lines and field boundaries.     Note that I am leaving a lot of dry white paper.   I also bring some of the violet and crimson mix into the foreground for balance. 

It is also important to note, that I am allowing the paint in the sky to do its own thing at this point….I am not trying to manipulate the paint.  

 

Frame 6.

I now introduce some of the Schmincke Lasurorange into the foreground….Remember all colour reflects on its surroundings.

 

Frame 7.

Here are swatches of the colours used in this image.   Cotman series Dioxazine Violet, and Alizirin Crimon.   Schminkcke Lasurorange and Winsor & Newton artists grade Naples Yellow. 

 

Happy Painting. 

A Bientôt. 

Beware of the Chattering Monkeys

I was fortunate to go to art college in the early sixties where  the importance of figure drawing/painting was emphasised.    During the coming week, I will write more about this discipline and how it formed the foundation block for my creative life.

For today, this twenty minute watercolour portrait of a model painted at the Boathouse Studio demonstrates some of the same techniques that I have been showing in my tutorials.  

 

All the white, is white paper.   I have used a mix of Burnt Sienna and Prussian Blue for the darks with hints of Cadmium Orange and a touch of violet. 

One of the key elements in preventing creatives from working on a consistent basis, are The Chattering Moneys. 

Chattering Monkeys are the little demons that fill our heads with reasons why we should not, and cannot do something!

They are the Yin to our Yang…..

I am sure just as you begin to paint, they are telling you that you don’t have time and that you can’t draw or paint anyway!

Ignore them. 

Just begin, and eventually they will go away……..

‘Do not encumber your mind with useless thoughts.   What good does it do to brood on the past or anticipate the future?   Remain in the simplicity of the present moment.      From the book Buddhist Offerings. 

A Bientôt

Tutorial 8. Wet brush no paint.

In this short video, I load my big brush with juicy paint, and then making sure to remove all paint from the brush, I use the clean wet brush to pull out the colour.

I am working on a dry surface, and by using this technique, I am able to avoid muddiness, which is the enemy of all water-colour painters:)

Once again I can’t stress how important it is to have a minimum of four pots of clean water always at hand.

A Bientôt