WINTER 2013 WATERCOLOR

Project: Clay Pot and Chilies

I finished my painting of the clay pots by intensifying the colors of my pots and the chilies. The intensity of the color is a personal choice and I was happy with the intensity where I stopped, others may like their painting less intense in color or they may want it to be more intense, it is a decision you need to make for your selves. You do need to keep in mind that each time you add color to increase the intensity you still need to protect your highlights so you don’t lose them.

Clay Pots and Chilies - from PV class. Finished.

When I add more color, I add it to an area I want to make more intense (colorful) and then with just a damp brush, I blend it into surrounding areas to avoid any hard lines. Let that wash dry first before adding more color because even though watercolor does dry lighter, it is better for your painting to wait between washes so you can assess where your painting stands. It is very easy to overdo one area making it overpower the rest of the painting causing you to repaint the rest of the painting to match or you end up mixing mud, losing your highlights, just a whole lot of problems that can be avoided with a bit of patience. As you become more in tune with what your watercolors will do, yes, you will be able to judge what your actions will do to your painting, but for now, slow down and let things dry.

From Class Demo

Most of the class time (PV) I was doing a demo on painting values, I went over this in the previous blog entry so I won’t go over it again here but I did do a short video I posted on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwdVD-1V3-xKZup98pqtpZw?feature=guide) that shows the steps I take when I am painting values first. One thing I want you to notice is that there is an area along the side that I show the value of the wash I used for each layer of wash, they were as close to the same value as I could make them, yet by using layers of wash their accumulative effect made a very intense dark. This is also what happens when you use color, the more layers you use the more intense the color.

I will bring in the set up to PV for at least another week just in case you want to finish, otherwise my PV students will need to bring in something that they want to work on. Torrance classes I hope that you are ready to work, you might want to review the previous blog entries so you know what we will be doing in class.