Watercolor
Class Summer 2013
Project:Moonlight Fishing
The purpose of this painting is twofold: One
is to learn to paint a night sky with a moon and stars over water, the second
is to show you how to take a daytime setting and change it into a nighttime
setting just by using a bit of imagination. This could be almost anything from
a mountain scene by a lake or a cityscape like the harbor scenes from NY and
buildings reflected down into the water, this can be anything you want, even a
different pier or lighthouse, it is up to you if you want to do something
different though I do suggest that you find some reference material for whatever
scene you choose to do.
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| Line drawing for class project. |
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| Reference photo for class. |
If
you want to do a complex drawing before you start, be sure to use at least a
#4B pencil so you will be able to see your drawing when we get to the pier,
mostly what you will need is a horizon line and a moon to start. Again, you can
decide how big you want your moon, I made mine a bit smaller that my test study
because it didn’t look like earth’s moon, however, if you like a big moon, be
my guest, it is your painting. To get a nice round shape, you can use a compass
or bottle cap or just about any round object that is the size you want please
make sure you have a round moon, I did see a couple egg shaped ones and one
that looked like a pear, not really of this Earth, ours is round.
Another
thing that you will need to do before you start painting is to get out your
masking fluid and add a few stars to your sky. Don’t get too carried away with
stars, just a few will be good again, we are still here on Earth and with a
moon bright in the sky not too many stars will be visible, just a flick or two
of your toothbrush and call it good. Remember, if you get spots of masking
fluid where you don’t want it or if you get some big blobs wait until it sets
up then just rub them off don’t try to fix it while it is wet or you will
create problems for yourself, it is designed to peel off so don’t panic use it
to your advantage. Wait until the masking is completely dry before you start to
paint.
Please
read this carefully: The stars are the only white things in this painting.
Repeat: The stars are the only white things in this painting. Everything else
gets toned down. Night is a totally different animal from daylight, even with a
bright moon in the sky the light from the moon is reflected light and isn’t as
bright as the sun, it also isn’t as warm visually as the sun, its light is much
cooler so even bright areas are going to be cooler (bluer) and that includes
the moon, the sea foam and any other highlights.
Once
your masking fluid has dried and you have removed any unwanted spots of masking
(that includes any you have put on the moon), on your palette mix a tiny amount
of your cobalt blue (this is a new color for most of you) so you have a very
pale blue color, then wet you whole paper either with your spray bottle or with
your biggest brush keep using your big brush and while your paper is wet, cover
EVERYTHING with the light cobalt and water mix. Do not paint around anything!
Not the moon, not the wave foam not the light track NOTHING! At this stage
EVERYTHING get a coat of paint. If it looks too blue on your paper, just pick
up some water and thin it out on your paper. No need to wipe it off and
remember that watercolor dries lighter as long as it is a light blue, you will
be okay. Your paper should be completely this pale blue color with the masking
when you are done. Let it dry.
Your
paper should be dry to the touch and you may need to reinforce your moon and
horizon lines at this point. Still using your big brush and now your indigo
blue, ultra marine blue and a touch of purple, start at the top and start
painting your sky. Have your brush wet enough that the paint comes off evenly
and if you want you can rewet the sky area however, you don’t want to use so
much water that you dilute the color. You may have to repeat this process a
couple times to get it dark enough (I did this at home). If you have a value
scale the top of your sky is going to be between a 9 and a 10, 10 being the
darkest down towards the horizon it should be about an 8. If you don’t have a
value scale, what you are looking for is a very dark midnight blue color where
the stars are and a slightly lighter color near the water. If the sky is still
damp you can lightly lift out some clouds with a clean paper towel (crumple it
up), just lightly blot the surface where you want the clouds. Remember this is
nighttime, clouds are just going to be a suggestion.
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| Where I left off in class. |
Before
you start painting the water you might want to reestablish the drawing for the
waves and foam because you will need to paint around these areas and also draw
a light path starting at the moon the width of the moon, widening it as you
come forward so it is about 2 moons wide at the shore, you will need to know
where these are so it is best to draw them in. You can use a smaller flat,
angle or round brush for this next step, I was using my ½” angle brush but any
brush you feel comfortable with will work. What you will be doing is long,
flat, overlapping slightly curved shaped strokes so use a brush you will be
comfortable using. I will tell you now, it will take more than one layer of
paint to get the desired results.
Starting
with a light mix of cobalt blue and Hooker’s green make long overlapping
strokes of color in your water area, don’t worry about where the pier is for
now, just paint over it you won’t hurt anything (see my painting), the places
you will want to avoid are the waves and sea foam and the light track in the
water. Just be aware when you are avoiding these areas, that they have their
own shape and you will be doing what is called “negative painting” because you
will be painting the shape of the area around these areas. The light track from
the moon is not straight, as the waves roll in they break up the edges of the
light track, some of the waves may actually cross the light track causing a
shadow (again, look at my painting), to get the “shimmer” for the water you
need to create an uneven edge to the light track, we will refine it later. This
layer of color can almost be solid but still use the long flat strokes because
as you reload with paint, you will make streaks and that is a good thing. If
you have to remix and it is not the same color that is a good thing as well, it
will make you water look more natural plus you will be putting more layers on
top of it. Let your water dry in between layers of color and each time you add
a layer of color, you will be leaving a bit of the previous color showing.
(Check my painting to see how many different values of color I have in my
water).
Each
layer will be a bit darker than the previous which means less water, more paint
and you will change the colors you use. Do at least another layer of the cobalt
and green but a bit stronger in color (less water), then switch to ultramarine
blue and Hooker’s green and finally add to that some indigo, and purple in the
darkest areas which will be to the far sides of the water, areas that will be
furthest from the light source, i.e. the moon. This take practice just keep
referring to my painting and try to get as close to it as you can, water can be
a challenge.
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| At home I added more color to both sky and water to darken both. |
Last
thing we did was add a face to the moon. First off wet the moon with water,
then with a small brush – I was using my ¼” angle brush – look on your palette
for a very light blue color. You don’t have to mix color, just find a light
color on your palette add a little water so it will flow off your brush then
lightly touch the wet moon. Think about how the moon looks with its craters and
such, it doesn’t take much to suggest texture on the moon.
Next
week you might want to have your pier or whatever you are going to paint
sketched on your paper, we should finish this up in a week or two so start
looking for something you want to paint, we will work on specific studies after
this project so if you are having problems with something let me know, others
may also need a demo on the subject. See you all soon.
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