Watercolor Safe Harbor Week2 (Palos Verdes class)

(Torrance we will be doing this step in class on Monday, See the above blog post for what we did in our last class)

This week I started working to bring up colors in my water and to start adding some color to the boat and the houses on the dock. We have to work in layers when working in watercolor even though it's tempting to go straight to the color but with watercolors it is difficult to remove color once it is down so it is best to work in layers or washes.

I started by working on the body of the boat which is a dark color but it is not a solid dark color. Look at your reference photo, you will see that there are some lighter areas and some detail, if you can bring it up on your computer you will see the subtleties in the dark color. Rather than working with black I mix to a dark color. I use my ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and my purple plus I want to keep this color to the cool side so there will be more blue than sienna. I put it down one layer at a time building up the density or the value the color. This may take several washes or layers, letting it dry in between applications of paint.

The wheelhouse has two sections: On the top shaded section I added a light blue color by using ultramarine blue and a tiny, tiny amount of purple with a lot of water. The lower section I left white for now.

On the Tarp areas I mixed some ultramarine blue with little bit of either Sap Green for hooker’s green. The shadows were made by adding more blue and a little more purple, basically you want a darker color so use less water when mixing the color.

The roof on thebuildings in the back of the boat were a light, muddy yellow color I had on my palette, probably my cad yellow and a touch of orange. I under painted one building on the dock behind the boat in a light pink color using my red and lots of water, the other building I added a little more yellow to the money yellow I was using for the roofs and a lot of water.

When everything is dry you can start bringing up the value of your water. By using several light washes you could make the water look like water just remember it is not just blue. I used green - mostly my sap green - and little touches of very dilute purple so it was only a light lavender tint and I used long horizontal strokes with the end of my brush, to create the water starting in the back with light blue and working forward. I kept most of the green and the lavender colors from the back of the boat to the foreground and in the area where the boat will be casting a reflection I used a darker version of my colors by adding more pigment and less water. The more water you use to pigment, the lighter your value will be so if you want a dark value you use less water.

The water is very darkunder the pier behind the boat I added a darker color under the pier and when it was dry, I used a damp brush to lift out shapes for the pilings and boards that make up the dock.

In the foreground I under painted the pilings and the dock with light sienna and yellow painting over the area being sure to paint over where the crab pots will be.

I will do detail later for some of the buildings on the dock behind the boat for now after the buildings have dried, I took a light lavender color and painted in the shadowed sides of the buildings also the windows and the door.

On the boat in the sunny part of the cabin, I took that light lavender shadow color and looking at myreference photo first, I painted the shadows that go across the sunlit area of the boathouse. Please note that the shadows are not straight they follow the curve of the wheelhouse cabin, this is important because it shows the shape of that cabin.

Torrance project week 1

Lastly I wanted to put in some of the pipes and rigging on the boat. I mixed my dark color again - (see the mixture above) do not use too much water or it won't be dark enough - and I painted in the masts and the pipes and all of the rigging that is on the boat that is dark along with the portholes on the wheelhouse cabin and right over any masking that is there.

This is where we stopped; try to have your painting to this point by next week. I have not removed any masking fluid yet we will do this probably the next time we paint. Keep painting and I will see you in class.