Watercolor: Sky, Water and Rocks - Putting it All Together
Week 1
Now that we have gone over some of the basics or skies, water and rocks we are going to put them all together to paint the photo I took from Pelican Cove. It is a simple image and if we break it down in stages it will be easy. Watercolor requires patience and that is where most beginners have their problems so step by step, no shortcuts.
First step was to get the sketch of the rocks and horizon line on my paper. Use a pencil that is dark enough to see without you pressing down too hard on the paper such as either a #2B or #3B. You want your sketch dark enough to see after a couple of washes but not so dark that it is noticeable when your painting is finished.
Next, I used a masking fluid on dry paper to protect the white tops of the rocks. Then I wet the paper along the top coast line where the foam would be then used the masking fluid in that area letting the masking fuzz out along the edges. Be sure to use enough masking to cover the area, too little and it may not protect the paper or be difficult to get off. I repeated that process along the bottom of the foreground rocks.
Then I let it dry completely before working in that area.
While I was waiting for the masking to dry, I added my sky.
First I wet the sky area with water then added ultramarine blue across the top and helped it down the page with a damp clean brush, just like we did in the studies.
I then turned the paper upside down and added a line of some orange/red I had on my palette and let that run down into the blue. Remember that your paper needs to be wet for this to work and watch it as it blends and moves, turning as necessary to get the blend you want. Lay it flat when you like the blend and let it dry.
When the masking was dry around the rocks, I under painted the rocks with a light wast of yellow, orange, sienna and touches of blue. starting with the yellow and oranges along the top or the rocks or where the rocks were dry on the shore, the sienna and blue were where the rocks were wet and darker. You can work wet into wet by first wetting the area or wet as you go with the paint (wet on dry). Let this dry.
The last thing we did for the day was to get our first wash of color for the water and this will work best if you dampen the paper with water first. Use a big brush to wet you paper and even when adding the color to this step because you want to work quickly enough to get the colors on while the paper is wet. Put away your tiny brushes for now.
While your paper is wet, I started at the horizon with my ultramarine blue and as I moved down the paper I added greens, lavenders and if you have other blues like cobalt, thalo or cerulean, you can add those as well just be sure that you water them down so they aren't too intense or dark. Streak them on and let the water on the paper and gravity do most of the work (you should have the top of your paper elevated anyway). Paint right over the masked area to be sure that you are getting the washes everywhere where it should be. then let it dry.
This is where we stopped for the day, we will continue with this painting next time. Keep painting and I will see you in class.
Watercolor: Water and Rocks
I was a bit delinquent last week and didn't get the blog done for the water demo we had in the Watercolor Plus class and my Monday watercolor class just did water so this post will cover both the water demo and the rock demo to get us caught up
Water: The basics
The first thing we learned was how to use dry brush to create the impression of water with light sparkling off it. This technique can be use by its self or on top of other light washes. This is also a good technique for creating old wood or hair or grasses so it is not just for water.
The key to this is in its name: Dry brush.
You need to be sure that after you rinse your brush to squeeze the excess water out with your paper towel before you load your brush with paint and again to squeeze at the base of the brush after you load it to get out the excess you might have picked up with the paint and also to gently spread the bristles apart to have splits along the edge.
When you apply it to the paper, use very light pressure on your brush to get the effect you see above. The harder the pressure on your brush the more paint will come off.
The second method we used was wet into wet. First I wet the paper so the paint would move as I put it on, next I added a series of light washes and it wasn't just blue. I used my ultramarine blue, sap green, purple and even burnt sienna where the shore would be because water isn't just blue, look at the photo below to see how many colors are visible when you stop to look at water and if you were there, you would see even more, a photo just doesn't see what our eyes see.
Let the wet of the paper along with a slight elevation of the top of your paper help you blend your colors using long horizontal strokes and try to avoid stripes, add in some extra water if you need to.
Look at the different colors of blue, the lavenders, there are some reds from the kelp below and greens near the shore. Don't be afraid to add these colors to your water when you are painting it will make your water look more real.
I also did another one trying to do a more active type of water but it really didn't look much different than the one above so I'm not including that here, though if I wanted to I could change the one above from calm to turbulent if I wanted to, it is all in the brush strokes.
There are many ways to paint water these are just a couple of examples, look in magazines or other artists' work to see how they handle water and find what works for you.
Rocks!
I have decided to use another photo I took from the same area I too the above image because it is simple and covers everything we have been doing in class: Sky, water and rocks. so for the rock demo I used the rocks from the scene we will be painting.
Concentrating on a part of a subject that may give you problems when you are doing the actual painting, is a good way to learn about your subject. Doing a study or doing sketches helps you familiarize yourself with the thing you might otherwise see as a problem, so this is just a study for the larger painting.
First I sketched in my rocks with a #4B pencil. I used the #4B so it could be seen by the class normally I use a #2 so the line are minimized at the finish of a painting.
While I did include some of the smaller rocks, I didn't sketch in everything because I can do that with my brush as I am painting, this is just to remind me where the rocks go.
This is actually taken after the second wash the first wash with that very light tan color made with sienna and blue (burnt umber will also work) and was a very light tint I put OVER ALL THE ROCKS. I did not just paint the light areas (I did leave some white at the top) all the rocks and all their parts had this first wash.
The second wash was the same colors just a bit darker and this is where I started differentiating between rocks. Starting where I knew the shadows to be on each rock, I tapped the color in.
Close-up of the rocks. See how it is darker in the shadow areas? Also notice all the texture, that is from my tapping in the color. As I worked to the light side I added water to my brush instead of paint to help lighten the color. I also painted around areas i wanted to leave the lighter color.
I put on at least 4 layers of wash, each time starting in the shadow area with a slightly darker color (add more blue rather than the sienna so your shadows look cool) and leaving parts of the previous washes to create a sense of light and to make shapes in your rocks.
As you can see I used the layers of wash to create more than the original rocks I had sketched in. Just by adding shadow shapes, I could carve out more rocks or create holes in the rocks or cracks. I also took my liner brush to add some smaller cracks.
Now we are going to put it all together and we will be painting the scene below.
Keep painting and I will see you in class.
