Spring 2019 Watercolor Class

(I will be posting the beginning watercolor class blog first followed by the project we are doing in the intermediate class. Use is as a review of basics.)

Watercolor Plus: Creating Depths and Values with Washes

I for got to take photos of what we ere doing in class but since I have done this before with a similar pattern, I will be using those images for this post and will include the image from what we did in our last class.

When I did these photos I also numbered the leaves so you would know which order I left unpainted as I applied washes.

As you can see, after I did a wet into wet under painting, I left the top leaf unpainted EVERYTHING ELSE will get a wash of color. Just paint over  EVERYTHING with a light wash and let it dry before going to the next layer.

This is what it looked like after the first wash of a neutral gray (ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and lots of water). I painted EVERYTHING except the top leaf. When dry I added another wash of the SAME EXACT COLOR.

This is after the second wash or the same exact color. You can see that I left the 2 leaves to the side of the top leaf but EVERYTHING ELSE got  wash of color. The reason it looks darker is because watercolor is transparent and what is underneath a wash of color with influence the new layer of wash. You do need to work dry paper or you run the risk of stirring up the previous colors and creating mud. Let this dry.

This is the third wash of EXACTLY THE SAME COLOR. There is just one more leaf that I added to the ones I didn't paint to the left side of the top leaf, EVERYTHING ELSE GOT PAINTED.

This was the final wash of color and I added the remaining leaf to the ones I didn't paint.

Notice how dark the wash color had become just by adding layers but it is still transparent. If you look closely you will be able to see the original wet into wet under painting.

 From that last wash of color you can now finish the leaves any way you want adding more color (remember to keep the color transparent) or and bug holes or torn parts. The first part of this exercise was to get to here, this is how you build a watercolor working from light to dark and keeping the transparency of your watercolor. 

This is the study we did in class. I ran out of time to do more.

Practice this because when you are new,it doesn't make sense until you actually see it work but it will make all the difference in the world to your own paintings.

Keep painting.

Monday Watercolor Class: Project Pink Umbrella Week 1

You need a road map when you are doing watercolor even if it is just a simple one like we have this time, because it lets your know where things change.

After I got my sketch on, I used masking fluid to protect areas I wanted to keep either white because they are white or I wanted them to be unpainted so when I do add color the color will be cleaner and more vivid. You will see a blue/gray in the next image and that is the masking fluid.

This is just the under painting for the distant and middle ground of this painting, there is still more work to do with detail and color, I was looking for value and establishing the different color areas.

For the poppies I used cad orange as my base but to that I added a little burnt sienna and a touch of napthol red for shadowed areas, this is one of the exceptions to the rules: If I had put in blue or purple into the orange it would have muddied the color and I wanted to keep the color clean. This is also true for yellow keep that in mind when using those colors and you don't want muddy colors.

The sunnier areas of the poppies I added cad yellow light to the orange to keep the color bright but to also make it look more sun lit. There are some areas of mustard which are just the yellow. Do these in layers and build up the value and the intensity of the color using the layers (See the above post).

The green was a mix of Hooker's green and a touch of sienna. You want a light army green. I painted it on using the dry brush technique (little water or paint on the brush, then skim the paper's surface with the edge of your brush to leave white paper showing) so I have areas of dirt and rocks I will work on later.


There are also some lavender flowers usually where there is a slide area on the hill. That color is either a little purple with a touch or blue and sienna or if you don't have purple, the ultramarine blue, crimson and a little sienna to gray the color.

As always, paint in the direction of the shape of what you are painting. If is it rounded your strokes should be rounded. If it is angled your strokes should follow that angle. This isn't a wall don't paint it like one.

I will continue from here in our next class so keep painting.