Fall 2019 Watercolor Class

Project: Alaskan Fishing Village Week 3
Note: The beginning class has started a version of this project I will post their review first then the intermediate class's review, however, some of what we did in the Monday class was also done by the Wednesday class so I did direct the Monday class back up into the beginning review so I wasn't repeating what I just wrote.

In watercolor you must start with your lightest colors first and work your way to the dark and I like to work with what is furthest away first as well. The furthest thing in most landscapes is the sky to paint the sky I started with a mix of ultramarine blue with a tiny hint of burnt sienna just to slightly gray the blue and water to thin (lighten) the color. Remember, watercolor is transparent and white is the white of the paper so a thin wash of color will give you a light finished color.

I was using my 3/4" angled brush to get my paper covered and so I could easily paint around the treetops  and other things in my design, my rule of thumb is to used the biggest brush for the size of your paper you have so you can get the paper covered, especially when you are painting big areas, save the smaller brushes for later.

I painted the sky with this color as well as the house and the water, let this dry before you move on to the trees and grass.

The trees and grass were painted with sap green and a tiny, very tiny, touch of orange to mute the color. Green can be too GREEN so you need to tone it down with some form of red, I like orange or burnt sienna because using straight red can easily turn to mud and both those colors have some red in them. Use plenty of water to make a thin wash for the trees and grass. I did add more yellow and a touch more orange when I was painting the grass but it isn't really necessary.

I also went back to the blue and sienna color I used in the sky and building and added a bit more of both to ass to the reflection in the water. The one thing to keep in mind when painting a reflection is the water is moving which breaks up the straight lines and the shapes that it is reflecting so pull your brush straight across and/or straight down to suggest that water movement. Let this dry.

(This is where it is the same for both beginners and intermediate classes in what we did in class last week.)

Starting the under painting of the house, this is going to be a bit different: the brush will be dryer and you need to pay attention to the direction of the angles in the building.

The roof slopes at an angle, the side facing us has boards that are horizontal, the front of the building has boards that are both vertical (the bottom) and horizontal (the top) these distinctions are important to recreate the idea of old wood.

If you need to go to a smaller brush, this is the place you can switch brushes, still, don't break out the one haired brushes just yet.

The roof was painted with a mix of yellow and burnt sienna with lots of water to make an ocher-ish tint that I used across the roof following the angle of the roof. My brush was damp but not dripping with paint I also went back into that color and added tiny mounts of burnt sienna to add some color in the back part of the roof (look at the reference photo to see all the colors in the roof).

The gray for the front and side of the building is again the blue and burnt sienna but not so much water this time and you will need to have a dry brush. Use a paper towel to lightly squeeze the back of the brush after you have loaded your paint, this will remove some of the water and also fan out the bristles of the brush. With very little pressure on the brush, drag it across you paper in the direction of the wooden boards. You can repeat it a couple times but then let it dry a a minute or the paper gets wet and you lose the "grain" you just added. You can add some straight burnt sienna in the same way.

On the lower part of the building, I made the paint a bit darker using less water in the paint. I also under painted the door - I think it is a service door - with the same color as the roof but with a bit more or the two colors and less water.

You can repeat the door color in the water, remember the moving water.

We also managed to start the water reflections, this was a wet into wet technique.

First you need to wet the paper where the water is around the building reflection, WHILE THE AREA IS STILL WET you will add the green you used from the trees but use it a bit stronger - less water -  by just touching your brush to the paper and letting the watercolor do its magic. Your paper needs to be at an angle to that gravity can help you or it will just sit there. To that green you can also touch the paper with blue and yellow to create streaks. Don't get too carried away because it feels so good or your colors will become muddy and loose the idea of the reflections. We can do this again if we feel we need to later but let it dry for now. Also notice how I cut into the building with horizontal marks into the building, nothing is straight.

This is as far as we got and I was amazed you all did so much ans so well. We will start where we left off when we met again. 

Intermediate version

In our last class we worked on the reflections in the water and the buildings. The techniques are the same as I have just written for the beginner class so you can scroll up to review the process, the one thing we did in the Monday class was to add more color to the water. Same process as above: wet the paper and drop color onto the wet paper and let it run. You can use a bit more intense color but let the watercolor do most of the work. 

The houses are painted using the dry brush technique and following the way the direction of the way the wood or roof is going. I also used a mix of blue and burnt sienna with little water to make a dark color for the  shadows under the eves, around the windows, the gap by the yellow door and to negative paint the area under the buildings. I used a lighter wash of the same color to start the boats as well.

The red of the little building is napthol or cad red light with a touch of burnt sienna in it. I also used this color in the water.

However, when I was painting in the water to make it look like reflections all of this I either painted straight across or straight down with a wiggle of mu brush. Remember it is moving water,nothing will be straight or definite.

This is where we left off in class, next class we will be getting into detail and finishing up this project so bring your little brushes and your liners, I will see you in class.