Fall 2019 Watercolor Class

Beginning Class: Alaskan Fishing Village Week 4

(The Monday intermediate class project was finished the previous week, this is the finally for the Wednesday beginning class)

I am really impressed with how quickly all of my beginning students finished this project, I was afraid we were going to run out of time but you all worked hard and did a fantastic job on this painting and for many it was the first time out and you did great.

Mostly what we did in our last class was to add the little things that make our painting finished like the curtain in the window or cracks in the walls.

The curtains were done with a very light (lots of water) gray using the dry brush technique and negative painting. Just pull down the brush leaving the frames of the windows unpainted (negative painting). You should see streaks if you did the dry brush dry enough.

To make the other windows, mix a dark color (blue and sienna) with enough water so it is still transparent and paint in the panes of the windows leaving the frames unpainted (again, negative painting). Windows are done! You can also use the dark color to add cracks into the boards of the house.

Along the banks of the shore, again using dry brush, I added some grass to the slopes. This was sap green with a touch of orange. Remember to use a paper towel to dry out the brush by the metal ferrule and spread the bristles each time you pick up paint, then touch the end of the brush to the paper and "flip" your brush. It is a quick more that you may want to practice before you work on your painting so you can get those individual grass blades at the top. (Yes, I noticed I didn't reflect this in the water, an easy fix later).

For fun if you want to, you can lift out some smoke from the smoke stack. With a damp brush and very little pressure, make a series of circular strokes to stir up the paint right around the top of the smokestack and less circles ad the smoke moves away. blot this with a paper towel and let it dry before trying it again or you can damage your paper but once should do it.

Finally, do whatever you feel you need to do to finish up your version of the painting be it adding more color to areas or more detail, of maybe you feel you are done as it is, this is up to you. Take what you have learned and apply it to things you want to paint,just keep painting and I will see you in class.