Spring Watercolor Class 2016

WATERCOLOR CLASS Project: 3 Poppies Week 4

P.V. class, so many of you were out and I had some new people, I didn't work on the project last class. I will be finishing it up this week for those who are still working on the project, if you have finished please have something you want to paint with you and I can do demos for the questions that will come up.

Torrance class I finished up my painting as much as I am going to in class, I can always find things I want to add or change but for class purposes this was the last class for this project so if you have finished please bring in something you want to do or if you are still working on the project that is fine as well, I will help you where it is needed.

This last class i just did some finishing touches that you don't need to do if you don't want to, if you like what you have then stop, below is what I did to finish mine, it is optional for you.

Mostly what I did was add washes of color to intensify or deepen the colors of my sky and background.

In the sky I added another wash of ultramarine blue with a tiny touch of purple and water. I wanted to deepen the color of the sky as well as intensify it so I could use the contrast between the complimentary colors of the orange and blue to my advantage. I did have to be careful not to go over and over an area as I did the wash so I didn't lose the patterns made by the plastic wrap.

I also went over the green background with a wash of Hooker's green and blue, painting around the flowers and stems to also deepen the color and when it was dry I some negative painting by using that same green and blue mix to paint in some of the darker shapes I could still see from the plastic wrap as well as lift our some flower stems and suggest poppy shapes by lifting out color in some places and just painting over the green in other places to suggest distant poppies.

Finish your painting in a way that works best for you, find some new challenge for the remainder of the semester, keep painting and I will see you in class.

WATERCOLOR CLASS Project: 3 Poppies Week 3

PV Class: Remember that you are a week behind the Torrance so go to the previous post to review what we did in class last time. Some of this post will also be helpful just remember I will cover everything in class so you do not need to try and figure it out if it is something we have not covered.

This week will you continue to add color to bring up the intensity of the colors and also the values of our poppies. The difference between value and intensity is:  value is the lightness or darkness of a color; intensity is the strength of the color and these poppies are very intense in color.

I also painted in the stems of these flowers, however, you need to look at the stems in the reference material before you start painting the stems of the left and center poppies. Looking at the reference photo, you will see that there is tinge of orange especially on the center stem, this is light coming through the other poppy and being cast on to the stem and pod of the center poppy. This is easy enough to do but you will need to plan for it.

First you need to wet the area of the stem on the left, you want it damp but not dripping so that the paint will move when you apply it to the paper. Next you will need to mix a green and have it ready, that green will be either sap green or Hooker’s green with a little touch of orange in it to grey the green a little and water to thin it. This color will be for the center and the left side poppy.

Rinse your brush and pick up some straight cad orange with enough water to make it drip and then just touch the top of the pod under the flower on the left side which is like a little flute over champagne glass, watch it spread, it should go down into the pod if it doesn’t, touch the area with your brush and let the dampness of the water spread the color.

On the center stem you want to just touch with that orange down the side of the pod until it gets to the stem and when I say touch I mean just touch the tip of your brush to the paper and let that damp paper do all the work. Rinse your brush then pick up the green and working from the opposite side of the stem on both pods and working over to the orange areas, bring in this green color. Again, you are not doing a lot of painting it's more like touching the wet paper and you will see how the damp paper blends the colors together. Do not try to force the orange and the green to blend or you will get mud just bring them together let them touch and let them do their own thing. While the green is still wet you can take ultramarine blue and add it to that green color just by touching the paper, starting in the shadowed areas which is on the right hand side and working over to create shadows, letting the wetness of the paper blend your colors.

The stem on the poppy on the right is a little bit lighter so you will mix your sap green with touch of yellow and a little touch of orange to create a lighter warmer green color and paint the entire stem with this color. You don't necessarily need to pre-wet with water first, this

light green will act like the water to wet the paper, while the area is still wet, looking at your reference photo see where the shadows are, add a little touch of ultramarine blue into that light green painting around where the bright highlight is and just touching the wet paper with the blue to create your shadow.

One of the problems that you may see is that the stems are very close to the same color and value as the background so we have to one or the other and one way to correct it is to make one of them darker. You need to have dark to show light I choose to make the background darker and a bit greyer, there are several ways that I can do that I've already put in at least one layer of wash using my green with a little touch of orange in it and washing the sections around the flowers, I also add some blue to that color too deepen the value to create more of a shadow, but I want to make sure when I am doing these washes that I don't keep going over and over the area especially when the area is wet or I will ruin all of that nice texture that I got from the plastic wrap.

The other thing I'm going to do is to look at those shapes that were made by the plastic wrap and paint some of them darker especially towards the bottom of the paper by using my Hooker’s green with ultramarine blue and a touch or burnt sienna to paint in the darker areas this will make it look like a tangle of leaves and stems and weeds and whatever else is under there and it will increase the value of the things in the background making the stems appear lighter.

The alternative is to make the stems darker and that is an option if you wish to follow it. I prefer, for my own purposes, to make the background darker again I am thinking about contrast and this time it's the contrast between light and dark the darker I can make things around the poppies the lighter the poppies will look and they will look like they are glowing.

 

PV Class Week 2

Try to get your paintings up to this point we will probably finish this up next time we meet so start looking for something that you want to paint and I will help you get started and get demos as needed for those problems that will come up so keep painting and I will see you in class.

Watercolor Project: 3 Poppies

PV your painting should look similar
to this.

PV Class, I want to remind you that you are a couple of weeks behind my Torrance class so you will want to scroll down to the last post to get the instructions for what we did in class last week.

Both classes, I have cropped my painting to better reflect how I will frame it - if I do frame it – as I had thought of this as more a long horizontal just in case you are wondering why it looks different than what you see in class.

This week we started working on the flowers themselves and this is where, if you watch what you are doing, you can work around your painting and not have to stop because of a wet area needs to dry. Many of you I saw weren’t watching what I was doing and you were having trouble with your paints, so let me explain:

If you are painting next to a wet or damp area and your brush touches the damp area you will get what is called a bloom or a back run. Just like a damp sponge will absorb water faster than a dry one so will damp paper, the wetter moisture coming off your brush pushing its way into the drying area and taking the paint with it. If you know how and why this happens you can make it work for you when you need it, or you can do things to avoid it so won’t happen. By working in small areas around your painting, keeping dry areas around the area you are working on, your water and paint will stay where you put them and not invade surrounding areas, just watch for buildups of big drips or pools of water that may run down your paper do to gravity. You should always be working on a slight incline so you paints won’t just sit still creating muddy pools, even an inch or two will help our paint move.

The colors you will be using will be your cad yellow, cad orange, napthal or cad red even a touch of alizarin crimson, to make a color stronger use less water. We will not be adding any of the darker colors like blue or purple so we don’t muddy our clean, warm colors.

 Look at your reference photo and pick a petal, any petal on any of the flowers because they will all be done the same, just have that photo in front of you at all times. With clean water, wet JUST THAT PETAL so the area is damp, you will be working wet into wet.

Remember that each time you add a wash (thin coats or color) you will be increasing not only the color but also the value (light to dark) of the color that is already there so if you have an area that needs to stay lighter such as the curls or edges of the petals you will need to avoid painting those areas, since you will just be doing one petal at a time, this should be easy to do if you are paying attention. Again, LOOK AT YOUR REFERENCE PHOTO.

Find the lightest area of the petal and start there with the cad yellow and paint the entire area with the yellow, then pick up a diluted mix or water and orange for the lighter oranges paint those and add stronger oranges and reds where you see them for that one petal and only that one petal. Follow the growth lines you see which may curve as the petal curves even though the color will diffuse in the wet area will stay to show the shape of the flower.

When you are done with that one petal, move to another flower, pick another petal as long it is not touching the petal you just worked on and repeat the process. If you plan it right, you will be able to work continuously without the problem of your paint flowing into areas you want them to. This is a good practice to get into because it allows you to work around your painting and not get stuck in one area finishing as you go which can make your painting look overworked in some areas and under worked in others. Also breaking it down into smaller pieces a complex painting won’t seems so overwhelming.

There are a couple of curl backs on the flowers and once again, look at the photo before you start painting. Note that it us usually darker under the curl than it is on the top and also watch the shapes. I will do a bigger demo in class for those who are a bit nervous about trying this on their painting.

Try to get at least one more layer of washes done on your painting for class and be looking for something you want to paint next because I think that we will be done with this painting in the next week or two and you will need something to work on for the rest of the semester. I will give help and demos as needed.

Keep painting and I will see you in class.

Spring 2016 Lerri's Watercolor class

Spring 2016 Watercolor Class: Project – 3 Poppies

I will be working on a half sheet of water color paper so my painting is long. The sketch I provided is twice as long as it is tall (6 x 12”) however, you can use a standard size paper if you want. I will have to cut mine down if I frame it, the extra paper will not hurt anything.

Have your sketch on your paper before you start. With watercolor you need to know where you are going – usually – so having a good sketch or drawing on your paper will act as a road map to your painting.

Before you begin, have ALL your colors out. Do not put out just what you think you will need because if it isn’t there, chances are you will not stop to put out other colors and your painting will look flat and monochromatic, it does not hurt watercolor to dry out so you will not be wasting paint.

Also, have everything else ready before you start painting because we will be working quickly on this first stage. We will be using plastic wrap for this background so have several pieces ready and wrinkle them up in little balls before you use them, we need those wrinkles.

The first thing I did was with my ¾” angled brush - you can use a large flat sable or rand brush – I quickly wet the top corner of my paper going around the poppies. I do not want the poppies to get wet, you can mask them off if you feel the need, however, these are large enough areas you should be able to paint around them.

I just painted maybe the top quarter of the paper with the water so I can work into it while it is still wet, work in sections as you go across the top of the paper then down.

Into this wet paper I added a strong mix or ultramarine blue and touches of purple (be careful with the purple, it is a very strong color), you want a strong color at this point so you do not have to go back and repaint the area. Near the top of the bottom poppy and touches of sap or Hooker’s green and yellow. This should still be very wet.

Take a wrinkled piece of plastic wrap and squish it down into that wet paint. You want wrinkles in the plastic wrap but press it down so that it makes contact with the paper. Move on to the next section and repeat the process.

The bottom 2/3s of the painting will be mostly your greens but also add blue, sienna even touches of purple, the closer you get to the bottom of the paper. While the green is still very wet you can drop – and I do mean that literally – some orange into the green before you put on the plastic wrap.

When you have all of the background painted and covered, you will have to let your paper dry completely. This will take longer than usual because of the plastic wrap but if you set it out in the sun for about 15 minutes it should be dry enough for you to take the plastic wrap off. You can use this again and again so don’t throw it away.

A word of caution when using the plastic wrap: If you remove the plastic too soon and the paper is still very wet, you will lose the unique patterns that are left by the plastic so be patient. It is better to wait a bit longer than to watch all your hard work fade to nothing. Been there, done that and I knew better. If you have doubts, lift a corner and feel with the back of your hand if it is cool or wet, put the plastic back down and go get a cup of coffee, check your email, just leave it alone.

Watercolor dries lighter so if areas such as the green bushes behind the poppies isn’t dark enough you can add another layer of color, the trick to not ruining the pattern left by the plastic is to work quickly an do not keep going over the area while it is wet. Be sure that the paper is totally dry before adding another wash of color, as well.

I added some darker greens to the lower sections of my paper behind the poppies because you need to have dark to show the light and my background just wasn’t dark enough in my opinion so I added some more color. The pattern is softened a bit but is still visible looking like leaves and twigs. I did nothing to the blue, I liked the way it turned out.

I also under painted the poppies with a mix of cad. yellow light with just a tiny touch of orange, painting all of the flowers and the stems in this color. This is as far as I got in class I do hope everyone can get their paintings to this point by next class.

Winter 2016 Watercolor Class

Watercolor Project: Cozy Cottage Week 5

Torrance class we have not gotten this far yet we will be going over this in our next class so do not worry if you don't have your painting this far along. You did miss a week.

By this time you should have all of the background with the cottage, the pine trees, the reflection, and in the foreground: the plants around the road and the fence post all in because we are finally getting to the bush on the left hand side.

If your drawing for the bush has faded with the layers of water that you've been putting on your painting, you might want to sketch it back in because this area is a bit confusing. If you can't see what you're doing even if you just put in where the branches are going to be then you will know where your snow is going to be, and if you know where your snow is, the leaves and the berries will follow. Get out your reference photos to sketch them back in.

Not much of the branches show but some of them do to paint them I used a mix burnt sienna with a little blue and a little touch of orange. I just painted them in some places to suggest that there were branches and twigs holding up the snow and leaves, you don't paint the whole thing because most will be hidden behind leaves and snow but you need them there to show what is holding things up, this is why you need to have not only your drawing so that you understand what you will be painting, but also your reference material in front of you so that you know exactly where you are going.

Once I had my branches in I painted the snow in first. I mixed a medium blue which will be darker than most of the other shadows we have been painting but this is what you need to create the shadowed side of this bush. This color was mostly ultramarine blue, with a little touch of purple to turn it a plum color and a very tiny, little bit of burnt sienna to slightly grey the color. If it goes completely gray or if it looks too warm you have added either too much burnt sienna or purple this needs to look blue.

I am putting the snow on before I put in the leaves for the simple reason I do not want my snow to turn green, if you put the leaves in first you will have to very carefully paint around them or run the risk of picking up the dark green as you are painting in the snow. Sort of my rule of thumb: If it is lighter in color it goes down first.

Look at your reference photo before you start, including the actual photo of the holly bush that I used as a reference for this painting. Note how the snow lies on the branches and in the leaves, they are weighted down from the snow so you want a lot of your snow to angle slightly down so as you put the snow on top of these branches. Think about what you're doing: you are putting snow on the branches, think about the shapes, think about the underlying branches and twigs that the snow is sitting on don't just paint blindly, know what you're doing before you start and not get confused while you're in the midst of it. I saw this a lot in class.

Once you have all of the snow under painted you can use that same dark blue/purple to create the shadow that falls across the front of your painting: it comes from underneath the tree that you're painting, goes across the road and up into the fence line. Look at the reference photo. Remember the shadow falls on top of something so it follows the shape of the thing that it falls on so if there are bumps and rises in the snow your shadow also needs to follow those bumps and rises and bring it all the way across the page to the fence and at the outside edges of it break it up like the outside edges of the tree that's casting the shadow so that you will see sun spots in between the shadows.

When the shadow snow on your tree is dry go back in with a slightly darker version of the color you were just using and around the bottom and in between start shaping lumps of snow. Remember there are leaves and branches and berries underneath the snow so it's not going to be a nice smooth, velvety layer of snow, it's going to have bumps and dips and you need to show that by putting in some shadow shapes. We will come back later and lift out a few highlights but try to get in the shadows just like you've been painting shadows throughout this painting the darkest is going to be near the bottom and lightens up towards the, look at the reference photo of both the finished piece and the original photograph.

While this new layer is drying on you tree you can put in some grasses in the road and by the fence if you want to, it will require you to get out your liner brush so practice with it first, it’s just little circular motions with your liner brush use any of the browns that you've been using for the fence and for the house. This is dead grass so it's not going to be a bright green and make them long and short, make them bent over, put a few on the sides of your painting, put a few down the center of the roadway and near the bushes… don't get too carried away with this just put enough in that it looks like they have survived the storm and are standing tall. You can also go back in with your liner brush and you can pull little shadows off from the bottom again remember that the snow is lumpy and bumpy, these are not straight they may go up then they go down and up, just think about the snow that you're painting them over.

Now we get to the leaves that are in the tree. I wanted to have the snow in first so that I could pull leaves out of the snow as well as keeping the green out of the snow, Look at the original photograph before you start painting, you are painting leaves not dragon teeth, not a solid green line, you are painting leaves. They come in different sizes and shapes, different angles so please look at what your painting, think about what your painting, before you start painting it. The leaves mostly come out from underneath the snow, the snow itself is settled down in between and on top of these leaves, some of the leaves will stick out of the snow so there will be snow surrounding some of the leaves. Again, look at the reference photos before you start painting.

The color I used for the leaves was a very dark green: that was my hooker’s green with ultramarine blue and a little touch of purple and water to lighten if needed. I was using my half inch angle brush and making leaf shapes coming out in all directions, even from inside some of the snow clumps. Don't fill it in completely, leave some spaces between leaves and branches, you want to be able to see the snow behind the tree to give depth to your painting.

The berries were painted with alizarin crimson with a little touch of ultramarine blue in it. The color should still look red but the blue will darken it slightly. Remember the berries - just like the snow and the leaves - are in shadow and they are going to be a cool color so you will need to add a little touch of the ultra-marine blue. Using either a round brush, your liner brush or the tip of a flat or angled brush just put in dots in clumps of dots mostly underneath and in between the leaves and the snow. Look at that reference photo again you will see that most of the berries are hanging down underneath the leaves.

Lastly I came in with an even darker version of the green, if you have some of the green left add a little touch more blue and purple to it and just in a few places like up underneath clumps of snow and in the corners, add some darker leaves. This variation will create more three dimension in your leaves and in the tree.

Basically I am done with this painting. For you to be done, you need to go through and look at it and see where you think it needs to have some more work done. If it needs any more detail, like I said, you can come back in with a damp brush and lift some highlights off the very top of some of the clumps of snow in your tree, it won't look white, and it shouldn't look white, it'll just look like a lighter blue and it will give some dimension to the clumps in your tree. Also you may want to go back through and see where you can add some more shadows into your snow even in the areas that already have shadow there may be some darker areas like in the road ruts but be careful and do not get too carried away with detail and keep any detail closer to the front or middle ground. If you are looking for something to do you are probably done so let it sit for a few days and then look at it again with fresh eyes, if nothing jumps out at you then you're done.

So keep painting and I will see you in class.

Winter 2016 Watercolor Class

WINTER 2016 WATERCOLOR CLASS Project: Cozy Cottage Week 4

The first thing I did was to make sure that I had all of my masking fluid off my paper I no longer needed it so remove all the masking fluid that you have on your project. You can feel where it is if you can't see it just run your hand over the paper and you will feel what feels like a rubber band, that's the masking fluid.

I wanted to finish up the pine trees in the back so I mixed up two colors: 1 was my shadow color for the snow which is my ultramarine blue and my purple, the other color was a dark green color to match the trees which was my hookers green and my ultramarine blue, water is used to lighten it if necessary.

I went back and forth between these colors shaping the areas that had masking fluid so that they looked more like snow on the pine trees or if I needed to, I painted in more green to create more pine tree. I use the blue to create the shadows just like I have every place else starting with the coolest part of the shadow, rinsing my brush and using water to lightly blended up. You can also use this dark green to help define the top of your roof, by putting dark behind your roof it will look lighter and more distinct.

I also continued putting in shadows now that I can see where my brightest highlights are, I can go in and add the darker shadows to create more dimension in the mounds of snow. Be aware that you need to follow the shape of the thing that you are painting with your brush strokes, for instance, in the ruts of the road going up to the house you need to have a more U shaped stroke so that it looks indented into the snow, if the stroke is a flat stroke it won't look as deep, if it is a rounded up stroke it will look like it is standing on top of the snow so use this optical illusion to your advantage.

I also used that dark green color to paint in bushes along my road way. Remember the bushes are underneath the snow not on top of it, so leave the tops white and just suggest bushes under there with dark green shapes. You don't have to do any more detail than that dark color. I had also saved some white areas out in the pond, if you have those remember they also need some cool shadows a dark line right where they are touching the water, that sets them down into the water and makes your reflection look even more dimensional.

I also went back into the house and added some darker shadows under the eaves, in some places in the snow, in the windows anywhere I just wanted to give it more dimension. I also took my brush with just water on it and lifted out the smoke coming out of the chimney. You need to be careful when you are doing this so that you do not damage the paper but you will use a damp brush starting at the top of the chimney with little circular strokes and then move away and create the smoke as it trails out, then pat dry with a paper towel. You will see some of the color that was there originally and that will give the smoke a bit more of a translucent look to it, the way smoke usually looks because it’s not a solid.

I also went back in with some darker colors and added a bit more detail into that wood pile in the back and into the fence post in the front remember it's going to be darker up underneath by the snow because the snow is casting a shadow, look at your reference photo and see where the shadows are, try to get as much of this done to this point as you can because when we meet again we will be putting in the holly bush on the side and wrapping this thing up. Keep painting and I will see you in class.

Torrance Project

Winter 2016 Watercolor Class

Winter 2016 Watercolor Class: Cozy Cottage Week 3

Torrance students I want to remind you that you're a week behind where the Palos Verdes classes so please look at the previous blog for instructions on where you are in class.

PV class you should have your pine trees in behind the house and your painting should be to a point where you can remove the masking fluid from the trees and the cottage.

This week we started to detail the snow on the roof of cottage and to finish up the reflection in the pond in front of the cottage if you are not to that point you need to get to that point so that we can get this finished.

If you have taken the masking fluid off of the roof of your house we are now going to add some dimension and texture to the snow using a mix of ultramarine blue a little touch of purple to create a plum color and add a lot of water to it because we want it to be a very pale mixture. You can always add another layer or wash of color to make a darker color, it is harder to take off color than it is to put it on so you want to sneak up on the value that you are trying to get.

Using this soft bluish color start at the base of one of the areas of snow where it touches the thatch part of the roof, this will be in a shadow part of the snow. Put down some of this color right at the base working in small areas, rinse your brush, dry it off and then with a damp brush pull some of that color up into the white snow area. If you do this correctly you will start to see snow has dimension if you need to do it again let it dry a bit first but repeat exactly what you did here. You can take what's left over in your brush and tap round into some of the lighter snow areas and that creates the sense of texture in the snow.

The stones for the house are done with burnt sienna, a little touch of yellow and even a little touch of orange, to create a warm color for the sunny side of the house. It needs to be a shade or so darker than what is already there and when you put this on it's not going to be a solid color you're just going to make little dabs and shapes with your brush. Whether you are using a round brush, an angle brush or a flat brush, you're just going to be making some little rock types shapes. For the shadow area add a little touch of purple or blue to this mixture and repeat the process don't try to line them up or make them even or even the same size or shape because these are rocks that came out of the field and they are all different shapes. Leave little thin spaces of that under color to represent the mortar between the rocks, this is where underpainting comes in it becomes something else such as the mortar or highlights or just texture.

You can paint in the windows by adding more blue and even a little touch of purple into the same color to create a dark charcoal grey but remember if you want snow in these windows do not paint the entire square leave a bit of white to have snow in your window. If you want to put a door in there is an indentation to where the door attaches to the house, add water to the color you have to lighten it paint in a little thin line on one side of the door rinse your brush and then paint the door any color you would like to be a blue door, or red door, brown door… make it your own.

The bricks or stones for the chimney I did much the same way I just used a little bit more burnt sienna and a little touch of purple into it for the shadows but I left some of the under color show for the mortar in the chimney.

Now we go back to the reflection in the pond again. You should have a rough sketch of where the house will show in the water before you begin, then I want you to wet everything that is supposed to be water but do not get the snow or the fence post or anything else wet, just what is supposed to be the pond, so take clear water and wet the area.

Using colors that are similar to what you used in the house above starting at the shoreline right below the house pull those colors straight down stopping at your mark on your paper where the house ends, it does not need to be a perfect reflection it just needs to suggest a reflection. Remember to pull down some of that lavender color that you put in for the snow and the shadow colors for the house, these colors should blend with the wet paper to create a soft image then where the sky is from our last meeting add some more crimson into that color to darken it slightly you want to have a soft blurry image that suggests a reflection of the house above it.

I went back in with that shadow color I was using on the roof and added more shadows into some of the areas around the house there are several layers of shadows in this snow to make it have dimension. I also went in - after the reflection was dry - and I toned where the

railing for the fence and the wood pile is by the house are with a soft mix of burnt sienna with a touch of blue and lots of water, I don't want dark colors yet this is just the underpainting. Lastly I took a mix of blue and purple and a little sienna to make a dark bluish color and using my small angled brush I put a dark line right around the shoreline, just remember you can only see this color for the parts of the shoreline that are directly in your line of sight, so do not outline the entire thing look at it closely and look at the reference to find out where the snow or the shoreline may be blocking little inlets.

Do as much as you can to get your painting to this point and we will continue from there so keep painting and I will see you in class.