Author: -N-

Water in Watercolor

Today I spent the morning running errands and doing chores, the afternoon playing with a friend and doing some photography. The day went by delightfully, but there is that need to pick up a brush and some paint. I wasn’t in the mood for trying to make a painting of anything, but the idea of waves and oceans has been going through my mind, and now it is time to get some ideas on paper. So, of course, YouTube comes to the rescue, and I found a nice, simple, easy video by Paul Clark.

Paul Clark’s videos are informative and easy to follow – as well, I like his presentation style and his paintings. In the above video, in 20 minutes, he shows how to paint water in increasingly more complex ways.

Above is just a simple, gradated wash, with the greatest density of value at the bottom of the page. From there, some paint is lifted, and while the paper is still a bit damp, more lines of color are painted into the blue, wider ones at bottom and more narrow at the top to suggest distance.

The next is reflections of trees on a lake. The trees and sky were painted first and allowed to dry. The water was then put in, using a gradated wash, darkest at the bottom. Time was given to put in suggestions of waves or reflections – this required waiting for the paint and paper to dry. The hair dryer is perfect for this. Watch how Clark does it in the video as it get a bit more complex than what I am describing.

The third one is done with one color of paint. I used a bit of what I had mixed on the palette – ultramarine and indanthrene blues. Clark’s painting is far better than mine, and we will leave it at that! I want to return to the video to watch it again as I know I worked really quickly – too quickly – to catch all the fine points.

From the ocean we now move inland, to an old bridge spanning a river. I think was my favorite one, and I was quite happy with my results. The white sparkles of light on the water is done by using a knife point to dig a bit into the paper. Techniques varied here; again, refer to the video.

Now, back to the beach. My painting is quite clumsy in a lot of areas. I rather like the sparkly water on the horizon, and the way my white gouache dry brush adds to sparkles. While my painting is definitely that of an amateur, I have a better sense of what to look for, to see, in a wave. The idea I had initially was to learn a bit about crashing waves, and this one is a good introduction to them.

Altogether, I spent about 30-40 minutes doing these studies. I watched and paused the video for each painting exercise, and then went to work. The goal is to do and practice, not create a beautiful work of art. The act of painting is what teaches me initially, and then I can analyze a bit more to hopefully create more successful whatevers – here, waves and water and reflections.

Practice is something a sketchbook gives room for – a playground to explore. Paul Clark’s videos are really nice and I do suggest them. Meanwhile, it is time to go to bed!

Fishing Boats in a Misty Harbor

This ink and wash painting sort of drew itself. I wanted to paint some more boats, inspired by yesterday’s fortress / citadel / rock ship! I found some photos of fishing boats, drew them first with pencil and then inked them in. From there, lines and misty buildings, and seaweed in the foreground. Now, if you are fishing boat person, you will probably laugh at what I have done – and I don’t blame you – what are some of those things on the boats?!

That said, I think the boats turned out fairly good. The swoop and curve of a boat is always a challenge as most things look like rectangles and squares, with corners rather than a bulging curve out of the water. Reflections, too, are a challenge. I think the direction of the sun influences if reflections are shorter or longer in water – maybe I read it in Ted Kautzky’s classic Ways with Watercolor.

And so I leave you to ponder the boats, the fog, and what might lurk in the distance . . .

Somewhere A Citadel

I travel the globe through watching videos, photo websites, and royalty-free images. This time I visited someplace in France, searching Pixabay for photos matching the term “citadel” and found some really interesting things. What I wanted in particular were photos with strong architectural details and perspective to use as practice for drawing / painting buildings. The one I used in the painting below was taken from a low vantage point and looking upward. The upper reaches of the tower were centered over the corner of the citadel, and the sides of the citadel sloped steeply downward.

Working from a photo is often difficult, especially if it is small on screen and cannot be enlarged. The left and right sides of the building were confusing, so I just sorta made up what they were, but the center of the building was pretty clear in the photo. I drew first with ink, then added color, and then returned to add more ink and more color a few times. The ink proved helpful in making the right side of the painting darker, as it was in the photo. I didn’t want to add a lot of paint as the purpose of ink and wash is just that – delicate touches of color to the ink drawing.

I really like working with ink for drawing buildings. It will get there some day! Right now I still struggle with both depth and perspective, but practice like this is always fun, and usually to almost always, rewarding.

Sashiko #5 – Second Color

After waiting a few days to get some red cotton sashiko thread, I went ahead and finished up sashiko sampler #5. I really like this bright red, as it rather glows against the denim, and is nicely balanced by the creamy white threads of the grid.

The goal here was to create a geometric pattern in colors. Patterns which have a rhythm to them are more appealing – I am not sure why! The red threads are designed to create a plus sign (+) in the center of each square, and some do, some do not. It doesn’t really matter all that much to me in some ways as I like the imperfection of the stitches. Despite that, the pattern does work overall. If you nitpick and look at each square and plus sign, you will see mistakes and uneven work. The center of each grid was drawn in freehand and then sewn, and I worked to see the center of my work rather than following lines.

Below is the reverse of this pattern. I worked the stitching from the front of the material. Sashiko #6 will be worked on the reverse side of the fabric as I have read and seen it done that way, too.

Impression of Wildcat Beach

India ink, watercolor, sketchbook. Wildcat Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches along the California coast, and what makes it interesting is not only do you see the ocean, you see the other side of peninsula, more water, and you want to wander along its top, and on the shore, or sail around. There is a lot of mystery here, beauty on a sunny day, strange and eerie in the fog and mist of the summer coast.