While we have not had much rain this year, the countryside still has fields of wildflowers, mostly lupines and poppies.
Today, I decided to just paint, not think too much, to see if I could get a good sense of value. I did a couple of paintings. I used hot press paper, whereas I normally use cold press when I paint. I tried two different brands, and the Arches won out.
Winter in California usually brings rain. So far, nothing. The grassy hills die down to beige and brown, the oak trees are dark spots against the pale grasses. It’s a beauty of its own. Here, the beginning of a sunset casting its warmth on the peaks as the day ends.
I decided to give A Lonely Road (Gouache) a try in watercolor as that was my original intention with the painting.
It was quite interesting to do so as I used the same paper I used for my gouache, but the paper had less tooth than my usual CP watercolor paper, being more like hot press, which is very smooth. This was American Journey paper, which is very nice, and is somewhere between HP and CP for texture. This makes a difference when painting with watercolors.
Once more I feel like my DOF is not working in watercolor. I am not quite sure why, but it seems to be I lay down a color and then lay down more, and more, and even more for the distant objects. Unlike gouache, watercolor’s transparency makes each succeeding layer darker. At times a glaze of very thin color can pull a watercolor together, but not here. The dark distant hills on the right suggest a spot of cloud shadow, and the brighter one on the left a bit of sunshine. The sky suggests otherwise. And it looks like there is a sleeping or dead sheep in the field on the right!
There are bits and pieces of this painting I like, and the colors really do evoke a rather damp day when autumn is beginning to set in. The fact is, I find watercolor inherently more difficult than gouache simply because more pre-planning and strategizing than with gouache. This why I enjoy watercolor so much – it is so hard! The colors are just wonderful at times, and that is one of the joys of watercolor. Gouache, while beautiful, when done with less water and thicker paint, doesn’t have some of the same light as watercolor
So, for the sake of comparison, I am lining up the value study and gouache from yesterday with today’s watercolor. Click on the value study below to click through the three if you want to do some comparing.
Maybe a pastel should come along tomorrow?
Since I had all the pastels out from Tuesday’s class, before I straightened up the mess in the studio, I decided on another study. This time, the oak-covered hills of California. In spring, the hills are brilliantly green, often covered with wildflowers, such as poppies and lupines. As spring gives way to summer, the heat comes, and the grasses dry out. Perfect conditions for all these dreadful wildfires of late . . . Anyway, the coast can be socked in with the summer fog, but inland, the hills are under the brilliant sun. As you look toward the Pacific, you can see the “fog monster” lurking on the other side of the range.
Hard to believe it’s been two weeks or so since I was last online.
Life has been busy, but in reality, the weather has been awful! We have had a heat wave that knackers you – 100+ F, and even worse further inland. Temps have ranged from 95-111 in the vicinity where I live (35-43C). Ugh. As a result, blobdom has reigned as the primary mode of existence and, sadly, some binge watching on the TV in the air-conditioned house. I guess we all have to do it.
Despite that, I have met with a pencil portrait group in a local park and have enjoyed those mornings. I have also done some sewing. And mice chasing, but no catching. Today I cleaned up the mess I call a studio.
And finally, I have sat down to paint. I wanted scudding clouds and changing light – movement from bright to dark across the hills and the sky. Wind, too. Anything to cool off.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 