Even though seasonal changes in SoCal are subtle, elsewhere in the state, further north or at higher elevations, shifts in color and temperature are more apparent. The tilt of the earth changes the light, winter pushes trees to change colors and lose their leaves. Temperatures drop. While today is about 73F, two weeks ago it was in the 50s (no snow, yay!) and nights are chilly. So, let’s celebrate the shift of summer to fall, and now fall to winter.
For me, this is a rather complex painting. Rocks and sandy shore, trees and brush, water, sky and reflections in the creek. Remembering the “rule” – simple big shapes, moderate shapes, details last, I worked by creating the most noticeable areas – or certainly the ones I felt could be the most challenging. This meant the creek in particular – keeping the water marked out. As well as that, the shoreline in the foreground coupled with bits of sandy shore on the right. After that, the rocks on the left and foliage of trees. I was all over the place working larger to smaller, light or dark, and then on to light or dark details.
Overall, I think this painting worked out. Analyzing its complexity and then breaking it into its larger components and areas of color helped. It is still not quite what I would have liked to produce, but much of it did succeed.
Lately I am not interested in pretty pictures so much as I am in simplifying or working on specific techniques in watercolor. Here, the main goals were the foreground rocks – making simple but still suggestive of a bit of an outcropping – and a sense of wind on the water and reflections of the trees. Well, the rocks turned out to my liking, the waves on the water okay, but the reflections are a total flop. More careful planning next time around!
Well, the electricity is off again. I feel like I am living on a little island because only a few people in my neighborhood are affected. Fortunately, we have our generator! So, light, electricity, internet, and the opportunity to continue with my course on color triads by Shari Blaukopf.
I did the first one, a tropical scene in Florida, and this is the third, the Arizona desert. The second one is winter and since it is cold and rainy outside, the desert appealed to me a bit more. The color triad used here – and easily, too – consisted of New Gamboge (yellow), Ultramarine Blue, and Burnt Sienna. I did not have the New Gamboge, so I mixed Cad Yellow Medium with a bit of Pyrrole Orange to get the color she suggested. These colors are perfect for a late evening in the Arizona desert.
The above scan is with VueScan. It is a bit more subdued than the one below, scanned with Epson Scan. I like both of them, but think the richer colors of the Epson Scan are a bit more to my liking. The warmth of the scene is well done here, and matches my own colors perhaps more closely.
All of Blaukopf’s courses have been a real pleasure to follow. If you like watercolor, I suggest her more than any other online teacher. I never fail to learn something new. For instance, in this class, the golden middle ground, just above the opposite shoreline, included painting the colors up into the trees on the left. From there, at a later point, more detail was added.
The other thing I learned was a really interesting and unique way to do reflections in water. The two colors – golden yellow and then blue – were mixed up in big puddles. First the golden yellow was laid in, with a bead of color at the bottom. Then, with the blue, with space between it and the gold, the blue was brushed in with only a touch onto the golden yellow here and there. This allowed the colors to merge, but not become murky or form blooms. Finally, the darker water of pure ultramarine was mixed with a bit of the golden yellow mixed with burnt sienna.
This triad study was so much fun to do! Time to try some of my own from my own photos.
Sometimes things just catch my eye or interest and, as someone who paints, makes me want to practice doing them – not just with a sketch, but with a painting. Some people practice but my practice wants a result. Not perhaps the best way to learn, but my little Puritan heart always wants my time to be productive and the productive part falls into a “finished” painting. Maybe a bit sinful for a Puritan, but . . .
So, roads and tracks. Straight lines through a woods, a track over uneven back country here. Also, a suggestion of a water puddle or two reflecting a bit of the stormy sky above. Wet, green, verdant land. Sea or mountains in the distance. I want to walk that road.
I have had a tablet of Strathmore’s Vision watercolor paper, 140# CP, lying around for some time but did not try it out until today. There are some things I liked about and some I didn’t like. Strathmore watercolor papers and I do not get along at all for watercolor painting, yet I really like them for acrylic and gouache. The papers’ textures never agree with me and with the Vision sizing seemed questionable. Canson XL is another watercolor paper I don’t like for watercolor painting but really enjoy for a lot of other things.
This is the first study I did – simple, free-flowing watercolor. The purpose was to lay down color with a bit of density, not overworking either paper or painting. I found it handled direct painting without any lifting or scrubbing quite well. I could paint over dried paint easily – such as where the darker blue wave shapes are – and add gouache to create a bit of sea spray or foam. Blending colors into each other as I moved the brush along in a wash worked well, too. Off to a good start!
This was the second painting. As with the first one, I did direct painting for the most part – specifically the middle and foreground – and used many of the same techniques I used in the first one. However, on this one, I did the sky differently to see how a specific technique could work with this paper.
Clouds are white, right? Well, yes and no. Upper clouds can be quite bright and the paper is usually left untouched in watercolor to show it. To paint a sky with clouds you can use a lot of techniques, but here I chose to wet the paper around the cloud shapes and drop in the blues for the sky and then move the paint around a bit. Once dried, I dropped fresh water into the cloud shapes, at the lower ends, and then added greyish blues to represent the shadow on the underside of the cloud. I have not really worked with this technique, but I have been meaning to check it out, so this seemed to be the perfect opportunity.
I think Vision paper might be able to handle this technique for painting clouds, and I want to practice this technique more before deciding it will or won’t work with this paper. I know that scrubbing the paper will mess it up and as a result I have to be prepared to work very directly. This keeps a watercolor fresh and clean rather than overworked and ugly.
Here, I tormented the paper! I laid down a wash on the upper portion of the painting and then scrubbed out the paint for clouds. Then I came in a few more times and did the same. Some of the paper peeled a bit with the harsh treatment. This is good to know – how much damage can I do??
From there, I did the middle and foreground. The middle ground was pretty directly painted in one go, meaning one layer of color for the most part. I like the way this paper allows heavy paint to merge and blend as it makes for more interesting color areas. The foreground water and reflections is a series of washes, one laid atop the other once the underlying one is dry. I think in some areas I did up to 5 layers of glazing. Other areas I did a bit of wet-in-wet without a lot of scrubbing – just a gentle swipe of the brush.
Now here comes a complaint. In the lower right area of the painting you can see what looks like a thumb print. This is not – it is an area where the paper sizing is not good. You can also see problems with sizing around the upper and right edges of the paper. Poor sizing can ruin many a painting, and this is why professional watercolorists and amateurs alike go toward 100% cotton rag papers from reputable manufacturers.
Overall, I like this paper. I think it is really good for direct painting. Pleasingly, the paper does not buckle and ripple with fairly wet paint, but I have yet to lay down a traditional wash that covers a large area of the paper. That will be another experiment for a future posting. The sizing issue bugs me, but that is okay as this tablet of paper was not expensive. I prefer Vision to the Canson student watercolor paper for a lot of reasons, but in particular the way it handles pigment on its surface. I can see using this paper for practice, for studies, for preliminary work on a “serious” painting. Would I recommend it? Yes – but with some caveats.
Today has been a lot of fun. Being immobile is making me quite dull and uninterested in doing anything, but at least the boot is making life a lot less painful. Yesterday morning I met up with a friend, hobbling a short distance and then basking in the beautiful outdoors for several hours with a good bit of chit chat, croissants, and delicious coffee. Socializing and watercolors always make my day . . .
Ink, Yarn & Beer 