Cactus Flower Lesson 13

Almost done with this painting.

I have worked glazes around the painting in blues (French Ultramarine Blue and Prussian Blue) and some glazes with Burnt Sienna, others with Hooker's Green and Sap Green. Whenever I add a glaze I tend not to cover the entire area. Instead I cover part of the area then soften the edge with water so that each glaze adds a unique depth to the painting. I added some New Gamboge to the top left green area to lighten it, warm it up and bring it forward more from the shadows.

I have used a Fritch Scrubber brush to gently soften some edges that are not in the focal point area and on the shadow edges of the leaves. To further develop the cactus flower heads I used Perylene Maroon in the deepest shadow areas under the flower heads. I think this piece is really taking shape!

Boat On River Lesson 7

Today I have applied a bit of very wet Burnt Sienna to the dock area. As you can see from the progress so far, I like to work around the whole painting a little at a time. I find this helps me to keep a check on values and color, and I don’t get stuck in one area. I work in simple, under-painting, or foundational washes, then slowly work into details later. The under-painting really helps me to keep from over-working a piece and I don’t have areas that look like they don’t belong because they were developed too far before the rest of the piece.

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Sunlit Coconuts Lesson 11

Quinicridone Gold becomes my focus color today. I have used it to glaze a gold wash over the coconuts and several other areas of the painting. This wash doesn't have to be terribly strong, but I still saved some of the white areas on the coconuts to show where the sun was hitting directly on the object.

It never ceases to amaze me how valuable one light glaze of a certain color can illuminate a painting! The sun here in Florida is really strong and it casts deep, dark shadows. The contrasts of warm, bright, sunlit areas against cool, blue, soft shadows are really striking. Quinicridone Gold is one of my favorite colors for producing this effect.

Here I have also used Prussian Blue, carefully to develop a few of the deep impressions on the trunk and here and there within the shadows. Prussian is a very intense, staining color, so use it with caution! A little goes a long way!

Scooter and Riley Lesson 7

At this stage of the painting, I used a very wet wash of Prussian Blue in the back-middle area.

I applied the blue, and as it was drying I applied wet drops of VanDyke Brown to the wash. This created a really nice, dark value that had some depth to it.

Do not over-blend or over-brush! Allow the pigments to run and blend together as they will, but don't force them to blend completely. Too much blending is what makes watercolor "mud".

Scooter and Riley Lesson 5

Using Antwerp Blue and French Ultramarine Blue I laid in some color for the pillows.

The light source is coming from above, so I used the darker pigments closer to the bottom of the pillows, and used the lighter, more wet pigments near the top. I'll add texture and details to the pillows at a later stage of the painting. Right now, I just want to develop relative values throughout the composition.

I used the same colors to create the collar for Scooter, on the right.

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