Palm Tree Wet In Wet Technique Almost Done

The wash is completed and now it is time to evaluate whether I need another wash or if I am ready to remove the masking fluid and see what kind of magic has happened!

I believe the values are dark enough so it's time to move on. The painting must dry completely before I remove the masking.

Palm Tree Wet In Wet Technique

After the first wash dries completely - what I call "bone dry", I then mask the next light values to save. Here you can see the masking. It's okay to use masking tape, or frisket film, but I find that they leave funny edges when the masking is removed, so I stick with brushing on the masking fluid.
So the first masking was to save the absolute whites of the paper. This masking application is to save the value 2 areas. I use a value chart from one to six, one being white and six being black. Each number represents a paint application. So, each stage of the painting is masked to save the next layer of color and value.

Boat On River Lesson 2

Now the drawing has been traced onto my Arches 140 pound paper. I want to preserve some whites in this piece to make the water appear to sparkle, and I know I will be working with big wet washes due to the amount of water and sky in this piece. Therefore, I have masked some of the finer detail areas. I use Winsor Newton Yellow tinted masking fluid and a nice, little brush coated with soapy water.

Never mix your masking tools with your regular painting tools. Use separate water, paper towels, etc. Masking will ruin your good brushes, so keep them totally apart.

I use a very cheap little brush for masking. I coat it with thick, soapy water, then use just a little masking at a time. I keep dipping into the thick, soapy mixture in between applications of masking to preserve the brush as much as possible. If an area to be masked is extremely small, I sometimes use a toothpick to apply the masking.
Don’t use a hot hair dryer on your masking as this will “bake” the masking into your watercolor paper and make it difficult to remove.

If you would like to paint along with this lesson, go to my etsy online shop and click on the Online Class icon. For $5.00 I will send you the reference photos and the prepared drawing in a pdf file format via email. Then, you can paint along each day as I describe with photos and journaling, how to paint this little picture.

Lemons Lesson Number 1

Today is the beginning of a new lesson. These lemons, or limes, were in a glass bowl at the Art and Antique Studio Gallery, where I work and teach. I'm not sure if they were green lemons or ripe limes, so I'll just call them lemons for now. The principles we will use for this painting will work either way.

If you would like to paint along with this lesson, for five dollars you can go to my etsy webstore and order the photo reference and drawing by clicking on the online class icon. Once your payment clears, I will send you the photo and drawing via email. Several people have said they printed out the lesson each day, and then they had the whole plan before they started. It has been fun to see the pieces that people have produced from my blog lessons!

Okay, now to get started…
The first thing I did was prepare a drawing from my photo references.

I used graphite to coat the back of my drawing and then I taped it on one edge to a 10 by 14-inch piece of Arches 140 pound cold press paper.


Next, I masked the areas in the bowl and plate where I wanted to protect the white of the paper. It is very important to apply masking thoughtfully. Whatever marks you use with the masking fluid will remain when you lift the masking later in the painting process.

Palm Tree in Watercolor Blog Class

For those of you who may like to paint along with my blog, this piece, Palm Tree On Indian River, will be posted this weekend. For $5 you will receive the photo reference and the drawing via email. You can then follow along as we paint this picture together. The focus is going to be on how to do masking, and a short lesson on clouds.
To order your references, visit my etsy shop and choose the online class icon. Hope you can join us.
My Etsy Shop: http://watercolorgirl.etsy.com