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!

Sunflower Lesson 6

I have used a very wet wash of Sap Green mixed with Aureolin Yellow to glaze over the green areas of the leaves. When this is dry you can add more details if you like. I want the sunflower head to be the focal point, so I am saving my detailed brushwork for that area.

If you would like to paint along with this lesson, you can order the photo reference and drawing online at http://watercolorgirl.etsy.com, just click on the icon for the online class.

Flamingos Lesson 9

Using Prussian Blue, I have begun to add some texture to the areas surrounding the palm leaves. I just allowed my round brush to dance over the background. I will glaze later to soften the look of this area.
I am using various reds from my palette to add pink glazes to the flamingos and to their reflections in the water. I also used Prussian Blue, French Ultramarine Blue, and various greens to add some crisp details to the reflection areas in the water. The colors used in your background will determine which colors are reflected into the water.
Sometimes it is helpful to actually draw in the reflection shapes with a pencil and slightly shade the darker values to guide you. These little shapes can become a huge, confusing maze if you don’t study your references carefully.



This is a detail of the reflections in the water at the base of one of the flamingos. Play with the abstract shapes, just remember, they should make some kind of sense based on what they are reflecting!

Hibiscus Lesson Number 11

At this stage of the painting I work around the image to add final details. At right is a detailed view of the leaf on the left side of the painting.



I used the same colors that I used previously to keep the painting uniform: VanDyke Brown, French Ultramarine Blue, Hooker's Green, Sap Green, and Burnt Sienna.

If you would like to learn about my classes, please visit my website:
http://watercolorworksart.com/Classes

You can paint along with my blog, too! For $5.00 you can receive the drawing and photo references for the paintings here on my blog and paint along. To get your references, visit my etsy shop. Let me know which Lesson you would like the references for and I will email them to you once your payment has cleared.

Hibiscus Lesson Number 4

Continuing on with the Hibiscus Lesson that I have been posting. Now I have mixed a puddle of Quinicridone Magenta and Ultramarine Violet.

I used varying mixtures of these two colors back and forth and I used my Number 10 Round brush to paint in the first wash of the flower head.



The wetter, more magenta washes were used to create the softer, higher value tones. The more violet mixture was used to create the shadowed areas.



To develop the darker detailed areas, I added some French Ultramarine blue. I held my brush straight up and down and barely touched the tip of the brush to the paper, so that as I pulled the pigment along, it would create lovely, delicate linework.

New Lesson for This Weekend!

This piece, Pink Hibiscus, will be the next lesson here on my blog. If you would like to paint along, please visit my etsy shop (http://watercolorgirl.etsy.com). Click on the icon for the Online Class. For $5.00 I will send you a pdf of the drawing and photo reference. Then, you can visit back on a daily basis, or whatever is convenient for you, to paint along!
This piece was painted on a full sheet of watercolor paper, 23 x 30 inches, but you can also paint it smaller, if you like. The reference will be sent in a small format, which you may enlarge to full size.
Hope you can join us.