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.

Flamingos Lesson 10

I have used VanDyke Brown as a wash in the background. I have also used it to create more shadows on the palm fronds, areas in the water, and to create some of the darker values in the flamingos. Go lightly on the birds! They should look light and airy, not heavily detailed with dark colors!









Here is a detail of the brushwork
on one flamingo.












Here is a detail of how the VanDyke Brown was used to create shadows around some of the reflections in the water, along the left side of the bird’s leg, and as a wet glaze near the shoreline. Soften edges with clear water when necessary.

Flamingos Lesson 6

I wanted to quickly build some dark value in the background, so I mixed some Prussian Blue and Perylene Green to create a wet, dark value wash. I dropped this in and around the plants in the background. This value addition really helps the flamingos to pop!

Palm Tree on Indian River Lesson 9

The final painting.

This was a fun piece. I hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned as I will be posting a new lesson soon! If you would like to work along with a lesson that was posted in the past please email me. Let me know which lesson, then you can order the reference materials via my etsy shop.

To see more of my completed work, please visit my website:
http://watercolorworksart.com

To purchase prints you can visit one of the many galleries in Michigan, Ohio and Florida that carry my work, see my website for details.

To take a class locally visit: http://watercolorworksart.com/Classes.

Thanks for visiting!

Palm Tree on Indian River Lesson 7

Here I used Van Dyke Brown to add some detail to the trunk of the tree, and to work in shadow areas around the painting. I used it to glaze over the blue shadows that I applied in the last glaze. This warms them up and deepens the value even more. Just applying the same color will only make the paint thick, it won't make it darker. To increase the value of a color, I use a color opposite in temperature as a glaze. For example, if I have used a blue for shadow areas, but I want the color to be darker than what I can produce with that blue, I will glaze over the blue with a warm color like Van Dyke Brown or Burnt Sienna. I works like magic!

At this stage I also worked around the painting to clarify values, clean up edges and to paint light value glazes over some of the harsh, masked areas of the tree and grasses. A wet, light value over these areas will soften the edges of the crisp, masked marks.
I used Burnt Sienna and Quinicridone Gold for the buildings, again, not putting in details, just basic shapes.

To see the beginning stages of this painting you can visit the previous posts for this blog.

Palm Tree on Indian River Lesson 2

Masking Fluid on a Watercolor Painting:
Now that your drawing is on your watercolor paper, you can secure it to a foam core board with masking tape. Be sure to cover at least 1/2 inch of the paper all the way around. This will ensure that the paper will remain held by the tape while applying your wet washes. Watercolor paper, especially 140 lb paper, will buckle when wet, so the tape will prevent it from buckling too much and as the paper dries, the tape will secure it so that it will dry quite flat. This is a great help when trying to frame a painting!

I want to add masking to this project to keep the white of the paper, and to subsequently save some of the lighter values as I paint. (see previous post for the beginning of this project) Masking fluid is fragile and dries out quickly. To preserve the bulk of the masking fluid, I pour a tiny amount into a very small, resealable container. I keep the top on the larger container and only remove the top when pouring some masking into my smaller container. I also have another container with a chunk of a bar of soap and water (you can also use a concentrated dishwashing liquid). This is helpful in preserving your brush.

The third thing is a cheap brush with a fine point. Brushes used for masking should never be used for watercolors and visa versa. Masking is very hard on brushes, so cheap little brushes, brush handles, even toothpicks, are very useful for this application.

The Process:
The first thing in masking is to dip the brush in the soapy liquid. I like to use the bar of soap because it makes the soapy liquid very thick. I really dunk the brush in this solution and thoroughly coat it. Then, dip the soapy brush into the masking fluid and apply it thoughtfully to the painting. The masking fluid will resist the paint, and so it will save the whites and lights. Thoughtful brushwork here is crucial. Whatever marks you make with the masking will be on your painting. If you are careless or sloppy, the marks will not make sense when the masking is removed later in the painting.

Continue to dip the brush in the soapy liquid, then into the masking. Do not mix any of your tools or liquids with the tools or water used for your regular painting. Ever. Period! Masking will ruin your good watercolor brushes, and even if you get a little in your water container, it can then get into your paints and brushes and ruin them!!!

Again, I cannot emphasize enough, how important it is to use thoughtful brush strokes in the application of your masking. I masked some of the lightest areas of the palm tree, making sure the masking described the direction and character of the long palm fronds. I also added some to the green grasses and shrubs in the foreground, the bridge, the tiny building shapes at the right, and I covered the boat shapes in the water. Be frugal, we will add more masking later as we add a little color.
Allow the masking to air dry, if you use a hair dryer, it can "bake" the masking into the watercolor paper and make it difficult to remove in the last stage.
If you are local to the Melbourne, Florida area, you can find out more about my classes here in the area. Visit my website for more information: http://watercolorworksart.com/Classes.