Arches Study Workshop 2

Here I have applied the drawing to the 140 lb. Arches paper, which is about 11 by 14 inches. I tape the paper to a foam core board and now I am ready to paint.


The first application of paint is done in French Ultramarine Blue. I begin to build the shadow areas that will become dark under-painting for the warm, dark values in the finished piece.

As I discussed yesterday, if I under-paint with this relative opposite, it will darken the value without making the painting look dull or as if it was painted with too much pigment. My desire is to increase the value and maintain the transparency of the pigment.


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.

Arches Study Workshop 1

This painting was a demonstration piece for a recent workshop I did for the Brevard Watercolor Society. I called it: Painting The Shadows First.



First I want to talk briefly about layering colors. If I want an area of my painting to be dark brown, and I just paint browns in that area, the pigment will not get darker, it will simply get thick. In order to make a color darker in value, I need to layer that color against it's relative opposite.

This is a sample of my value chart. I used a mixture of Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine Blue (relative opposites on my color wheel) to create the dark, neutral color. I then painted the darkest mixture I could make, and still keep the color transparent, onto the number six square. I continued to paint the squares, progressively adding more water to the pigment/water mixture. I left the number one square white. This is a tool that I use often to judge values, the darkness or lightness of a color.


This is a sample of a color wheel. You can learn more about the color wheel from lots of books, and I talk briefly about it on my Beginner's Workshop DVD. You can make a simple color wheel, and paint some of the colors from your palette onto the color wheel. Or print a color wheel from many of the online art resources and use a marker to list which colors on your palette correspond to the areas of the color wheel.
From there you can then see how to mix dark, neutral colors from the relative opposites on the color wheel. These mixtures can be physically mixed on your palette or glazed, layered wet onto very dry, to create rich, dark value contrasts in your paintings.

I use this theory to build the dark values in my paintings. For instance, I use a lot of French Ultramarine Blue because it is a relatively pure, true blue in relation to my color wheel. If I look at my color wheel I can see that it is opposite many of my warm orange-brown colors, like Burnt Sienna and VanDyke Brown. I like to paint with glazes, and often I paint with only one color at a time. I allow it to dry, then glaze on another color to create the rich values, while maintaining the transparency of my pigments. Come back tomorrow to see the beginning of how this painting was built.

Brevard Watercolor Society Workshop

Last weekend I did a workshop for the Brevard Watercolor Society, here in Melbourne, Florida. What a fun time we had! I demonstrated my technique of painting the shadows first, then glazing colors over the dry paint. Lots of people showed up for a fun day of painting!
We worked from 10 AM to 2 PM, and I shared as many tips and tricks as I could fit in. My next blog lesson will feature the project we worked on.

If you would like to paint along with the lesson, visit my etsy shop (http://watercolorgirl.etsy.com) and for $5.00 I will send you the six page project handouts, including the reference photo and drawing. You will receive these materials in pdf format via email.

Thanks to everyone who showed up for the workshop. I really had a great time and I enjoyed many of my new Florida neighbors.

Flamingos Lesson 13

My finished piece!

Hope you enjoyed this one - I know I did!

This lesson is available for you to paint along! Just go to my online etsy shop, click the icon for online class and complete the five dollar purchase. You will then receive an email with the drawings and reference photos for this lesson!

Let me know which lesson you would like, I have several of them on this blog.

I also teach drawing and watercolor classes in the Melbourne, Florida area. If you are interested, visit the Classes page of my website for more details:
http:watercolorworksart.com/Classes.

Flamingos Lesson 12

This detail shows how beautifully glazes have subdued the leaves in the background. First glaze was of Olive Green, then with a thin mixture of Prussian Blue (after the green dried).

I have created recognizable suggestions of the plants behind the birds, without completely decribing them for the viewer.





I used some Indigo to further push back the details here and there. I also used Indigo in the beaks of the birds, and some of the darkest shadow areas along the shoreline.

Flamingos Lesson 11

Now it is time to start to tie it all together!

I have used a mixture of Sap Green and Quinicridone Gold to glaze over some areas of the water. Near the foreground left, I used Olive Green and VanDyke Brown and Permanent Alizarin Crimson in the foreground right.

I used some of the Quin Gold on the orange areas of the flamingos, as well as on the branches on the right.
I used a very wet mixture of Olive Green and Quin Gold to glaze over the leaves and the entire background. I want to be sure they aren’t too detailed and compete with my true focal point.

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.