Hidden River - #6 - Demo (1 0f 3)

This and the next two posts will demonstrate the step-by-step development of the weekly watercolor painting that I have just posted - Hidden River - shown in the first image. I always begin with several small sketches to develop the concept of the painting and to plan where the lightest and darkest values will be placed. My final value sketch for this painting is shown in the second image. It measures approximately 4" by 6", and was done with a #2 office pencil in my sketchbook. The value plan was to highlight the cabin by placing its sunlit areas in front of dark foliage. The sunlight is coming from the right.

My second step is to re-sketch the subject on my watercolor paper, also using a #2 pencil. This sketch has just enough information for me to place the color, and does not include too much detail. It is shown in the third image. I split this demo into three posts due to the way blogger handles images. In the next post, I'll show you how I prepared the paper, applied a sky wash, and began painting the scenery.

If you're interested in purchasing this or any other original weekly watercolor painting for $100 including shipping, or to see more of my weekly paintings, please visit my Weekly Watercolor website.

Surf's Up - # 7

Here is weekly watercolor #7, Surf's Up. This painting is based on a larger one I painted and sold last summer, that I developed during a watercolor workshop led by Frank Francese. The scene very loosely represents a beach area along the south Atlantic coast of the United States. I particularly like its looseness and its sunny, laid-back feeling.

If you're interested in purchasing this or any other original weekly watercolor painting for $100 including shipping, or to see more of my weekly paintings, please visit my Weekly Watercolor website.

Hidden River - #6 - Demo (3 0f 3)

This is my third and last post demonstrating the step-by-step development of the weekly watercolor painting that I posted recently - Hidden River.

As shown in the first image, I painted the distant trees very lightly, with soft edges, to make them seem to recede into the background. For the foreground pine, I began with the clumps of needles, trying for some color variation, with dark values at the bottoms of the clumps. I then painted the trunk with various shades of brown and some black, trying to capture the character of the bark. Finally, I added branches to hold the needle clumps, and also to represent dead branches that are usually found on these trees.

The second image shows the development of the large stand of trees behind the cabin. I again sought variation in color and value throughout. I don't usually use masking fluid to protect whites like the cabin shape, I just paint around them, to get a better-looking edge. After the tree foliage was done, I added some branches in the sky-holes.

The cabin was painted last. I took care to achieve high value contrast between the sunlit parts of the cabin and the background trees and cabin shadows, to maximize the effect of the sunlight. The final image shows the completed painting.

I hope you've found this series of posts interesting, and that they helped you understand my method of painting in watercolor. Let me know if you'd like to see more demo posts like this.

If you're interested in purchasing this or any other original weekly watercolor painting for $100 including shipping, or to see more of my weekly paintings, please visit my Weekly Watercolor website.

Hidden River - #6 - Demo (2 0f 3)

This is my second post demonstrating the step-by-step development of the weekly watercolor painting that I posted recently - Hidden River.

Once the sketch was drawn on the watercolor paper, I soaked the paper on both sides and removed the excess water from its surface with a sponge. I then flooded a combination of colors - new gamboge, permanent alizarin crimson, and prussian blue - onto the wet paper, as shown in the first image, so the colors would blend smoothly. While the paper was still damp, I wiped color out of parts of the foreground pine tree with a thirsty brush to make it possible to later put light colors in its foliage and on the right side of its trunk.

In the second image, the paper is beginning to dry, so I clipped it to the backing board. I began working on the ground areas on both sides of the river, using a variety of yellows, greens, and blues to vary the color of the grasses. I concentrated on making the far river bank interesting by varying its edge and including several rocks. On the near bank, I indicated some individual grasses by wiping out some paint with a thirsty brush and by adding a few weed stalks with a rigger. In the next and final installment, I'll paint the foreground tree, the distant trees, and the cabin itself.

If you're interested in purchasing this or any other original weekly watercolor painting for $100 including shipping, or to see more of my weekly paintings, please visit my Weekly Watercolor website.

Lonesome Pine - #5

Here is weekly watercolor #5. It's important for a watercolor artist who paints landscapes to be able to paint both individual and groups of trees. I learned how to do this from Tony Couch, an excellent watercolor artist and teacher. This study of a single pine turned out so well that I decided to offer it in my weekly watercolor series. Some trees have real character, and I think this is one of those.

If you're interested in purchasing this or any other original weekly watercolor painting for $100 including shipping, or to see more of my weekly paintings, please visit my Weekly Watercolor website.

Lazy Afternoon - #4

As I said in the description for painting #2, I love to paint barns. This painting is based on a barn I saw in Marysville, Ohio. But it could be anywhere; I've taken a lot of creative liberties with the barn and its surroundings. Doesn't it just look like it's a lazy old afternoon? A larger painting - a vignette based on this same barn - was juried into the 2008 Mid-Southern Watercolorists Annual Exhibit.

This painting has been purchased by a collector in Arkansas.

Rooftops of Prague - #3

Happy New Year! Today I posted the first weekly watercolor of 2010 - Rooftops of Prague - on my Weekly Watercolor site.

Prague is a beautiful, exciting city. Several years ago I visited there, and gathered a variety of reference material for paintings. Since I was not painting many urban scenes at that time, I painted a few of the interesting people I saw there, but no city scenes. This painting shows a view of the city from the Prague Castle, high on the hill in the old town. It was a rather hazy day. At the lower left of the painting, one can see people crossing the Vitava River via the famous Charles Bridge, with its beautiful gate houses at both ends.

If you're interested in purchasing this or any other weekly watercolor painting, please visit my Weekly Watercolor site.

This painting has been purchased by a collector in California.