watercolor Archives

Dahlias Closeup 01

dahlia Closeup Layout 3

I take pictures of my dahlias closeup then use them to rearrange where they are on the canvas till I am satisfied with the layout before I paint them. These are two of the pictures that have the two largest flowers, so you can see what I mean by moving them around.

I see the beauty of the blooms popping out over a bed full of green leaves and stems somewhat blurry in the background. My eyes see this set of photos this way when I glance at them.

Now the trick will be to decide what amount of detail I want to include in the leaves behind and underneath the flowers. This is the layout sketch for this painting of Dahlias Closeup from our garden before I get the paints out.

Minerva Amaryllis Watercolor

Minerva Amaryllis 01 This is a photograph of “Minerva Amaryllis”, one of our blossoming beauties that I will be painting in watercolor. Its petals range in color from salmon to pink with white tiger stripes extending out from the center. Peter grows this one, and many others in our kitchen window. When they quickly spring up with their bright blossoms it can literally take your breath away. Amaryllis always cheer up the house in the winter.

Step-By-Step

Minerva Amaryllis 02
First, I sketch the shapes using a 2H pencil, drawing very lightly so lines are erasable later. Then, I wet the first petal area being very careful to reserve (keep dry) the area in the middle. This dry area is where the white stripes will be. Proceeding on, I combine colors “wet-on-wet” in this pre-wetted area. Starting with a mixture of orange and gamboge yellow, then apply drops of quinacridone magenta and alizarin crimson for the darkest edges.

It is fascinating how the watercolors do almost all the work by themselves. They combine in expressive gradations until they make edges that are sharp right where the wetness stops. This picture shows how very brightly the colors look when wet, but, remember that they will fade as they dry.

Minerva Amaryllis 03

You can see how much the colors fade when dry when you compare the first image with this one.
Minerva Amaryllis 04 The approach for the second, third (behind), and fourth petals are pretty much the same except for how the lighting and shadows change as they stack on top of each other. Minerva Amaryllis 05

Where a petal would cast a shadow on the petal underneath or behind it I add a touch more of the alizarin to darken it. Minerva Amaryllis 06

Next, look at the beginning of where the light and shadow occur on the flower surfaces. The stem below the blossom is heavily darkened.

Minerva Amaryllis 08 Following this, apply a light wash in the background petals that is more muted in value to exaggerate distance.

Minerva Amaryllis 10

With a light wash showing the sky background and greenery texture from below to eye level, we can begin painting the details.

Great White Heron Watercolor

Great White Heron photograph by
Elise Beattie.

I am rendering this Great White Heron from a photograph by Elise Beattie who teaches, “Fearless Painting” classes. Now working on different approaches to The first post about this in a pen & ink study.

Step-By-Step Watercolor

Great White Heron Sketch — Layout Pencil Sketch

While studying the picture, I kept feeling as though the best part of the picture is missing. Do you ask, “Would that be?” Well, the reflection of the bird on the water would be quite beautiful. Being an artist allows me to go ahead with adding the missing piece in as I render this subject. I believe it is called an artist license.

Render Sun Reflection

Watercolor requires that you start with where you want to reserve white, then begin laying down the lightest colors first. In this that will be where the sun is laying on the water.

Background Reeds

I start to lay in the reeds behind and am careful to avoid where my Great White Heron is. Must preserve a pristine white area to work on later for the center-of-attention character.

As I add in the reeds on the right side additional lily pond-type leaves are added to help the composition move in a circular motion.

Render Water

Using royal and cerulean blues I begin to put the ripples of the water in.

Reflections

A reflection is simply the original image turned upside down on the water. After turning it we need to take into account that the surface reflecting the image is not flat. As in this water scene with its many ripples that cut up and distort the image. The more I apply the reed reflections and watercolors I begin to lose the heron reflection so I apply a soft gray there that helps me to see it better.

This next step is scary as I apply a wash over all the water using ultramarine blue.

At this point, I am darkening reflections and making details and adjustments. I should be able to finish this image this week. When I complete it I will be sure to post it so you can see it. Happy painting.

Dahlia Closeup Watercolor

I am finishing this dahlia closeup watercolor this week. Here are 6 progressive shots of the painting’s progress.

12″w x 13″h watercolor on 300lb Arches paper.I establish the layout with a pencil sketch .

Dahlia Closeup B0820 — 12″w x 13″h watercolor on 300lb Arches paper.

Starting with a background wash of alizarin crimson I begin to apply highlight color washes on the leaves, then progress to the light washes on the flowers.

Various shades of green and gray are applied to the leaves in the background.

The next step is, to bring up the intensity of the colors in the blossoms by applying bright layers.

To complete this piece, there is very little work remaining to be done. The process becomes a back and forth balancing act from here. I apply the darks and shadows. Followed by accentuating the lights until I get the look I want.

I will be sure to share the finished painting in the near future.

Yellow Rose Watercolor

yellow rose 07
Doing this yellow rose watercolor involves many steps. Most of the time I can describe my steps simply as washes-on-top-of, washes-on-top-of, washes and so forth. I tend to pile up layers and layers of the wash until I like what I see.

Do you know the meaning of the yellow rose?

yellow rose watercolor 08

I began with this yellow rose layout in a sketch. I put a real light wash in the body of the flower bloom first. Being carefully light with the paint I add the long stem and it’s leaves, along with the little bud peeking out on the left side. I am encouraged.

Changed Backgrounds

Lately, I have noticed that I have a habit of painting backgrounds with tons of detail going to the very edge of the paper. To change things up, I will work on getting a dramatic background without walking in those footsteps this time. The biggest realization I have is that this is not going to be good without some serious background to help it pop out. The challenge will be to make an appropriate background that pops but doesn’t take over the main image.

Light Yellow

A light yellow rose watercolor can very easily fade into a white background and become a ghost. The background is my beginning to remedying that. With violet wash as a background, I add a mixture of Crimson on wet areas to the edges of my main character. A good change, don’t you think?

Dropping vermillion or cadmium reds into these areas gives a little more zing as it bleeds into the background violet and crimson. yellow rose 09 yellow rose 12

Examining the watercolor rose procedure pictures I’ve taken makes another step that I take real apparent. The picture that I took of the blossom is the reference for the rose watercolor.

Never hesitate to get your old-fashioned gear out. Improve by using “photography technique” along with that “real camera” (not a smartphone). Nothing takes the place of good reference material. If you are trying to improve and learn about where the light hits and shadows extend to, use a well-lit photograph. There are millions of amateur photographers out there flooding FaceBook and the image banks with junk, but very few “real skilled photographers” capturing memorable shots with enlightened essence anymore.

Dryly Enlightening

At this point, we are looking at the dry version of this watercolor painting. Take note of the differences between the last two images and you will see a noticeable amount of fading occurs as the paints dry. While looking at a wet painting, there are many times that I am tempted to dab a bit of the pigment out of it because it seems so very bright when wet. If I can resist that urge, I am usually a lot happier with the result because the paints do fade so very much by the time they are dry.

yellow rose watercolor 13

Dahlia Progress is Slow

Step By Step Progress

dahlia watercolor progress 5 — dahlia watercolor progress

This dahlia watercolor progress is slow as I experiment with getting the bright colors and shading right. It has been a while since I painted flowers, even though they are one of my favorite things in life. Isn’t it funny that we get distracted from what we love with our work in life? This paining seems to be more of a study of the light and casted shadow on the various petal surfaces. It is truly amazing how many surfaces there are on a single blossom. I love the play of light and how it makes something seem so 3D whenever I get it right.

Pink, my kingdom for a pink

It is surprising that the most difficult areas so far have been getting the right pinks to appear. It requires that I actually get the right amount of water to dilute the paint with the main one being used as Alzarian Crimson, or Scarlet Lake, the darks are better with the violet or purple ranges added. My daughter shares my interest in flowers, she has a site named www.dahliasinbloom.net, a place worth checking out.

You can see why I feel so inspired by blossoms, each day as I walk through our garden, I not only see vegetables and fruits. Luckily, there are many blossoms to pause and smell as I do my daily chores.

Time out

At this point, I am not sure if I am liking the way this watercolor is coming out so I may put it on the shelf to rest while I get back to my real work. When you paint for work sometimes your personal paintings have to wait till there is time again. The most important thing to me is to not make a big stack of unfinished art in my shelf, so I keep working on my un-done stack every week to keep it real small. A uncluttered studio is a happy studio.

Cape Disappointment Finished

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

Finishing with the final steps on the cliff left side which needs more earth tones and detailing. I need to darken all the way down to where the water is splashing up onto the rocks. It is probably the highest contrast area of the painting. The lighthouse and other exterior buildings at the top of the cliff are rendered using grays and black for shadow and shape. Final adjustments throughout the rest of the painting are completed using red tones on the cliffside, and darker tones along each wave crest and the shoreline. All small touches are so important to give it that final “Zing” of movement and shape.

Commission is Finished

The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse on the cliff ridge alongside the mouth of the Columbia River (view taken from Waikiki Beach, Oregon).

Cape Disappoinment Lighthouse — Cape Disappointment Lighthouse I1717 22″w x 15.25″h watercolor on 300lb WC paper

Cape Disappointment 5

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse 5

To finish up this commission, my approach is to systematically address any blaring problems as I see them. From this point on, I typically add details to the most blaring areas first then proceed onto the next blaring area.

The first areas catching my attention are the two areas on the cliff where the mastic was applied. They are way too bright and have the wrong shapes. I apply a light wash of earth tones to both of those areas to bring both of their values more into line. Okay, now they seem less blaring.

Now, I carefully check and add shapes and colors as I see them from my reference images beginning with the middle areas and working my way out to the edges.

Cape Disappointment 4

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse 4

It is time to remove the mastic so I can get down to the details in painting this view. I start on the left side of the image. Do you see the crisp whites appear where the yellow once was in the wave breaking in the foreground?

Then we proceed to the right side till all of the mastics are removed. Not all areas that I am removing the watercolor resist from, were totally white when I applied the mastic. But, the stark white is especially noticeable in the cliff further away, but where some of the original light wash shows through in the front area it is not so bright.

Cape Disappointment 3

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse 3

The cliffs at the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse in Oregon are highlighted first with one of my favorite colors, Quinacridone Gold by Daniel Smith. I am replacing the colors I run out of with this brand whenever possible because the colors are so vibrant. To darken the cliffside in the areas that are recessed along the shore I use an earth tone created by mixing greens and reds. This color combo creates the best blacks, a great array of darkness.

The same blues used in the sky are then added to the ocean swells along with greens and purples to mark the darkest areas in the waves. Water always seems to reflect the sky so well.

The trees and shrubbery are next. I begin by drawing trees with a thin wash of light gray to show the furthest fading into the distance. Then, I add greens and browns in various amounts to brighten the trees and shrubs as they come closer. Closer is always brighter. If it is where the light is shining it becomes even brighter there.