Blog
1/31/2015 7:03:09 PM
What I learned
What a difference thirty days makes. I began this challenge of painting a watercolor a day for thirty days thinking that watercolor is a fast and spontaneous medium and that I would paint a quick watercolor each morning before I began my regular studio work. I did not realize how consuming learning the medium would become and much of my free time was spent studying all things watercolor. I also did not think I would come to love it as much as I did.
Here is a synopsis of what I learned
Paper makes a HUGE difference in what you are painting. Each surface has its challenges and benefits that suit different approaches. Play with it and make lots of mistakes to see what works best for you.
Water is pigment
When you mix up a puddle for a wash, mix up a large puddle. I mean really, really large. I cut the tops off of solo cups and used them to hold washes.
When you are working in a direct method, lay down the pigment then leave it alone. No poking drying paintings.
Moleskin Art Journals are great for quick sketches; they do not like heavy washes.
Moleskin Art Journals and small half pan sets are the ultimate light weight plein air set up.
Stretching paper is not too scary and a staple gun and gator board work very well.
Color mixing in watercolor is pretty much the same as mixing color in oil and in pastel.
It was nice to return to line drawing.
Working wet into wet takes trust but creates magic.
You can begin a large painting with a very light underpainting that will give you an idea of your values and temperatures. This is the same as underpainting in the other mediums.
Texture is an important part of watercolor. Lean how to manipulate different brushes a lot of different ways.
Fixing problems is not too difficult in watercolor but it has its limits.
It is best to wait until an area dries completely before you make changes.
Cobalt teal is the prettiest paint color out there.
When you want to control your edges use two brushes, one to lay down the paint and one that is damp with clean water to manipulate the edge. Keep the brushes in both hands at all times.
Use less water with each layer
The true colors and edges only show themselves once a painting is completely dry. Reserve your final judgment of the painting until then.
When I began this challenge I felt intimidated by the medium and after a month of painting I feel as if I have just begun to grasp the basics. I am not intimidated anymore but completely enamored of the challenge and beauty of this medium. I will continue to work on watercolor and will post paintings in the future. Keep the comments and tips coming, and thank you for following along on this adventure.
I want to send out a huge thank you to all of you who followed along, commented, messaged and sent me tips. I am listing some of the resources you suggested below, they were very useful on this journey. Another special thank you to those who purchased paintings, that means a lot and I am using the proceeds to buy more watercolor supplies!
James Guerney Blog: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/ Amazing blog on all mediums but some real gems on watercolor.
Mario Robinson Video: http://www.craftsy.com/instructors/mario-robinson I highly recommend this video plus you can ask him questions!
Youtube: type in watercolor and see what comes up!
1/30/2015 11:24:31 AM
Day 30 - last official day!
Paper: Arches 140lb, cold press
Pigments: Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Aureolin, Quinacridone Red, Cobalt Teal, Opera.
Today is the last official day of the challenge, hooray! Obviously I will not finish this painting during the month of January, but I will continue to post on my blog about the progress. I will probably take a few days off however, my oils and pastels have been feeling neglected.
After the monochromatic wash I decided to focus on the face. If the face is not working in this painting then the whole thing will never be correct. Going in tight on the face and keeping the rest of the figure soft is a time tested trick of artists. Sargent was brilliant at this, his faces in his commissioned portraits are always beautifully rendered and then other areas in the dress or figure are just suggested.
I began by adding a wash of cool flesh tone over the face and neck. After that dried I began to add washes into the shadows and focused on getting the edges I wanted by keeping two brushes in my hand. One to paint pigment with and one that was damp with clean water to paint along the edge to get the degree of softness I wanted. For color I painted the light areas cool using, pinks, yellow greens and blues. The shadows I painted with a burnt sienna and ultramarine blue mixture. The reflected lights are blues, greens and violets.
I ended up lifting some passages that had gone to dark, then laying a wash of clear water on top to soften the entire area.
This is a very different surface than the Aquaboard, the paint sinks in and it is much harder to make corrections but much easier to layer washes.
This was a great adventure and learning experience. I am grateful for all of you who followed along and left comments. A huge thank you to those of you who wrote me privately to suggest materials, techniques, or websites to check out. Another huge thank you to those who purchased some of my paintings. I am happily turning turning that money back into watercolor supplies.
What I learned:
You can keep laying light washes to turn the form.
You can lift areas that are dark but only once the paint is completely dry
Tomorrow I will write my final blog on what I learned during this month.
Happy Painting!
1/29/2015 11:31:26 AM
Day 29
Paper: Arches 140lb, Cold Press
Paints, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna
I decided to end this challenge with a more of a challenge. Can I use everything I have learned over this month to create a finished 16x20 figurative painting? The reference is from a workshop I taught last fall. One of the staff members posed for a photo shoot and was terrific at playing up expression and using the props.
I decided to use the underpainting method I learned about in the Mario Robinson video. I did change it up a bit and decided the underpainting would also reflect color temperature as well as value. Since the model was posed under a cool light source anything in the light is cool and the shadows are warm. I used ultramarine blue and burnt sienna to give me two washes. One had slightly more blue and one had more sienna in the mixture. I know from the last painting that much of this will disappear as I progress and deepen the values.
This is my first time working on a stretched paper and it is harrowing to see how the paper will buckle when I put on the background wash but then magically flatten out as it dries. Maybe I did not stretch it well enough, guess I will just keep painting and find out!
What I learned:
I like the absorbing quality of the the Arches paper. Corrections may not be as easy to make as they are on Aquaboard but I like the look of the paint as it sinks in.
Using two different washes to map out the temperature as well as the value should help me set up my color mixtures easier.
1/28/2015 1:32:39 PM
Day 28
Paper: Ampersand Aquaboard
Paint: Ultramarine Blue, Quinacridone Red, Cobalt Teal, Aureolin, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Lemon Yellow, Chinese White
Today was all about refining a watercolor. That is my happy place with any painting and not something I have done during this challenge. Mostly I have been dashing off a watercolor, exploring new approaches, usually going a bit too far in the painting then repeating the next day. With this particular painting I wanted to take my time and really see how I could use watercolor to fully develop a portrait. Based on a video lesson with Mario Robinson, I began with a monochromatic underpainting, the second day I laid in layers of thin color washes, then yesterday I went full value and rich color.
Today I focused on edges and texture and had a very good time. Because this is Aquaboard I can lift out lights pretty easily which I did with a damp brush. I gently laid a clear wash of water over some of the shadows to soften the transitions of color and half tones. I wanted the painting to be good composition and not just a portrait on a board so I washed and rewashed the background and the clothing. In the light I added layers of yellow green and violet to create a feeling of illumination and depth then added violet along the left side of the head to give a sense of shadow.
I really enjoyed adding the texture and felt that it took the painting to it's final finish. I used a broad synthetic flat brush to wash in a final glaze of the background and found I liked the linear marks it left behind. I ran the same brush over her shirt and through parts of her hair. For a final touch I added lemon yellow onto a frayed brush and gently described the edge of the hair. I may be partial, because the model is my daughter, but I was happy with how the portrait came out.
Here is a close up of the face.
What I learned,
A thin wash of clear water will soften an edge with out disturbing the painting underneath.
Texture is an important part of the finished watercolor. The rough textures really help the smooth passages glow.
Really thin washes of transparent color are a wonderful way to create delicate color changes, just pay attention to the edge and be ready with a clean brush to soften where you stop.
1/27/2015 8:12:28 PM
Day 27
Paper: Ampersand Aquaboard
Pigment: Ultramarine Blue, Quinacridone Red, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Aureolin
Still working on the portrait of my daughter. The whole thing felt to delicate and I wanted to push the values of the hair, shadows, background and clothing darker for more contrast. I painted the hair darker and the shadow on the face then the entire light side of the face went too light. I glazed the light side of the face with a wash of quinacridone and raw sienna then added a dash of ultramarine blue to ish it. The highlights in the hair became way too light I had to add several glazes of violet. All in all I am happy with the value range. Tomorrow the real fun takes place. I will be refining the form with light washes and dry brush.
What I learned:
Once the Aquaboard is completely dry you can use a damp brush and brush back almost to the white of the board
Start off much darker in the lights than you think you need to! It is way to easy to get dazzled with the pretty colors and ignore the impact of contrast.
1/26/2015 7:12:12 PM
Day 26
Paper: Ampersand Aquaboard
Paints:Ultramarine Blue, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Aureolin, New Gamboge, Quinacridone Red.
Today I laid color washes over my watercolor monochromatic block in. I am still using the video lessons from Mario Robinson to guide me and see if I can get very soft transitions that round the form. My daughter was filmed under a cool light so anything in the light is getting colors that lean toward blue so the skin tone is made from washes of quinacridone red and aureolin which is a yellow that leans slightly towards blue. I am painting the highlights a sunny green and the half tones tend towards violet. Anything in the shadow is leaning more towards orange and red. For edge control I was careful to wet the area before I dropped in the color and if a hard edge did appear where I did not want it I quickly ran a damp brush along the edge. I really enjoyed putting the layers of color on and feel as if the painting is properly prepped for some big dark value masses tomorrow which include the hair, shirt and parts of the background. Hopefully the face is not too light and I will not have to rework the whole thing!
What I learned.
Layers of delicate washes can make skin tones luminous.
Keep three brushes handy, one to mix with ( It can be a cheap one), one to lay down clear water ( my squirrel mop brush is good for this) and one to paint with ( my lovely sable)
1/25/2015 8:19:41 PM
Paper: Aquaboard, Ampersand
Pigments: Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna
A monochromatic underpainting in watercolor? That's a thing???? I was so excited this morning when I came across Mario Robinson's online course called " Painting Realistic Watercolors". I have long been a fan of this young man's figurative work and when I read the course description I had to have it right away. What intrigued me was an approach to watercolor that was balanced careful planning of drawing, values, form and color while respecting the unpredictable nature of the medium. It is the best instruction I have watched on how to manipulate the medium and when to leave it alone. I plan on building my last two portraits for this challenge using his approach. I did an underpainting of my daughter on Aqua board using a very thin wash of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna. I began covering all the lights then adding layers of the wash for the midtones and darks. The wash is very light and as you see the image is barely there but it is a map for me to follow tomorrow when I apply color. I worked on the Aquaboard because I know changes are easier to make than stretched Arches cold press paper. I am hoping the Aquaboard gives me the experience and courage to tackle the large version of the study I did yesterday called Page Turner.
Here is a link to the website: http://www.craftsy.com/classes/art-and-photo?currentPage=4&filterMap={}
Here is Mario Robinson's website if you are in the mood to drool over some beautiful paintings, Mario Robinson Fine Art
1/24/2015 5:03:27 PM
Paper: Moleskin Art Journal
Paint: Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna
After my dish of humble pie yesterday I decided to change tactics and move into some larger slower paintings. I prepared 3 of them today by stretching paper and doing the drawings. I was completely intimidated by the paper stretching process. Years ago I used the gummed tape that you wet with water and ended up with tape stuck to tape, tape stuck to me, and buckled paper. This time I simply stapled a wet piece of paper to gatorboard and voila, the paper dried tight as a drum. I thought that I should do some studies of the larger piece, so I brought out my trusty Moleskin journal then decided to simplify the whole thing by using two colors, ultramarine blue and burnt sienna. Tomorrow I will do a full color study but I decided to see what would happen with the two colors and was pleasantly surprised. I got a color range from saturated orange ( burnt sienna) to brilliant blue ( ultramarine blue) and then different degrees of orange - ish colors and blue-ish colors as I mixed them. The most neutral gray mixture took on a greenish cast. I think I will play more with this in the future. If anyone wants to suggest other two color combos to try I would love to hear from you.
What I learned:
Stretching paper is not so scary if you use a staple gun.
A two color palette can be a beautiful thing!
Since I was more relaxed today I just focused on shapes and temperature and the painting appeared.
1/23/2015 5:08:23 PM
Paper: 300 lb cold press, Arches
Paints: Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue, Raw Sienna, Quinacridone Red, Hookers Green.
Today's painting is brought to you with a big slice of humble pie. I went to a friend's studio to paint from the model. He was dressed as a construction worker along with a big shovel for a prop. We started with a series of short poses. I used my Moleskin book and the half pan box for some of them and got some decent sketches. Then we went for the long pose which was 90 minutes plus breaks. I decided to do the entire figure on a 12x16 paper. This is something I can easily take on in pastel or oil but I forgot about the most important aspect of watercolor; timing.
I had an idea in my head how I wanted it to look but did not fully plan it out on the paper. The pencil line was light and on the first break when I put in the dark background wash I completely covered the entire background which I did not mean to do by now the wash around the figure was dry adjusting it made it splotchy The paint derailed from there with the drawing not fully in the figure became disproportionate I realized quickly on that I was in trouble but not soon enough to start again so I attempted to go into salvage mode, which means trying out everything and anything on the painting to see what happens. Quite frankly the painting was too complicated and too large for my ability in that short amount of time. What I would like to do is to tackle a larger figurative work for this final week of the challenge but take my time and post the process. I know I called my challenge 30 watercolors in 30 days but I will learn more by slowing down now and working some larger pieces including (gulp) stretching a big sheet of paper.
What I learned:
REALLY PLAN where you want the darks and lights before you start.
Do not take on too much in too short of time.
Really beautiful darks come from ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.
Make the wash puddle twice as large as you think you need.
1/22/2015 2:14:59 PM
Paper: 300lb cold press, Arches
Paints. Ultramarine Blue, Raw Sienna, Quinacridone Red
After several days of struggling, today I decided to focus entirely on edge work. This time I planned out getting the major edges how I wanted them before moving on. I laid in the back ground with a simple dirty green wash of raw sienna and ultramarine blue. While that was drying I mixed my skin tone puddles sticking with the suggestion for skin tones in Mary Whytes book about portrait painting. So on my palette made a puddle of raw sienna and quinacridone red then mixed the two in a middle puddle. I repeated this with ultramarine blue and raw sienna as well as ultramarine blue and the red. This is how I approach color mixing in oils and am very comfortable with working with a palette limited to the three primary colors. I painted the lights of his face, hands and hair with an orange mixture, sometimes moving more towards red and sometimes more towards yellow. then I quickly moved to the shadow which had blue added and painted along the damp edge which gave me a soft transition. Only when the edge was painted did I move and fill in the shadow area. This gave me better results then I have previously had in the past. The shadow was less splotchy and not distracting. I find it interesting that the luminosity of the colors allow me to keep the value range in a higher key. Typically in oil or pastel I would have gone much darker on the shadow area than I did here. As I moved to smaller areas I kept focused on edges and learned how to make soft transitions by painting in a middle tone along a shadow then coming back to the edge of the middle tone where it was turning into the light and using a clean damp brush to wiggle in these areas to soften the transition without it looking over worked. Hooray, I think I am finally learning something!
I painted this next to my last portrait as a reminder to watch the edges. Also because I am cheap and did not want to use a full sheet for either painting
What I learned:
Plan the edges out and put your effort into getting them how you want them right away.
Paint damp into damp for a soft edge
You can paint a band of color along the shadow then soften the side turning towards the light using clean water and damp brush.
A three primary pallet of raw sienna, quinacridone red, and ultramarine blue is a very useful palette for portraiture.
1/21/2015 2:20:52 PM
Paper: Moleskin Watercolor Journal
Paint: Windsor Newton 12 piece half pan set
Busy day today so back to the little sky studies. There is something so relaxing about these. I find if I am in a hurry it is a great way to take a break and visit a landscape. I also find that if I am in a hurry I tend to put the paint down and leave it alone which usually results in a better painting.
What I learned:
Leave the paint alone and let the water do it's work, this is becoming my new mantra.
1/20/2015 2:27:12 PM
Day 20
Paper: 300 lb cold press, Arches
Paints: Raw Sienna, Quinacradone Red, Ultramarine Blue. Cadmium Yellow, Cerulean Blue, Opera
Took a break from the skies to paint my other favorite subject matter, portrait. This is from a photograph of my daughter taken several years ago on a sunny fall day. I wanted to see if I could get the luminous shadow tones of her skin and get the feeling of glowing light. It started well. I am learning how to make large puddles for my washes ahead of time so I do not have to mix anything during the critical drying time. I had painted the background a couple of days ago using using cad yellow and cerulean blue. I let them blend and mix on the paper to give the feeling of sunshine. Then I mixed large puddles of quinacridone red and raw sienna for the skin tones in the light. I went lightly over any area that was in the light but reserved the white of the paper on the upper plane of the nose, the forehead and the triangle of light on the cheek. Working quickly I dipped into my other puddle of quiacridone red and ultramarine blue to lay in the shadow tones. While that was drying I attempted to work the edges where light meets shadow and dropped a bolder warm mix there to enhance the feeling of light. I struggle with timing in watercolor and that affects the soft edges. I wanted a softer blend of color on the cheek shadow as it move towards the light, but the initial wash was too dry already and I got a harder line than I wanted. I was able to drop opera into the reflected light under the chin and get the effect I wanted. I may have to work smaller areas than I am used to then move to the next area to really get the edge control I want. I darkened the background wash with ultramarine blue and raw sienna to make her face pop more. Little touches of cadmium yellow along the edge of the nose and forehead enhanced the illusion of sunlight.
What I learned:
Maybe I will be better off thinking broadly but working smaller areas to get the edge control I want. When I work in oil and pastel I tend to paint in all the light and shadow in big tones and then make the color changes within the values. I am not as concerned about getting the edges I want immediately so I am not used to attacking edges first. I am rethinking my approach and have another portrait sketched in a ready to paint.
I am giving myself credit for logging in time and experience with this new medium and should not expect the same results that I get from oil and pastel.
1/19/2015 3:36:56 PM
Day 19
Paper: 300 lb cold press, Arches
Paint: Cerulean Blue, Opera, New Gamboge, Cobalt Blue
What a difference paper makes! I wanted to try out painting skies on better paper than the Moleskin Watercolor Journal. I wanted to play with washes without the paper buckling and pooling the pigment. For subject matter I chose to work from one of my plein air oils of a sunset in the Adirondacks. I penciled in the placement of the mountains and the shoreline but the sky I painted free form. I began with very thin washes of yellow then left those alone and washed in the cerulean blue wash for the sky. The dark of the clouds were cerulean and opera washed in and left to blend in with some of the blue sky that was still damp. The paper did not buckle at all and it was fun to let the colors mix. I painted the sky washes into the lake to mirror the sky.
I also found the paper was quite forgiving when I decided to change the tree line in the distance. It was the same height as the trees in the foreground and flattened the illusion of depth. I waited until it was completely dry then took a clean wet brush to the mountains and the trees removed most of the paint. I shortened the tree line in the back, it is softer than I would like but I am just happy I did not have to trash the whole painting.
What I learned:
300 lb is a forgiving grade of paper to work on.
Even though you can erase, it is still better to plan ahead.
YouTube is a great learning tool. I have spent hours watching different artists paint in watercolor, thank you internet!
Last Ray 5x7 Watercolor is for sale for 75.00, to purchase click here.
1/18/2015 1:10:37 PM
Day 18
Paper: Moleskin Watercolor Journal
Paints: Windsor Newton 12 piece half pans + half pan of cobalt blue.
Today’s lesson was to get in and get out. I have been fussing and retouching parts of my watercolors and making a mucky mess so today I made myself lay down the paint then leave it alone. This allows the paint to do the work and when it is working it is pure magic. I sectioned off six little squares, and you can see how little by the photo below which shows the size of these studies compared to a quarter. I love doing these little studies, but they are not for the weak of ego. For every page of six that I do maybe two come out decently, that said there is a whole lot of learning going on.
This was painted from memory. I was thinking of the unusual light effect that happens when a storm is brewing in the distance but the foreground is still in sunlight. I made a big puddle of cobalt blue and a big puddle of cobalt and cadmium red. Since cadmium red leans towards yellow, all three primaries are present in the mixture and I get nice purple-ish. I painted the initial wash of pure cobalt then came back with a clean wet (but not too wet) brush and painted the tops of the clouds. While the whole thing was starting to dry I brushed the underside of the clouds and left them alone. As it dried all these nuances of value and saturation occurred that enhanced the feeling of the storm. I painted the foreground as if it were in sunlight using lots of yellows in my mixtures. Overall I am pretty happy with this. These little studies do not photograph well; the camera does not seem to pick up the subtleties of tone and saturation that I am so excited about. Once I am working larger hopefully that will not be a problem.
What I learned:
Get in and get out! Mix your large puddles ahead of time, test them on a scrap of paper to see that they will do what you want and then trust those decisions.
To mix a large puddle of color start with clean water in an area sectioned off for a wash. Keep adding pigment until the mixture is about 50% darker than what you think you need. Watercolors lighten as they dry.
Use clean water to paint a bloom of lighter color into a damp wash. This is a snazzy way to get a feeling of clouds.
1/17/2015 12:24:36 PM
Day 17
Paper: Moleskin Watercolor Journal
Paints: Windsor Newton 12 piece half pan.
For the next few days I am going to post a series of paintings I call “ ‘scuse me while I paint these skies,” and yes, you can sing that phrase to the Hendrix song.
Painting skies and clouds come easily to me in pastel and oil. In watercolor I have been having trouble with the edge work and with getting the graduation in color that is so important in creating the illusion of the dome of the sky. Why get frustrated with larger work when I can figure out some of my issues by doing lots of tiny studies. So I am painting a series of very small skies from my memory and based on some of my other paintings. With these studies I also hope to become more familiar with the tinting strength of my half pan set and with the paper in the Moleskin watercolor book. Once I become more confident with the paints, paper, and brushwork I can apply the lessons to larger work.
The first one is a blue sky day with fluffy blue. I covered the sky with clear water reserving the white of the paper for the tops of the clouds. I washed in cobalt at the top then gradually added cerulean as I went downward towards the ground with a final thin wash of lemon yellow right at the horizon. I went back to the bottom of the clouds with a mixture of cadmium red and cerulean blue which made a lovely purple-ish neutral. The final light was added by adding a very light wash of lemon yellow into the white of the clouds along the edge of the neutral tone. The ground was washed in with ultramarine blue and yellow ocher. A final wash of cadmium yellow was laid on top of the foreground to give a feeling of sunlight.
What I learned:
Cobalt is a wonderful color for the top of a sky.
Cerulean is a great color for the sky as it heads towards the horizon.
When you paint from your memory there is no pressure to make the painting look like “something.” I spent the time thinking of a lovely summer’s day and kept manipulating the washes and shapes until it looked how I wanted it to. Not a bad way to spend a winter’s morning in Michigan.
1/16/2015 4:38:05 PM
Paper: Canson 140lb, cold press
Pigments: Ultramarine Blue, Raw Sienna, Quinacridone Red, Cadmium Yellow, Burt Sienna.
I went to a friends studio to work from a model. I decided to focus on the portrait and see how I could handle the skin tones. I took the first block of time to do the pencil drawing and mark the major plane changes. I laid in the background wash right before the break and it was nice and dry when I went back in. This time I used a limited palette of quinacridone red, raw sienna, and ultramarine blue to paint all of the skin tones. I washed the entire face with the sienna, quiacridone mixture and varied the amount of red or yellow on the light side of the face. Once that was mostly dry I covered the shadows with ultramarine blue and then charged the wash with red and yellow. The charging was splotchy in places and I had to work over those later with clean water to smooth the edges. Once the large value masses were in I glazed spots of color that I thought would enhance the form. This was tough and I probably overworked it but by pushing the medium beyond its boundaries I can see (hopefully) where to cut off in the future. What I do not want to do is approach this timidly, because then I will never realize the potential of watercolor. All and all this was a good learning day.
What I learned,
The limited palette of quinacridone red, raw sienna, and ultramarine blue is a great combination for various skin tones. I read about this in Mary Whytes book, Painting Portraits and Figures in Watercolor. If you are not familiar with her work, she is an amazing watercolor artist. Here is her website. Mary Whyte
1/15/2015 10:23:02 AM
Day 15 - Halfway Through!
Paper: Moleskin Watercolor Journal, Cold Press
Pigments: Windsor Newton 12 piece half pan set.
One of the reasons I wanted to do this challenge of painting a watercolor a day was to influence my other work. I was in a rut and knew that learning a new medium would open up new possibilities in my approach to painting. Yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to see how watercolor has influenced my oils.
I was scheduled to paint an oil landscape from a photograph for the Shelby Fine Art Society. The focus was on how to interpret a photograph to give it a fresh painterly feel. I decided to do a watercolor sketch in the Moleskin Watercolor Journal as preparation for my demo. It was a beautiful blue sky sunny winter day so I parked myself in front of a large window and happily painted this scene of a white farm house. I changed the sky to blue with big fluffy clouds and tried to get the feeling of a cold day with a light snow cover on the ground.
I was excited to paint in oils, since it was a few weeks since I had picked up my brushes. I mixed my palette ahead of time. I wanted the same bright lights and luminous shadows that I am getting in watercolor. I made the sunlit sides of the house the lightest value, then mixed my blue sky and shadows the same value but with different color ranges. I also mixed a pile of orange and yellow the same value so I could "charge" the shadows with reflected light. Charging is when you drop a different color into a wash and let them mix. The hard part is to trust it and leave it alone before it dries. I did the same in oil; I laid in the shadow color and when I added the warm tones I brushed them on top and did not go back and fool with them. I like the freshness of the paint application. I did not get a chance to finish during the demo but will work on it this weekend. Here is the demo.
What I learned.
Either the lights or the shadows should be strong in color.
Choosing to make the shadows more colorful makes the painting a higher key
1/14/2015 3:33:16 PM
One surprising discovery of painting a watercolor a day is I have rekindled my old love for line drawing. Before I was a painter I did a lot of line drawing. My eye is very good at following contour and it comes easily to me. Once I started painting I began to draw more tonally, using vine charcoal to draw broad strokes of value to capture form. In watercolor I am not gutsy enough to let the pigment fly so I returned to my old friend the line. I have been doing contour sketches before I paint using a mechanical pencil. The drawing in to get the proportions right but also to mark off plane changes where I need to reserve the white of paper. Last night I began to sketch our dog Max. Max is 16 years old and his health is declining quickly so I wanted to do some watercolor sketches of him as he sat in the living room. I enjoyed the drawings so much I decided to post them before add pigment to them. As this challenge goes on I will pay special attention to making the line underneath as lovely as I can so the part that shows through can be part of the art. Below are some of the drawings from this challenge.
Max is pretty slow now but he is still a wiggly model
Drawing for Algonquin Sunset 
Drawing for Lucca Reenactor 
What I am learning:
To enjoy simple contour drawing again!
1/13/2015 1:32:59 PM
Day 13
Paper: Moleskin Watercolor Journal, Cold Press
Paints: Windsor Newton 12 half pan set plus half pan of cerulean blue
One of sayings at the end of a day of teaching is " What did you learn today?" " You either learned something to do, or something not to do, both are equally important." Today I learned a few things not to do and hopefully I will not repeat them again.
First thing this morning I attempted a sky painting with the moleskin watercolor book. The wash needed for the softness of the clouds was more than the paper could take and it began to buckle severely. Then I attempted to drop color into the wash but the paper was drying too quickly and I just got blobs of color. I decided to take the book and the half pan set for a field trip and drove to my favorite farm scene not far from my house. The day was sunny and cold but I stayed in the car and was very happy with the small amount of space the supplies took up. My mantra for this session was to let the watercolor do the work. No going in and fussing. That worked well on the sky and parts of the barn but the yellow ocher was more saturated than I thought it would be and I did have to go in and knock it down with a violet here and there. I resisted modifying it too much knowing that I could make a real mess. Next time I will know not to use the yellow ocher so highly concentrated.
What I learned (not to do)
A moleskin book does not like a lot of water !
The magic of watercolor comes from allowing the colors to blend and flow on their own - keep your fingers out of it!
Test the pigments before you use them if you do not know their tinting strength. Testing on the side or a scrap piece of paper would have helped me make better decisions in the beginning.
Now I am heading to work on a pastel- where I know (somewhat) what I am doing!
1/12/2015 3:30:59 PM
Day 12
Paper: Moleskin Watercolor Album, Cold Press
Paints: Windsor Newton, Half Pan Set. Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber
Before I left for the weekend I ordered a moleskin watercolor book and was thrilled to have it here when I got back. The book measures 5x8.5 inches and is the exact width of my box of Windsor Newton half-pans, it could become the ultimate tiny travel kit! I decided to play and test the materials and some new techniques. For subject, I referenced the day 2 painting called Winter Spot and imagined it as a moonlit night. I covered the entire scene with a blue wash then dried it and began to layer washes of ultramarine blue and burnt umber on top. The stars were created by using the end of a candle and making marks before I laid in the first wash. The wax resisted the watercolor and left bright stars. I have been working with the tube watercolors so this was my first time working with the pans. I found the paint to be very creamy and the pigment strength was good. I dry brushed in some of the twigs on top and softened other areas. The book did wrinkle but I used a lot of water. Next time I will lay off the water and begin to play with some of the other colors. 
Here is the set up. I can't wait to take this out sketching!
What I learned.
I like working with the Windsor Newton Half Pans, they were very creamy.
To much water makes the moleskin page buckle, but all in all it took a lot of abuse.
1/11/2015 9:23:42 AM
One more prequel while I am away. I went plein air painting with a friend in late December. We like to go painting from our cars in the wintertime, where we can stay nice and cozy. I decided to try out my watercolors. They are very portable and easynto set up in the front seat. The problem was that the day could no make up it's mind if it was sunny or cloudy and neither did I. I liked the first version which was a gray day but when the light changed i decided to change the painting and found that watercolor was not as forgiving as pastels and oils. It would have been much smarter to start a second painting. My next plien air attempt I will commit to one type of lighting and stick with it.
Tomorrow I return to new work!
1/10/2015 9:07:01 AM
This is another prequel while I take a break from the challenge to celebrate a wedding and visit with family. This was the second watercolor I painted in late December. The original was a 6x8 but the foreground was distracting so in intrest of composition and not embarrassing myself I cropped it to this square.
1/9/2015 12:00:12 PM
I knew before this challenge began that I would be away this weekend to celebrate a wedding in the family. Prior to January first I did several watercolors to test the materials and ease myself into the challenge. This is the first one I did. It is exciting how much I have learned since I did this and I am looking forward to learning much, much more.
1/8/2015 2:36:25 PM
Day 8
Paper: 140 lb Cold Press (Canson block)
Colors: Quinacridone Red, Raw Sienna, Cerulean Blue, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Red (Utrecht) New Gamboge, Hookers Green (Windsor Newton) Opera,(Holbein)
Today’s watercolor lesson was brought to you by the word “Texture.” I was reading in James Gurneys blog that a synthetic flat is the perfect brush for creating a stroke that resembles grass. There is a farm nearby my home that would make the perfect subject to try this out. I love this view of the farm in all seasons but especially the early fall when the light is beginning to shift to a cooler tone and the fields are yellow ocher. I washed in the sky with cerulean blue and left the light warm areas white. The darker part of the sky I washed in with quinacridone red on top of the blue. As I came closer to the horizon I added yellow into the blue. The field began as a flat wash of raw sienna then I charged the wash in the shadow areas with cerulean blue, quinacridone red and hooker green. Next I painted the horizontal strip of buildings and trees. With the sky and the foreground in place it was easy to judge the value and temperature of the buildings. Now the fun began. I loaded the one inch flat brush with colors on the palette, tapped in onto a paper towel and began to do short strokes in the foreground to resemble grass. I became so enamored that I probably overdid it a bit, but it felt like having a new toy and I wanted to play with it.
What I learned:
Dry brushing on top of a wash adds extra dimension in the foreground.
Techniques are good to learn but do not over do it.
Do not set your tea cup next to your brush water.
"West 30 Farm" 6x9" can be yours! To purchase for $100.00 click here
Workshop and Critique Session- Painting the Illusion of Depth and Air. March 23rd-25th Ann Arbor, MI
What really fascinates me in all subject matter and mediums is creating a sense of depth and air. I love the illusion of creating something three-dimensional on a flat surface. I have a workshop coming up in March that explores this concept using exercises and critique that will take your paintings from flat and boring to dimensional and wow. For more information click here.
1/7/2015 3:32:45 PM
Day 7
Paper: Strathmore Bristol Plate, 4 ply
Colors: Ultramarine Blue, Quinacridone Red, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Red (Utrecht) New Gamboge, Cobalt, Hookers Green (Windsor Newton) Opera, Chinese White, (Holbein)
One of the great benefits since I began this challenge is all the terrific tips and generous information people have been sharing with me. Someone suggested I visit James Gurneys blog to learn about watercolor. Wow, were they ever right! I have always liked his work and his articles in International Artist Magazine, but his blog is packed with beautiful images and fantastic tips on painting. The painting today was inspired by his blog post “Painting into the Soup.” In this post he talks about how a wash of gouache laid into the light areas can give a feeling of a dreary day. In southeast Michigan, where I live, we have more than our share of gray days. As much as I like a sunny blue sky there is a melancholy beauty to our somber weather and I was excited to try out this technique. I wanted to work on Bristol Plate which is a very smooth surface, because I did not want the paint to sink in. That way I could control where I wanted the opaque and transparent passages to mix. I washed the sky in over the house with white and a tiny bit of opera, I added blue and white as I moved into the trees. The front of the building was washed in with white, new gamboge and a touch of blue. For the snow I laid in broad washes of all these colors. The shadow side of the building and the background were laid in with transparent washes but I let the edges mix with the opaque. I loved the effect, I think it is the first time I felt I really captured the unique beauty of a gray day.
What I learned:
Using Chinese white in the light areas gives a feeling of muted light.
If you use white then you should leave passages transparent too. This is very much like oils.
An old splayed brush can be used to dry-brush fine twigs and trees in the background. I may come back and work on those more in the future.
Here is the blog from James Gurney http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2013/10/painting-into-soup.html
“Soups On” 9x12 Watercolor- $150.00 to purchase click here.
1/6/2015 5:45:50 PM
Day 6
Paper: Aquaboard (Ampersand)
Colors: Ultramarine Blue, Quinacridone Red, Burnt Sienna (Utrecth) New Gamboge, Cobalt, Hookers Green (Windsor Newton) Opera (Holbein)
Today’s lesson was about working on a new surface. I bought some Aquaboards several years back after seeing another artist paint gorgeous watercolors on it. She recommended them since they are literally boards that can take layers of paint and will allow an artist to move the paint around to correct mistakes. For subject matter I set up a row of pears in my studio. When I am trying out new materials I like to keep the composition simple. The boards feel like they have a clay ground and I found that the first initial washes were soaked up so quickly that I was not able to “charge” them with other colors. Instead I had to keep layering to get the value I wanted. I gave up saving any areas of white paper and began to add a lot of paint. The more I layered the softer the edges became and the look of the painting changed to appear more like an oil. I’m not sure I like working on these but maybe as I learn more I can approach them differently.
What I learned:
How quickly the surface soaks up water is important to know.
I need to learn to make VERY large puddle of color to make good washes.
1/5/2015 5:21:52 PM
Paper: 300 lb cold press (Arches)
Colors: Ultramarine Blue, Quinacridone Red, Burnt Sienna (Utrecth) New Gamboge, Hookers Green (Windsor Newton)
Last summer, after teaching my workshop in Florence, Italy we visited the city of Lucca, where a parade of Italian renenactors walked through the streets. Sorry to say I do not know what time period they were representing, but Lucca is a medieval town complete with walls, moat, and portcullis. It looked very Game of Thrones-ish, and I took the opportunity to take lots of photographs.
So today I am returning to the portrait which is my most comfortable subject matter to paint. I liked the character of the man’s face, but I also wanted to capture the feeling of a perfect summer’s day and the light on his white outfit.
This painting went through a lot of changes and layers. I started with an abstract wash in the background which is liked. I forgot to reserve the white on his hood which made the value too close to the background so I had to repaint the background with a darker wash. I am representing a clear sunny day so any upward plane has to reflect the blue of the sky. I had washed in the light areas with burnt sienna which was too warm for the upward planes, which are picking up the blue of the sky. This is where I discovered the joy of Chinese white. Just like in oil and pastel, white is a blue opaque color and I brushed it onto the cheekbones, the brow ridge and the top of the hat to cool it off. I liked the look of the opaque against the transparent colors.
What I learned:
There is no undo button in watercolor, but Chinese white is the next best thing.
Learning where to stop is especially important in watercolor.
Lucca Renenactor 5x7 in 8x10 white mat. $75.00- You can click here to purchase.
I am returning to Italy this spring to teach “The Figure in Florence” Nine days of Art and Beauty. Visit Artensity for more information.
1/4/2015 3:39:22 PM
Day 4
Paper: 300 lb cold press (Arches)
Colors: Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Quinacridone Red, Burnt Sienna (Utrecth) Lemon Yellow, New Gamboge
There were a lot of lessons learned today. I decided to use a piece of 300lb 12x16 paper. I cut it into 4 pieces of 6x8 then marked off a 5x7 area for the painting. I used the paper because I had read it did not need to be stretched and did not buckle if if I was really wet. I sprayed the back and the front and taped it to my board. The sky went in like magic, the colors bled at the edges and the gradation from top to bottom was lovely. I vividly remember the sunset in Algonquin and how the last rays of sun hit the tops of the trees and made them glow. It was a struggle to make the shapes as interesting as I wanted them to be. I do not know how to make the brush, water, paper combination behave how I like when it comes to small shapes. Once again, that is something that will come in time with a lot of practicing. At one point I went too dark on some of the tree shapes at the bottom, but once it dried I brushed over the area with clean water and patted it dry to lift the extra pigment. I like how that softened some of the edges and can see how that would be useful to show reflected light. The paper developed a major buckle which made the drawing even more challenging, so I stopped.
What I learned:
Really wet paper will buckle unless it is secured all the way around.
Creating the sky wash was a good example of getting into the painting, dropping the pigment and then letting the painting cure as it dries. I need to do that more often.
I like the color combinations and will use this as a study for a larger painting in the future.
1/3/2015 3:35:17 PM
Day 3,
Paper: 140 lb cold press (Brand unknown)
Colors:Quinacridone Red, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue (Utrecht) Lemon Yellow, Hookers Green (Windsor Newton)
I decided to tackle a portrait today. The reference was a photo of my daughter at age 11. She is posing in front of a window on a foggy winter day. The light through the window was silvery blue and made the shadow areas warm and rich. I mixed a dark using hookers green and quinacridone red. Then I used this same mixture only with more red in the mixture to lay in the shadows on the face. Touches of blue were painted as the halftone where light and shadow meet. This is a good spot to play up the color of the light which in this case is blue.
After that I kept layering the dark mixture and and cooling the lights. Some of the middle tones were created by painting a dark layer on either side leaving the original wash alone.
What I learned.
Maybe it is the portrait artist in me but I did not love the rough surface. I was unable to get the nuances at the end of the features that can make the portrait expressive. Cold press may be fine to work with, I just am unfamiliar with how to approach subtleties. My next portrait will be on hot press.
I loved the warm dark and the ability to shift it from warmer to cooler. I am surprised how similar watercolor is to mixing in oil and how easy it is to compare mixtures on my palette.
This is a close up of the face where I sandwiched the darks.
There was a big learning curve on this painting, I am looking forward to more portraits in the future.
I am selling these watercolors at a very reasonable price. "Ingenue is available for 75.00. To purchase click here
1/2/2015 1:34:07 PM
Day 2.
Paper: Fluid (Brand) Cold Press
Pigments: Burnt Sienna, Cerulean Blue, Quinacridone Red, Ultramarine Blue, Raw Sienna (Utrecht) Lemon Yellow (Windsor Newton)
My goal today was to paint a watercolor that looked like a watercolor. My tendency is to layer like a pastel painter but this time I wanted to play with washes. I experimented with dropping color into the initial wash without adding extra water. This painting is a scene from one of my favorite plein air spots. Without snow there is a stark beauty to the Michigan landscape that is bathed in ochers and violets.
Here is the start.
The sky is wet with clean color then I loaded the brush with cerulean blue and painted the sky. While it was still wet I picked up quinacridone red and brushed it into the horizon and bottom of the clouds. For the foreground I painted a wash of clean water and then brushed raw sienna into it with a band of burnt sienna in the front and the violet from the sky into the dark triangle on the left. I began to add the details to the house using a dry brush to reserve the whites.
Now the lights and mid-tones are in and I can begin to see if the composition will work. The background trees were a very wet mix of burnt sienna, with cerulean and ultramarine blue dropped in.
I add the darks to the trees and suggest the limbs. I am tempted to stop but the painting feels flat. To me the magic of painting lies in making a 2-d sheet of paper feel 3 dimensional. So I take a breath and add the finishing touches.
In the final version I added a band of cerulean blue under the burnt sienna so the foreground would "talk" to the sky. I pumped up the lemon yellow in front of the large tree. The intensity of color in the front pushed the building into the background. Now I am happy.
What I learned.
I need to practice brush strokes to get different types of gestural lines. This is something I can do on a scrap of paper in my spare time.
Do not add extra water into a wash, only add pigment, trust this and watch magic happens as it dries.
If you are interested in learning more about creating dimension in painting I will be teaching a workshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 23-25, called "Painting the illusion of depth and atmosphere." It is 3 days of exercises and critique designed to take your paintings from flat to "wow!" The information is relevant to all subject matter and mediums. For information click here
1/1/2015 11:56:33 AM
Day 1
Paper: 140 cold press - not sure the brand, this was a scrap I found in my paper pile
Colors: Cerulean Blue, Quinacridone Red, Raw Sienna, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Red, (Utrecht) Lemon Yellow, New Gamboge (Windsor Newton.
I decided to start the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge with a celebration of color. I am working from a reference photo and memory. I lightly sketched the composition in pencil and began with the sky. This is a fall scene so I laid down a wash of clean water then began with a stroke of ultramarine at the top then began to add cerulean as I went lower. I meant to leave more clouds but oops, forgot to save the white. While the sky was wet I went back and laid in the darker area of clouds making them the same value as the sky only gray. The foreground field was my favorite part. I worked wet in wet to begin with using raw sienna, cerulean, and red. When that was dry I washed over certain areas with different temperatures of greens using new gamboge, cerulean, and ultramarine. My discovery today was laying the opaque lemon yellow on top of the moist green wash created the most beautiful sparkle. It was hard to hold back and not add it everywhere.
What I learned:
Really plan your design with the lights. You can always cover them up but you can't bring them back.
Opaque paint on dropped into a moist wash and left alone is really pretty.
"Orchard Memory" is available for purchase for 50.00. To purchase click "here"
Here is a detail of the lemon yellow dropped onto the wash, yummy!
