Putting it all together

 Putting it all together:

To introduce this lesson, we drew some shapes on paper--two cylinders, two spheres, and two cubes. We painted one of each shape with a primary color and let it dry. With the other, we mixed the complement of the color and painted it wet into wet, shading it with the complement. Then we shaded the dried shapes (using "glazing") with the complement to compare. 

There are so many subjects I could cover to be included in a basic class, but

obviously, there's no time for all. So I had students copy this sketch, where we are going practice water control,(wet into wet, wet into dry, wet into damp), using complementary colors for shadow and form, and add a little bit about creating 4 common textures.

First I want to paint this pot on the left, which is earthenware. I painted it burnt sienna (a sedimentary color) and added its complement (French ultramarine, also sedimentary) to the right side to make a shadow. As the two sedimentary colors met, it created even more of a texture. Before it dried, I added a few grains of salt.

Then I used a flat brush to paint the middle vase yellow. I wanted to create an ombre effect, which is a gradual light to dark. I painted it all hansa light, wet into wet, then added bits of purple/yellow mixture to the right and left sides to shade the cylinder. (I wanted yellow so that I could just paint the leaves over it)

For the red square vase, I wanted a glassy look. I wet the square and dropped magenta and red and let them mix on the paper, leaving some whites. While wet, I crinkled some Saran wrap and put it over the top and let it dry. This creates a very fun texture like water or glass. 

When the ceramic vase is dry, I wet the area above it in a semicircle. Then I dropped fairly dry drops of paint and let them spread to make flowers. (As the area dried, I kept adding paint to see that the paint spreads less as the paper dries) Then I dropped greens in, trying to leave whites. When the paint had lost its sheen, but not completely dried, I dropped bits of clean water to make some blossoms. After it all dried, I spattered blue and yellow over the flowers area and some of the vase.

Back to the yellow. This is mostly line work and brush strokes for the stems and leaves. I used my liner brush to paint three lines, painted some extra stems, then used the leaf stroke to add some leaves. 

When the leaves dried, I lifted paint from one side to give a more formed effect. I also lifted a little at the top of the vase to add dimension. 

The flowers on the red vase are more free form. They were made by making a mark wet on dry paper, then flooding the petal with water, sometimes dropping in a different color.  I used a credit card while the petals were still wet to score in some fine veins. On the vase, I darkened one side to create a shadow, using a red with a little green added. I lifted a highlight where the two sides of the square met. I added some long leaf strokes for leaves.