Fall Scene with trees

 I have a post to describe this process. You can look at August 13, 2020. I did it while we were in COVID mode, and I was doing Zoom classes. So check out that post for this fun wet in wet project.

The July 5 of 2016 post will show some student work doing a winter scene using this process. Also March 23 of 2018. 

Below are a few from that lesson in July 5, 2016.

Ideas to finish the Owl

Here is what the owl looked like when I finished the last bit of work. I was happy with it, but I wanted more softness around the beak and eyes. 

The first thing I did was lift and soften paint around the eyes with a lifting brush. I lifted some of the white across the right (to me) side of the nose and eye to indicate the bone line in that area.

Then I put a light wash of the blue and purple colors in that large white area above the beak and salted it with POPCORN salt, which gives a very soft effect. 

I added a dark ridge of feathers along the left side. I darkened under the eye to the right of the page, still using the 3 colors I started with. (purple, turquoise, and quin burnt scarlet)

I began to add some black and dark browns to the feathers on the forehead and other places I felt needed it. I began to strengthen the color around the white feathers on the eye left on the page.

I also began to paint some darks beneath his chest feathers. 

left eye detail

head feathers detail

My background was white, but I wanted to demonstrate how to make corrections, especially in the shape of the figure, with a dark background. So I mixed a black. I wet a few inches at a time, being careful around the outside shape. I painted in black a few inches at a time, and with a detail brush, pulled the dark paint into the sides of the owl to create whiskery feathers. I worked around the shape a little at a time. 

When everything was dry, I used a tattoo needle - you can use a craft knife/razor blade -- to scratch in feathers along the eye. 

I ran a wet brush across the body to soften some of the feathers. Then I added some darks. Also note that I added tiny brush strokes around this left eye to darken the feathers there. I used white pastel to reclaim some of my white feathers.

Here they are side by side. 

Below, you can see how I used black pastel to get really dark around the background. I also used a little white pastel to bring out some

white feathers in the body, and some black to some of the feather tips.

Below I did the owl (what, again?) only this time on gesso. I applied a coat of gesso to paper, then for texture, I crinkled some plastic wrap, set it on the wet gesso, then pulled it up again and let the gesso dry.

I wanted the eyes smooth, so where it was rough, I lightly sanded the gesso in the eyes. I haven't done anything beyond the basics, but I love how the color reacts on the gesso. And I like how easy it is to wipe away whites, even with staining colors. This was a process very similar to the zebra found in my September post.

ANDY WARHOL PORTRAITS

 I did a fun project on Andy Warhol with 16 kids aged 9 - 14 for our library. I'll post some of the results. Below I'm describing the process.

Take a headshot photo. Use photoshop, Notanizer, or other photo editing software to reduce it to three values. 

Look over your picture and decide if you want to add more details or take some out.

Trace the lines between the values on a piece of cardstock. (colored or white) Go over them with a sharpie, if you wish.

Make each value a different color (so you should use 3 colors). They should be bright, vivid colors.

This can also be done by cutting each value out of a different color of cardstock. Any small details (small lines, eyes, etc.) can be done in marker. You can also use paint or pencil or pastels. 

OWLS, EYES, AND MAKING BLACK

I found this image on Unsplash by Ahmed Badawy. The eyes are so piercing, I had to try it.

First I had everyone do some "practice" eyes to get the hang of this. They seem to be the most dramatic part of this painting.  The colors I used were a medium yellow, (I used New Gamboge with a little hansa in it to cool it off), quin gold, and a bit of quin burnt scarlet, but burnt sienna will work.

I used a size 8 round with a nice tip. Wet the eye all over--except for the tiny highlight--and cover it with yellow. I wasn't being too careful because I knew I was going to outline it all in black. I want it to stay shiny, but not puddly, so had to soak up that puddle at the bottom.

With the quin gold, I gently dotted around the outside of the eye to let it bleed into the yellow.

When doing this, if you will load your brush, and then tap it onto a paper towel to remove excess moisture, you will have more control over this step. The paint on your brush should be

dryer than the paint on the paper. 

Using the tip of the brush, start at the top of the eye and tap in some quin gold in a partial circle around the center of the eye. Make another partial circle beneath that. If you want more depth, and the eye is still damp, tap in burnt sienna or quin burnt scarlet around the edges.

Dry the eye completely before trying to add the black. Paint in the pupil with black, hard

edged all around, and leaving the tiny white highlight. 

Then, a little at a time, begin painting the black around the eyeball. You want a hard edge around the eyeball, but you want it to soften it a little where the eye touches the feathers.

So, with a small brush, tap the outer edge with some water to create a softer edge, keeping the black by the eyeball hard.

(More on how to make black later)

Here you can see the finished eye. If you want to lift a little light into the yellow later, wait until the eye is completely dry. 

MAKING BLACK 

There are many ways to make an effective black, and advantages to making your own black. 

One is that it is not as "flat" looking as a tube black. Another is that you can make it from a limited palette. And another is that, when you soften edges, you get a variety of color. If you look at the eye above, see the greenish blue hue of the areas where I softened the edges.

Below is a chart of possibilities for making blacks. This is where using tube colors is an advantage. You can squeeze your darkest colors straight from the tube instead of trying to rewet enough color from a palette to get it dark enough. 

If you want a dark color, you need to use two (at least 2) colors with dark values. Others not shown on here are indigo and burnt umber; purple and burnt umber with some blue. 

Usually you want a warm (like a deep brown) and a dark cool.

FINISHING THE OWL

Paint in the beak leaving the highlight along the middle. As I painted the dark, while it was wet, I used a tiny brush to paint in some feathers along the beak, painting from the beak into the feathers, 

FOR THE BODY: Choose 3 colors that appeal to you. Get creative. I tried to use two cools and a warm that was close to complement of one of the colors to neutralize areas. For example, the one below used jadite (a deep green), Ultramarine blue, and for the complement, lunar earth...which also gave me tons of sediment. (You could use 2 warms and 1 cool complement also)

This one used purple, ultramarine, and quin burnt scarlet for the complement. 

Starting with the head, I sprayed lightly, leaving droplets of water on the paper. I used a fairly large round brush (or mop) and dropped in my colors, avoiding the white areas around the eyes and beak. While wet, I sprinkled in some kosher (pretzel) salt, which gives that feathery look on the head.

When I was happy with that, I did the same on the body of the owl, leaving small patches of white. Where paint dried before I could put on salt, I spattered clean water to try to get some backruns and texture. 

This is as far I we got in class. Next week I will show a few ideas on finishing the owl, although I kind of like it as is. 

 

EASY FALL PUMPKINS

 IT IS FALL AGAIN!

My favorite time of the year. I love the colors, the smells, the crispness in the air. It's so fun to paint when nature is calling you to paint her.

I have a few new students today, so I am using these simple forms to show some of the basics of watercolor....things you need to master to move on to other things. Like the ten commandments, they form the basis for any painting attempt.

Colors used: new gamboge (warm yellow); Quin coral (or other warm red...one that leans toward orange); burnt sienna; pthalo blue or a green.

First, just draw 3 pumpkins, any shape or size. I want 3 to show 3 different ways to approach watercolor painting. 

Method #1: Wet into wet, allowing paint to mix on the paper.

First "wake up" your paints by spraying them with water. Decide on the colors you want and make puddles of them so they are readily available to you. 

Wet the entire pumpkin. Think about where you would like to leave some whites. Drop or brush in yellow first (not necessarily painting the entire thing yellow). Then add your coral or red into places it will be darker, and allow the two colors to mingle on the paper. You can "encourage" the paint to go in the direction you want it to. Spatter a little color if you want to while it is wet.

Things to observe/remember about wet in wet:

1. The paint will dry lighter

2. You want it shiny wet, but not puddly.

3. Give your paints the freedom to go where they want. 

Method #2: wet on dry paper

With this method, you mix your color on the palette and apply it to dry paper. 

Work every other section so you aren't painting into any wet spots.

I am left handed, so I work right to left to avoid dragging my arm through wet paint.

(Or sometimes I'll work upside down to avoid that problem)

Start at the part of a section that is darkest (the "seams"), and bring the color down along that line. These are a bit crescent shaped, so try not to make it a thin line, but a crescent shape, following the shape of the section. Quickly rinse your brush, and wet the edge where you stopped, and drag the wet brush along the edge of the shape to soften and lighten. Your are trying to create a HARD edge along the seam, but a SOFT edge as you move the paint away from the edge. 

Paint every other section. 

When it is dry, paint the other sections. You can deepen the color of the orange by adding burnt sienna (or quin burnt orange or quin burnt scarlet)

Then, after the wet-in-wet one is dry, go  back to the pumpkin where you did wet on wet, and create the sections in a similar manner. This time you only need to paint the seam area dark, wet the line before it becomes a hard edge, and soften it into your shape.

The third method is to create some fun texture using salt or dropping color into damp paint.

I did this twice, both which you see below. 

I did two things at once: I created the shadow of the top pumpkin while getting some texture on this one. 

Carefully wet the entire pumpkin, taking special care around the bottom shape of the pumpkin above it. 

Drop yellow into the shape, then drop blues (I used pthalo, but turquoise or other blues will work)

I want yellow to show, but, since I know I'm using salt on it, I know that yellow doesn't show salt effects as well as some other colors, so I drop a lot of green. I carefully go around the bottom of that top pumpkin with blue to create a shadow and to define the shape.

When my yellow/green mix is still shiny, but NOT puddly, I drop in pretzel salt. Pretzel salt will create those large soft blooms; table salt will create smaller blooms; and popcorn salt, will create very fine, more subtle, soft edges. 

Always dry completely before the next step. Allow the salt to react until it is what you want, and then you can blow dry. Blow drying will stop the reaction.

Same thing, only using table salt.

Here is what it looks like almost finished. I've used greens to define the sections instead of oranges. 

Go back under each pumpkin and strengthen the shadows and give the bottoms more definition. It's amazing what a little shadow will do for the realism!

Here, just for fun, I created a few warts for my pumpkin.

This is done with negative painting. Define a few warts with soft pencil lines.

Darken underneath the wart so that is has a hard line next to the wart, then soften it away on the pumpkin surface. Dark and hard edged near the wart; softened away into the pumpkin.

Finish your picture with a stem, leaves, spatters, or however you want it to be. 

Have fun with it. No one is going to come from the pumpkin police and tell you that it's wrong!!!

So here's a review of the 10 Commandments of Watercolor:

1. DO leave white. That is the sparkle of your paper.

2. DO only paint if the paper is shiny wet or bone dry.

3. DO plan your colors and get them wet and prepared before you paint.

4. Use good quality supplies ESPECIALLY 100% cotton paper

5. Use the right brush for the right job. (you wouldn't scrub your tub with a toothbrush or a baby bottle with a toilet brush)

6. DON'T use too much or too little water

7. DON'T outline objects or use long lines of the same color

8. DO NOT focus on details first

9. DON'T depend only on color to produce a good painting.

10. DO NOT COMPARE yourself to anyone else. "Don't let a comparing spirit rob you of your creative spirit.

HAVE FUN!!