Finishing the Bridge painting

First, I taped off the main angles of the bridge to give me some freedom to work on the water.

I put in the color of the island's reflection: quin gold and some burnt orange.

Then I worked on the water. Water will be warmer and darker closer to you, cooler, duller, and lighter toward the horizon. The waves will be closer together in the distance, disappearing all together by the island. 

I let the blue of the water cover some of the gold reflection, adding some waves in there. I removed all the tape, and painted in some oranges and golds where I want there to be some leaves on the bridge.

I spattered some Miskit over the part that will be autumn leaves on the bridge and let it dry.

Meanwhile I wet the trees and dropped in colors: quin gold, warm yellow, and quin burnt orange.

I spattered with a little clean water. Then I darkened beneath the island with burnt orange to heighten the effect of reflection in the water. 

Before painting the wood itself, we did a practice with ways to make wood grain.

We used any of those ways to paint the planks of the bridge, remembering to keep it warmer and darker at the front; cooler and lighter toward the vanishing point. The grain itself is further apart close up, and disappears toward the vanishing point on the island. 

Do the same thing with the railings and posts. On the railings, the top side should be lighter as it faces the sun and sky; the sides should be darker. 

For the last steps, I painted in the trees and sponged over a few places. I removed the miskit from the bridge and painted in some leaves. I also spattered with burnt sienna. 

For the spaces between the blanks, I taped off both sides and darkened the lines, making them faded and thinner toward the horizon line.

Ways to create wood grain

We just taped off five sections to practice with. I would recommend labeling these and keeping for reference. 

#1 Color: burnt sienna with some burnt umber. Paint wet into wet. Scratch the grain in with a credit card. Don't put your lines too evenly together. You can paint in some knot holes. Lift some whites.

#2: Color: Burnt umber and some gray, like neutral tint. Wet into wet with salt.  I will go in later and paint in some lines.

#3  Color : burnt sienna and neutral tint. Mix a puddle of burnt sienna and another puddle of burnt sienna with a some gray, like neutral tint. Paint wet into wet. Put the warmer color on the bottom and the cooler color on the top and blend together as they meet in the center. Scratch in grain or the lines between boards.

#4: Wet into DRY:  Using a grainer, small brush, or fan brush, paint in some grains. Go over the dried lines with wood color and spatter water and burnt sienna into the wet paint. 

#5 The lighter wood is made from burnt sienna with some yellow ochre or yellow with violet added to neutralize it.  Paint wet into wet.Then, while the paint is still damp, but not shiny, paint in grains with a small brush or grainer or fan brush. I generally use a small brush. If you want more distinct grain patterns, you can add more when it dries. 

(Below, on the second one, you can see where I've added some grains into the salted area)

Note on brushes:  A Grainer brush looks like someone cut it's hair with a thinning scissors, with different lengths of hair. A fan brush looks like a fan. You can use an older brush and just pinch the bristles apart to create a brush that will make a grainy look for you. On larger pieces, you can also use a fine comb to create grains wet in wet.