ALWAYS LOOKING AT NEW TECHNIQUES, THIS STEP BY STEP SHOWS THE PROCESS I USED TO CREATE “FALL MIST”.
(See Gallery 1 for finished painting)
My inspiration for this piece came from browsing through the book “Fill your Watercolors with Light and Colour” by Roland Roycraft.
Using minimal brushwork for this piece, I concentrated on pouring the paint, spraying with water and a little sponging.
I originally decided I would paint in the portrait position, exactly as the reference photo. After trying a couple of thumbnail sketches, I changed my mind and decided on a closer horizontal composition (see sketch 1).
STEP 1 – MASKING
Once a light sketch is on my paper, I started by masking a large area of my work. The masking fluid in this photo shows as a orangy yellow colour.
STEP 2 – ADDING WINSOR RED
First saturating the paper with water, I placed the paper flat on a table, covered with a thirsty towel. I mixed up a strong wash of Winsor red and dropped the bright red into to the select areas of my work without worrying about where the paint ran. I gave it a few squirts of water to help it move around and let it dry.
STEP 3 – ADDING BLUES
Once it was dry I dropped in some French Ultamarine and Indigo Blue, tipping my paper from side to side to create some shadows in the foreground. Once again I let this layer dry.
STEP 4 – ADDING MORE COLOUR
I warmed up the foliage some more by adding alizarin crimson and aureolin yellow, dropping a little sap green in the shadows.
STEP 5 – REMOVING MASK
Once this layer dried I removed all the masking.
STEP 6 – ADDING TEXTURE
Using the colours I previously mixed, I used a sponge to add a little textured detail, and darker background.
STEP 7 – FINISHED PAINTING
Just blotted the background a little, added a few details with the brush and my painting is finished!