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!