Pour It On - Finishing Touches!

The dogwood painting is almost complete. In this blog, we'll add the finishing touches.

The photo above is the finished dogwood painting. The photo below will show the next step in the process.

How to paint the main branches:
Prepare a wash of the following colors:

Ultramarine Blue
Sepia
Van Dyke Brown
Medium Yellow

Start by painting the large branches with clean water. Allow to dry only until the paper loses its shine. Using Sepia, paint along one side only of the branch allowing the water to pull the paint up through the water to the other side of the branch. While still wet, add the following in various places along the branch to indicate shadows areas of light and variation in colors:

Ultramarine Blue
Van Dyke Brown
Medium Yellow

Dip a piece of a plastic credit card or a palette knife in a wash of Van Dyke Brown and add the smaller branches.

Look over your painting and add any details you would like. I like my paintings to be Impressionistic rather then detailed, so I added only a few detail lines in the dogwood blossoms.

Sign your name. Congratulations! Your dogwood blossom is now complete and will last much longer than the blossoms on the trees!

Happy Painting!
Karen

Pour It On - Step 2

The background paint from the last blog has dried. If you are not satisfied with the intensity of the color, you can pour more paint onto the paper to deepen the background. I wanted a muted background; therefore, I did not add any additional paint.

Once you are satisfied with the background color, it is time to remove the masking from the painting. I use an eraser to pull up an edge of the masking and then pull the masking off with my fingers. You can use the eraser to remove all of the masking or remove it by rubbing lightly with your finger. What ever method works better for you is the one to use. The ease in masking removal is also dependent upon the thickness of the masking fluid applied. The thicker the masking, the easier it is to remove.

The photo above shows the dogwood blooms with the masking removed.

Prepare a wash of the following colors:

Crimson
Sap Green
Sap Green mixed with Ultramarine Blue
Medium Yellow
Van Dyke Brown

How to paint the dogwood blossoms - petals:
To paint the dogwood blossoms, wet the entire petal area. You will need to do each petal separately. Drop in Crimson in the tips and allow the water to pull the color down toward the center. A little bit of brown is also added to the very tip. A diluted wash of Sap Green is dropped in near the center of the bloom and allowed to pull to the edge. Medium yellow is dropped in several places along the edge of the petals. Allow to dry. When dry, drop in some sap green in the center. Do not completely fill the area with color. Allow to dry.

How to paint the leaves:
Wet each leaf with clean water and while still wet, drop in sap green, ultramarine blue and medium yellow. Allow these colors to blend.

See the photo above as an example.

Next blog, we'll add the branches and finishing touches! Until then,

Happy Painting!
Karen

Pour It On!

Let's learn a new technique!

In addition to brushing on a wash, the paint can be poured! The following blog entries will show how to "pour on" a watercolor background wash.

The painting above of a dogwood bloom is an excellent subject for a pouring technique.

The dogwood was drawn with minimal details and then the white/lighter areas are masked. See the example below.

Once the sketch is complete and the desired areas masked and dry, prepare a wash of the following colors in small cups. Individual size applesauce cups are wonderful for this project. Make a wash using the following colors:

Crimson
Lemon Yellow
Windsor Blue

See the photo below with the prepared paints. These are the only 3 colors that will be needed for the background as the colors will blend to make greens, etc.

Prepare your painting surface. I use the lid of my watercolor palette to catch excess paint as well as placing several layers of paper towels under my paper.

Once your surface is prepared, start by pouring the yellow first diagonally moving from bottom to top and right to left. Then pour the red and pour the blue last. After each pour, pick up the paper and move the color around.

See the photos below for a step by step application of the colors.

Once you are satisfied with the colors, remove the painting and place on clean paper towels to dry.

You've learned how to "pour it on!" This is an excellent method for adding background to large areas and mixing colors on the paper. This technique can be used for large areas of water (such as an ocean or lake), skies, and grass/tree backgrounds. Several shades of the same color can be used for a sky or body of water. Always remember to use the lightest color first and use care when pouring the paint so that the light paint is not covered entirely by the darker colors.

Next blog, we'll work on the dogwood bloom.

Happy Painting!
Karen

Wild Bouquet

Wild flowers are springing up everywhere! My backyard is a field of wild violets...at least, it was until my husband mowed the lawn. I was able to take the photo above before the mower came through.

So, I decided to do a quick painting of bouquet of violets. I actually did pick some with longer stems and put them in a small vase to enjoy for a little while. Now, the painting will last a little longer.

I wanted an abstract painting with lots of color and flow and little detail. Do not sketch your flowers......let the paint "draw" the painting for you.

To achieve this result, I started with applying clean water with a large flat brush on the entire piece of watercolor paper, I allowed this to dry just until the paper was no longer shiny.

While the paper was drying, I prepared a wash of the following color paints:

-Crimson
-Indian Yellow
-Windsor Blue
-Ultramarine Blue
-Sap Green
-Sepia
-Purple made from mixing Crimson, Windsor Blue, and Ultramarine Blue

Using a large round brush, I dropped the paint onto the wet paper and allowed it to run. Using a mix of the reds, blues, and my purple, I used the shapes that formed when I dropped the paint onto the paper to make my flowers. I helped the shapes out just a little by adding some additional paint in places to create the shapes of the petals. Leave some areas white (unpainted).

Drop in some sap green for the leaves outside the shapes of the flowers and in several spaces in the background

When the flowers are nearly dry, drop in the yellow for the center of the violets...allow this to blend into the petals.

When the flowers and leaves are dry, use a mix of Sap Green, Ultramarine and Sepia to paint in a new stems.

This style of painting is fun and quick to create. It also allows for lots of interesting shapes and colors. Be creative - don't strive for perfection; simply enjoy the colors and the flow of the paint.....be as spontaneous as the wild flowers that spring up overnight and bring such delight!

Make your wild flowers last - even after the lawn has been mowed! Paint a bouquet of wild flowers!

Happy Painting!
Karen

Cades Cove Grist Mill - The Finishing Touches

The mill, water wheel, water run and the walkway are finished. Now to paint the background trees, foreground grasses , the fence and to add any finishing details that are needed.

Prepare a wash of the following colors for the tree branches and trunks:

-Burnt Umber
-Payne's Gray

Using a round brush, paint in the tree trunks and branches using wet on dry. This can be done freehand; or if you feel more comfortable, lightly pencil in the location of the tree trunks and branches. I used a #4 rounds brush for the trunks and larger branches and then a liner brush for the small branches.

While this dries, prepare a very diluted wash of Burnt Umber and Sepia for the fence posts. Using a #6 round brush, paint the posts using a wet on wet technique. Wet the fence posts with clean water and then paint using the prepared wash. Drop in Burnt Umber and Sepia to deepen some areas for shadows and imperfections in the wood. Allow to dry.

When the tree branches and trunks are dry, use a dry sea sponge and lightly sponge in some areas of foliage using the following colors:

-Lemon Yellow
-Sap Green
-Ultramarine
-Wash of Sap Green and Ultramarine

Vary the colors of the foliage using light and dark to show areas of sunshine and shadow. Sponge across some of the branches.

Using a light touch and lighter colors, sponge in the foreground grasses.

Last Minutes Details:
Allow the painting to dry. Check any areas that you feel may need additional details; such as the logs or the fence. Add any details you feel are needed.

Congratulations! Sign your name - you grist mill is complete!

Until next blog - Happy Painting!
Karen

Grist Mill - Painting the Water Wheel

Painting the water wheel, window shutters and the small porch over the door as well as adding shadows is our next step.

Prepare a wash of the following colors:

-Burnt Umber
-Payne's Gray
-Sepia

Painting the Water Wheel:
Wet the water wheel with clean water. Add the above prepared colors placing the darker shades in the shaded areas. After this paint dries, go back and deepen the shaded areas to indicate the spokes of the wheel.

Painting the Shutters, Porch, and Water Flume:
While this paint dries, add the finishing touches to the window shutters and the small porch. Using a dry brush and Burnt Umber, add grain lines to the water flume.

Painting the Shadows:
After the water wheel is dry, wet the part of the building surrounding the water wheel and drop in some Burnt Umber to indicate the areas of the building wet from the splashing water. Allow to dry.

Next blog, we will finish our painting - adding the details to the trees and our mill.

Until then - Happy Painting!
Karen

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

May each of you enjoy a joyous Easter Day rejoicing that He is Risen!

We'll continue working on the mill painting on next week's blog!

Until then......Happy Painting!
Karen

Grist Mill - Painting the Building!

The painting is starting to take shape. Now we will start to work on the mill. I love painting old wooden buildings. Weathered wood is painted using the following colors:

-Burnt Umber
-Payne's' Gray
-Sepia
-Yellow Ochre

The siding of the mill as well as the cedar shake roof is painted with a light touch of color.

Paint only sections at time, allowing each section to dry before painting the next. Watch for shadows as you paint and deepen the color in those areas.

Wet one section with clean water and apply wet on wet using a wash of yellow ochre first. Don't cover the entire area in a solid shade, but allow some areas to be deeper and some lighter. While the paint is still wet, drop in Payne's Gray, Sepia, and Burnt Umber. Use a light touch since weathered wood is usually not a deep shade, but a light shade of gray with undertones of yellows and browns. Deepen the area of the siding near the roof for the shadows made by the overhang of the roof.

Paint the roof in the same manner using deeper shades of gray in some areas where the shakes overlap each other.

After the sides of the mill have dried, paint the door opening and the window opening using a wash of Payne's Gray and Sepia. Leave a section at the entrance of the door a little lighter where the light is able to enter.

The wooden path can be painted next using Payne's Gray and Burnt Umber. Again, paint wet on wet using muted colors and more of the Burnt Umber than the gray.

The water flume is painted wet on wet using a wash of Payne's Gray. Deepen the right side of the flume where it is shadowed.

The logs supporting the flume are painted using the same colors, only a deeper shade since they are in the shadows.

Next blog, we'll add more detail to the painting! Until then....

Happy Painting!
Karen

Grist Mill - Sky and Trees

The easiest way to paint a watercolor landscape is to work from the back to the front of the painting. Thus, painting the sky and background trees before working on the actual structure.

The painting is set in early summer; therefore, I selected colors for the foliage and the sky that would be seen that time of year.

I did not mask out any of the areas and simply painted around the posts. Watercolor paint, when painted on a flat surface, will not run into dry areas. Therefore, you can paint around the support posts on the walkway without having to mask them out.

Sky:
I used a light wash of Windsor Blue. First, wet the entire area of the background including the tree area as well as the sky. Prepare your wash first and paint wet on wet. I pulled the paint down into the tree area and allowed the wash to lighten as it grew closer to the horizon. Painting all the way down allows for some blue sky to show through the tree foliage.

Trees/Brush:
While the sky is still slightly wet, drop in the paint for the trees. I prepared the following paint:

Lemon Yellow
Sap Green
Deep green - made from a mix of sap green and ultramarine blue

Using a round brush, paint in the trees using the lighter and darker colors as well as the yellow to indicate new leaf growth. Let the blue sky show through in a few areas.

The foliage and bush in the foreground is painted using the same colors, but with more yellow.

Allow to dry. Next blog, we'll work on the old mill. Until then.....

Happy Painting!
Karen

Cable Grist Mill in Cades Cove

The photo above was taken last summer at the Cable Grist Mill in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I enjoy painting old barns and buildings and I thought this might be a fun painting. I always take a camera with me or at least have my cell phone to snap a photo of anything that I might enjoy painting later.

When taking photos of subjects to paint, don't worry if the scene is not exactly the way you would like, or if there may be people in the painting. That's where you take control. As the artist, paint the picture the way you would like - with or without people, trees where you want one or exclude a tree that may be in the way.

The photo at the top of the blog was cropped to make it easier for me to paint exactly what I wanted to paint. I excluded the people in the doorway as well as a few tree limbs on the right side of the painting. I cropped the extra "landscape" around the mill because I wanted the focus to be on the mill itself.

Once you decided what to paint, lightly sketch the mill using little detail on the structure.

Next blog, we'll start painting - the background first! Until next time, enjoy sketching and get ready to paint.

Happy Painting!
Karen