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

Low Maintenance - Finishing Touches!

The only parts of the painting left are the background trees, the fence posts, and a little more detail in the grasses.

Trees:
If you masked your trees when painting the background, remove the masking. If you used masking tape, simply peal off carefully, being cautious to not rough up the paper. If you used masking fluid, use an eraser and rub across the masking fluid. Once the masking has been removed, apply clean water over the trucks and large limbs of the trees. While still wet, apply a wash of Payne's Gray on the right side and allow the water to pull the paint across the truck. After this has dried, use a small round brush and apply lines to indicate the sections of bark. Paint the smaller limbs on the tree in a wash of Payne's Gray.

Prepare a wash of Burnt Umber to paint in trunks and branches in the background using a light touch.

When the trees are dry, prepare a wash of Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna and Yellow Ochre. Using a sea sponge, sponge in these colors sparingly for the leaves that are remaining on the trees.

Fence Posts
Prepare a wash of Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Payne's Gray, and Ultramarine Blue. Apply clean water to the posts and while still wet drop in the colors listed above in a random pattern. Use a small piece of plastic wrap "scrunched up" to fit the posts. Use a small piece of masking tape to hold the plastic wrap in place until dry. When dry, remove the plastic wrap and you will find tree bark posts painted for you - thanks to the plastic wrap!

Foreground Grasses
Using a wash of Yellow Ochre and Burnt Umber, deepen the grassy area whee needed for shadows and spatter a little of the paint across the foreground grass to add interest.

Review the painting for any finishing touches or details you would like to add. Sign your name - you have finished another great painting!

Until next blog......... Happy Painting!

Karen