"Island in the Lake" - Sky, Water and Reflections

Island on the Lake

9" x 12" watercolor painting

Karen A. Cooke

The painting above provides great practice for painting sky, water and reflections.  All elements of this painting are loosely painted with minimal amounts of detail.  The painting was also painted on a slight slant to allow the paint to flow on the paper.

Supplies Needed:

Watercolor paper (type and size of your choice)  - I used a 9" x 12" piece

Masking Tape

Watercolor board

Brushes: flat, liner and round (size of your choice based on the size of your paper)

Paint:

• Cobalt Blue
• Sepia
• Payne's Gray
• Cadmium Orange
• Yellow Ocher
• Sap Green
• Hooker Green Deep

Painting Instructions:
Lightly sketch this painting on your paper.  This is not an involved sketch, simply drawn the horizon, the island and make exterior shapes of the trees. 

Sky:
Use a large round brush to paint the sky area.  Wet the sky from the top down to the horizon using clean water. Using a pale wash of Cadmium Orange drop in some color in various locations in the sky.  See above photo for location.  While this is still wet, paint in a wash of the Cobalt Blue, apply the paint working from the top of the painting down to the horizon .  However, do not completely cover the entire sky area.  Allow some white areas to remain.  Using a tissue or paper towel, lift some of the paint to create lighter areas in the sky for clouds, if needed.  Work around the island and trees.  Allow to dry.  

Water:

Deeper the wash of Cobalt Blue.  Continue using the round brush and paint in the water.  Again, do not complete cover the area, leave some spaces unpainted.  Add a light wash of Cadmium Orange in various locations in the water was well as wash of a deep brown mixed from the orange and green.  This will create the shadows of the island.  Refer to the photo above for placement.  The reflections closer to the island are painted with a mix of Payne's Gray and Cobalt Blue.  Paint this quickly while the water area is still wet.  Allow to dry.

Trees:
The trees are painted with a light wash of Sap Green and the deeper colors are added next working light to dark.  Mix Sap Green with Cobalt Blue and Hooker Green with Cobalt Blue and add the shadows.  In some locations, use only a deep Blue from Cobalt Blue and Payne's Gray.   Allow to dry.    Note:  Tree branches will be painted in a later step. 

Island and Rocks:
Using a pale wash of Payne's Gray, start painting the rocks and land areas of the island.  Drop in the blue and Sepia in various locations to create the land areas and the rocks.  Refer to the photo above for location. 

Tree Branches:
Using a liner brush, paint details of branches on various trees (not all of them)  with deep shades of the green.  Do not overdo....less is more.   Allow to dry.

Finishing touches:
Review your painting and add any shadows that may be needed for depth. 

Congratulations!

Happy Painting!
Karen

Jed's Barn - Painting a Winter Landscape

Jed's Barn

9" x 12" watercolor painting

by

Karen A. Cooke

Painting winter landscapes can and usually do involve painting snow.  Snow can be achieved with watercolor painting by simply painting shadows and leaving the other areas of the landscape  unpainted.  Sounds easy - but this can often be tricky.  In order to contour the ground, shadows and shapes need to be considered as well as intensity of color.  Shadows can be shades of blue or grays and even browns, depending on the object creating the shadow.  The painting above of the old barn is an example of a winter landscape.  The focal point of this painting is the red barn; however, the snowy landscape is a large factor in emphasizing the barn.

Let's paint!

The watercolor above was painted on  140 lb. cold press paper.   I did not use my usual preferred paper (Arches).  This paper is Strathmore.  This paper is a heavyweight paper suited for beginning watercolorists or for experimenting with new techniques.  It is less expensive than Arches paper  and does not allow for excessive working or lifting of color.  I always recommend a 140 lb. weight paper for beginners as it is easier to work the paint on the page.  A good student grade paper is less expensive and keeps the beginner from being as worried about the possibility of ruining an expensive piece of paper.   Use the brand and type of paper you prefer, can afford, and feel comfortable using.

Don't worry about ruining a piece of paper.  Feel free to explore and learn new techniques......after all - "it is only paper!"

Supplies Needed:

Watercolor paper (type and size of your choice)  - I used a 9" x 12" piece

Masking Tape

Watercolor board

Brushes: flat, liner and round (size of your choice based on the size of your paper)

Paint:

• Cerulean Blue
• Sepia
• Payne's Gray
• Van Dyke Brown
• Alizarin Crimson

Painting Instructions:
I sketched this drawing on my watercolor paper. However, if you feel you may need to erase multiple times, you may want to drawn on a piece of sketch paper and transfer your completed sketch to the watercolor paper. I discuss how this can be accomplished in my blog of May 11, 2016.

As a reminder: Multiple erasures can damage watercolor paper and cause pooling of water as well as differences in the way the paint is absorbed into or on the paper. Deep sketch marks will show up in a finished painting, even if they are erased. Correct perspective is an important part of this painting. Confirm that you like the perspective that you have executed in your sketch before you start painting. A poorly executed sketch done in a hurry cannot be overcome no matter how great a job one does with the paint.

Sky:
Wet the sky from the top down to the horizon using clean water. Using a wash of Cerulean Blue, apply the paint working from the top of the painting down to the horizon.  Using a tissue or paper towel, lift some of the paint to create lighter areas in the sky for clouds.  As the wash begins to dry.  paint in the impression of trees in the distance using a mix of your blue paint and Payne's Gray.  Allow to dry.  

Note: 
Larger trees:   You will paint over the top of the trees you sketched with the sky color so that the sky will be smooth.  Since the trees are painted using a darker color than the sky, they will be painted after the sky is completely dry. 

Barn:

I painted the siding of the barn first and left the roof for last.  The wood siding is painted with Crimson and Payne's Gray. 

Prepare a wash of crimson, varying the intensity from a deep red to a pale red.  Using the photo above as an example, paint the siding of the barn varying the color intensity of the red in various locations.  While the red is still wet, drop in the Payne's Gray.  Allow these colors to blend. 

Note:  Deepen the shadows under the roof line on the side of the barn with a deep shade of Payne's Gray.  This is done while the paint is still wet so that there will be no transition line from the shadow to the side of the barn. 

Barn Roof:
The roof of the barn is covered in snow.  Therefore, only the shadows are painted to indicate areas where the snow is blanketing the roof.  Areas of the roof are old and missing.  Painting wet on wet and using a mix of Payne's Gray and Cerulean Blue, paint in shadows referencing the photo above for shadow placement.  Using a deep shade of Payne's Gray, paint the areas where the roof is broken and missing on the right hand side of the roof.  The areas of broken roof where the siding shows through on the side of the barn were painted when the siding shadows were painted.  Allow to dry. 

Snow - Land contour and shadows
Using a pale wash of Payne's Gray, paint the snow on the left hillside, deepening the shadows cast by the trees.  Referencing the photo above, paint the contours on the ground and around the barn using a pale wash of Payne's Gray and Cerulean Blue. 

Note:  The shadows closer to the bottom of the page are painted with a light wash of Cerulean Blue with the intensity deepening as one moves further away. 

Trees/Grasses: 
Using  a wash of Vandyke Brown paint the trees.  Deepen the color on the trunks of the trees in various locations with Sepia. 

Add some grasses showing through the snow in various locations near the barn and under the trees.

Allow to dry.

Finishing touches:
A few details can be added in the siding on the barn now that the paint is completely dry.

Use a liner brush and Payne's Gray,  paint in a few lines for the boards adding a few deeper areas where the boards are cracked.  Do not make this very detailed.  When the paint is completely dry, use a utility knife to scratch off the paint on the siding in a few areas for highlights. 

Look over your painting and paint any finishing details you would like to add. Then, sign your painting!

Congratulations!

Happy Painting!
Karen

Walking in the Rain

                        

The painting above is a "loose" watercolor painted with a minimum of sketching.  I did drawn the lines for the sidewalk and the basic shapes of the people and their umbrellas.  Needless to say, there is very little detail in this paining.  The object of this painting to provide a feeling of the rain not a detailed "photo."

The watercolor above was painted on Arches 140 lb. cold press paper.

Supplies Needed:

Watercolor paper (size of your choice)

Masking Tape

Watercolor board

Brushes: flat and round (size of your choice based on the size of your paper)
Spray Bottle of water

Paint:

• Cerulean Blue
• Ultramarine Blue
• Sepia
• Payne's Gray
• Yellow Ocher
• Crimson

Painting Instructions:
This a very simple painting done quickly in wet on wet. 

Background Buildings, Sidewalks and Street
The light colored umbrellas are the only objects left unpainted on the first wash of color.  The umbrellas can be painted around or masked out with masking fluid or a piece of masking tape cut to the shape of the umbrella.  I simply painted around the umbrellas, but painted over the shapes of the bodies since the colors are very pale. 

Wet the entire sheet taking into consideration the umbrellas and your choice of masking.  While the paper is still wet drop in the following colors:  Ultramarine Blue, Payne's Gray, Yellow Ocher and Crimson mixed with Ultramarine to create purple. Using a vertical stroke, pull the colors down to meet the sidewalk leaving the impression of buildings in the background obscured by rain.   Using the same colors, brush horizontally across the sidewalk areas.  Brush strokes in this area can also be vertical to indicate the falling rain.  While the area is still wet, use a tissue to pull the paint from areas, leaving white streaks.  Allow to dry.

People and Umbrellas:
Using Payne's Gray, paint in the silhouettes of the people allowing areas to be lighter on various parts of their clothing.  Allow to dry and then paint the umbrella.  I used Cerulean Blue on one umbrella and a pale mix of Crimson and Yellow Ochre on the other colored umbrella.  The dark umbrella was painted with undiluted Payne's Gray.  Allow to dry.  When dry,  add the shadows of the people with a wash of Payne's Gray and the purple used above.  Spray the shadows with plain water to allow them to blur.  Allow to dry.

Sidewalk:
I used a fine liner brush to put in the sidewalk using broken lines. 

Details:

Use a utility knife to scratch in highlights on the umbrellas.

Congratulations! 

Happy Painting!
Karen

A Painting a Day - Every Day?

A Painting a Day - Every Day?  Why?

I counter with "Why not?"  Daily painting can be a habit and can make a painter more creative and successful and painting more enjoyable whether one enjoys painting as a hobby or a profession.  I received the book above for a birthday present and it offers a few tips on daily painting. 

I am often asked these questions:

• "How often you paint? 
• Do you paint every day?
• How do you know what to paint?
• Is painting work for you or is it fun?
• Why paint?

Some of these questions will attempt to be answered in today's blog.  The frequency of my painting has changed over the course of time based on the various seasons of my life.  If painting is not one's full time profession, then painting must fit into one's schedule of life, family, work and recreation.  As with all things,  priorities must be set and how often one paints depends on those priorities.    Painting for me has been a hobby and a profession during various times. 

When painting is a profession, painting is a top priority and one paints more often - at least, if one would like to be successful.    When painting is a hobby, it often gets set aside to allow for other items in one's life.  When painting as a hobby, then one must address painting as one would any other hobby - make time for it!

This post will address painting as a hobby rather than as a profession.  Work is work;  and like any job,  painting should be treated as any other profession.  However, if painting is a hobby that  is a different subject.

So,  let's start off with reasons one starts a hobby.  According to info I have read from numerous sources and from my own experiences, here are a few reasons:

1. Hobbies are healthy for the mind and body.  If you take time for a hobby that you enjoy, you can lose yourself in it and forget about your worries for a while.  Great stress reliever!
2. Hobbies make one more confident - period!  When one finds a hobby they enjoy (and one does not have to be good at it),  one practices a skill and improves by practice thus creating the motivation to continue.  According to the Huffington Post, pursuing a passion is a great way to build self-esteem, giving one an enhanced sense of purpose and improving overall quality of life. 
3. Hobbies help one structure time by "making" time for the hobby - no matter how small the amount of time.    Now, this does not need to be daily, but can be weekly, etc.  Whatever will fit into your schedule.  The point is to avoid stress, not create more by trying to fit too much into one day.  (I have been guilty of this.) 
4. Hobbies can help you grow as a person by building new social connections, adding to your identity and richness to your self concept.  You will not only feel more inspired when you have a rich and active life, but you will inspire others as well.

What does one paint?  Anything and everything!  Look around the house, outside,  on the internet, in books - paint whatever catches your interest.  

Schedule time to paint or draw - just do it!  Invest 5 minutes, 15 minutes,  half an hour or more.  Whatever amount of time fits your schedule.   I have found that the more I paint, the more I want to paint!   Practice, as with all things, make one better. 

In the past, I have taken a few minutes each day to sketch in a small sketchbook.  One that can be carried to work for a quick lunch time sketch, taken to your child's afterschool activities while waiting in the car, grabbed while you are waiting for the water to boil for the spaghetti noodles, picked up during a commercial of your favorite show (instead of the potato chips), etc.  You get the idea - be prepared and art will happen.  Like any habit, it will become 2nd nature to have that sketchbook with you. 

So, pick up that sketch book, pencil, paint brush and get started!  You'll be glad you did!

Happy Painting!
Karen