Big Sky

Big Sky

Watercolor 9" x 12" Mats to 12" x 16"

My watercolor above, Big Sky, concluded the study of landscape painting for this unit.   Various methods and techniques for painting building roofs were explored.  A slate roof and tin roof were highlighted in the landscape above.  Although the focus of this painting is not on the roof, knowing the color combinations for specific types of roofs play an important part of this landscape and any landscape containing a building.

Watercolor Tip:
How to paint a slate roof:
The colors for slate roofs can be described as a blue/gray. The following watercolors are often used for slate roofs:
• Burnt Sienna
• Burnt Umber
• Ultramarine
• Cobalt Blue
• Raw Sienna
Sketch a slate roof and paint using the following steps.
1. Paint the ridge tiles at the top of the roof with a medium round brush and Burnt Sienna mixed with a little Ultramarine.
2. Mix a slate gray from Cobalt Blue and Burnt Sienna or Ultramarine and Burnt Umber and paint the roof using a larger round brush.
3. Drop in Raw Sienna wet into wet.
4. Drop in your chosen mix of colors wet into wet: (Ultramarine and Burnt Umber or Cobalt Blue and Burnt Sienna).
5. Using a rigger brush or a small flat brush, add detail to the ridge tiles with this same mix of blue/gray – wet on dry.

Happy Painting!
Karen

Twisted!

Twisted
Watercolor 11" x 15" Mats to 16" x 20"

I love the twisted truck on this tree growing by the water.  The time I spent on the preliminary sketch for this painting was not wasted time.  It would have been very difficult to paint in the twists and turns of  the truck without my sketch for reference. 

I masked in the branches and tree truck which extended into the sky and background trees.  This allowed continuity in the sky and background color.  Note that the ground is not completely painted, but many areas are left white; thus, allowing the contrast of the darker tree truck to stand out and drawn the viewer's eye to the tree. 

Watercolor tip:
To achieve a good contrast with the background and foreground and to emphasize the large tree, I avoided unnecessary background detail.  The soft haze of foliage in the background was achieved by sprinkling a little table salt onto the wet paint creating "instant leaves." 

Happy Painting!
Karen

English Thatched Roof Cottage

On Fall Holiday

Watercolor 8" x 10" Mats to 11" x 14"

As I continue with my teaching unit on landscapes, the focus this week in my advanced classes was a thatched roof cottage.   In addition to the technique to paint the thatched roof, other techniques used in this painting include:  painting rocks, masking (the gate) scratching (highlights on the foreground branches) sponging (background tree foliage), and a wash for the fall foliage, and path. 

Watercolor tip:
I used a slightly different technique to paint the sky in this painting. I applied clean water to my sky area and while it was still glossy, dropped in Ultramarine Blue and Paynes Gray using a mop.  Instead of my usual method of painting the entire sky area and then using a tissue or paper towel to lift out the clouds, I painted around the clouds and softened the edges with a wet brush.  This helped to create an autumn sky to help put "a chill in the air" and tie in the colors of the thatched roof and the rock fence. 

Next week will conclude my series on landscape painting and we will be working on how to paint a still life in May.

Happy Painting!

Happy Easter!

Spring Basket
Watercolor 11" x 15" Mats to 16" x 20"

May each of you have a wonderful Easter - full of joy and hope!

Happy Easter!
Karen Cooke
Brush Strokes

Paris, anyone?

On s Street in Paris
Watercolor 8" x 10" Mats to 11" x 14"

Even if we can't visit Paris whenever we would like, we can create a scene in our minds.  I liked this simple street sign in Paris on an old stone building with the metal sign showing wear and rust.

I masked out the white areas using masking fluid---all the numbers and letters as well as the sign border edges.  I was able then to paint the blue and green of the sign without worring about keeping a straight line.  The sign was painted first, then the building.   I added the rust last.

Watercolor tip
The building background was painted and allowed to dry.  The darker green stone colors were sponged on using a simple kitchen sponge with wonderfully straight lines.  I did not mask out the spaces between the blocks on the painting. I simply carefully placed the sponge.

So, take a visit to Paris - one way or another!

Happy Spring!

Sunny Side Up

Watercolor 8" x 10" Mats to 11" x 14"

Since today is the first day of Spring, I wanted to share a spring painting with everyone.  A Shasta Daisy is an early bloomer and is a fun and simple subject to celebrate Spring!

This painting combines details with a controlled wash.    I did not mask off the flowers but this can be done if you are a little tentative about painting around the flower.  The background is done in a wash of several colors:  blue, greens and yellows.  The green and yellow background provide an out of focus field of daisies surrounding the detailed flowers. 

Watercolor tip:
Keep the background fairly dark to lift the foreground subject off of the page.

In my area, we are experiencing a nice, sunnny, and warm first day of Spring!  I hope you are too!  If not, grab that paintbrush - Spring is only a brushstroke away!

Coffee, anyone?

Columns in Time
Watercolor 11" x 15" Mats to 16" x 20"

Usually when someone offers coffee, it is to drink - but, not in this case! The painting above, Columns in Time, is painted with coffee. Have you ever painted with coffee? Believe it or not, it’s a wonderful medium for monochromatic artwork, with a wide range of rich brown hues.

I had a great time painting this one and enjoyed the aroma of the coffee too. I used instant coffee for my painting, but brewed coffee can be used as well. I find that it is easier to adjust the intensity of the shade when using instant. Not dark enough? Just add another teaspoon of coffee. In addition to the coffee, I only added a few touches of watercolor paint: Sepia, Paynes gray, and Hookers Green. These colors were only used in a few places - the majority of my painting was done with coffee.

PAINTING WITH COFFEE TIPS
• Change the coffee/water ratio to achieve a lighter or richer color. Darker hues will require less water than the lighter shades.
• Use 140 lb. watercolor paper, paper towels for blotting up excess coffee, and several small plastic cups to hold your "paint."
• Coffee lightens when it dries; so no matter how dark your thickest mixture is, you will probably want it to appear even darker on the paper. You will need to go over your paper quite a bit until you reach the desired appearance.
• Wait until the previous layer is completely dry before adding the next. You can use a hair dryer to dry each layer and speed the process; it works beautifully.

Give it a try.......coffee anyone?

Teacup Garden

Teacup Garden
Watercolor 7" x 10" Mats to 11" x 14"

This week's blog is done in honor of my aunt, Dorris, who passed away this past week.  She was 92 years old and a very special lady.  She always loved paintings of flowers and pastel colors were her favorite.  My painting above, Teacup Garden, reminds me of her.   She will be missed!

Watercolor Tip:
When painting flowers, each petal must be done separately or there will be no distinction from one petal to the next.  Wet each petal with clean water and drop in color.  The water will pull the color and when dry create a nice color transition.  To speed up the painting, paint every other petal.  By the time you have returned to the first petal painted, the touching petal will be dry and can be painted.

 

It's Spring.......in my dreams!

Sunnyside Up
Watercolor 11" x 15" Mats to 16" x 20"

Spring really is just around the corner, but until Spring arrives we can dream about it or we can paint it!  One of my favorite flowers is a daffodil.  Not only are they yellow (my favorite color), but they are the early messengers of Spring! 

I had a great time painting this one-- it has a surprise technique!  This technique can be used for various subjects, but I especially like it for flowers.  Here is the surprise!

1) Do not tape down your paper before your sketch. Sketch in the flowers and leaves with little detail. Make the pencil lines dark enough on the flowers to be seen after the crumpling and wetting technique, but do not press hard enough to indent or scratch the paper.


2) Here’s the hard part………crumple the paper up in a ball as though you were going to throw it away. Concentrate on making wrinkles in all areas of the paper without tearing it….crumple easily.

3) Submerge the paper ball into water making certain it is evenly wet. Remove from the water and unfold carefully. Smooth onto your sketch board and tape along the edges. The tape will not stick well to the wet surface; however, it will hold enough to keep the paper in place.

4) While the paper is still very wet, float in the background of green and blue working around the flowers. I used sap green and Windsor blue; however, other shades of blue and green can be used with a pleasing effect. Use a large flat brush or mop to place in the background except for working around the flowers. Use a #6 round or similar size brush to work in the background around the flowers.

5) Let this dry COMPLETELY!

6)  Now you can paint in your flowers!

Have fun!  This technique must have been discovered by a frustrated watercolor artist who wadded up, threw away the painting AND then had second thoughts, pulled it out of the trash, smoothed it down and went to work!

Give it a try - if nothing else, you can release some frustration while you dig out of the snow and wait for Spring!

Shelter in the Pines

Shelter in the Pines

Watercolor 8.5" x 11"  Mats to 12" x 16"

I have been highlighting landscapes these last few weeks; but since so many areas have had large amounts of snow, I thought I would take a break and show this seasonal snowy painting.  I enjoy painting birds and have done at least one scene for each season of the year.

Birds are interesting subjects to paint and can be very detailed, if that is your style of painting.   However, some very realistic paintings can be executed with a minimal of detail, such as my painting above.  I don't detail every feather and let one's imagination fill in the blanks.

Watercolor Tip
The snow was achieved on the branches by using masking fluid to keep the background color off as well as the branch color.  I painted the entire painting before I removed the masking fluid.  When the masking fluid was removed, the snow was a nice contract with the brown branches as well as the background.  The painting was finished by spattering a little white paint on for snowflakes!

Perhaps, this will be the last of the snow and we can look forward to Spring!