"Peek at the Ocean from Ocracoke Island" – Cape Hatteras

"Peek at the Ocean from Ocracoke Island" – Cape Hatteras

 The watercolor painting above is from my watercolor journal painted while on vacation at the Outer Banks.  This scene was painted from the parking area for the ferry on just a little strip of beach looking out into the water.    The day was sunny and bright with sparking light reflections bouncing off the water.  

Various colors and shades of blue are used both in the water and the sky.  White highlights reflect the sunny reflections on the water.  Sea oats were growing on the left side of the sand and the sand contained large pieces of shell and wood. 

Materials Needed:

140 lb. watercolor paper* or watercolor journal
(I used a journal for these paintings, as I painted while on vacation.)
*Always prepare your paper by using masking tape to secure to a board.

Brushes:  Size of your choice

• Round brush
• ½” flat brush
• Liner or detail brush

Piece of credit card or small palette knife 

Note:  I use small pieces of gift cards or credit cards to quickly pull in fine lines.) 

Paint:

• Cerulean blue
• Windsor Blue
• Ultramarine blue
• Payne’s Gray
• Sap Green
• Yellow Ochre
• Vandyke Brown

Pencil
Kneaded Eraser

Instructions:

Lightly sketch in the horizon where the beach meets the water and sketch the small slope of sand on the left side.  It is not necessary to sketch in the sea oats.  That‘s all the sketching needed.  Now, let’s get started painting!

Sky:

Paint in your sky first using a wet on wet technique down to the horizon where the sky meets the water and around the sand.  I used Cerulean Blue at the top section of sky and painted around the clouds allowing the color to become lighter as it progresses down the page to the horizon.  Use a paper towel to gently lift and shape some of the blue paint to further indicate clouds.  Allow to dry. 

Ocean:

Paint in the ocean using varying shades of Window Blue, Cerulean Blue and Sap Green.  Painting across and down add a small amount of Sap Green leaving small areas of white to indicate waves.  Keep the darkest blue at the horizon.    Allow the ocean to dry.   

Beach:

Paint the areas of beach in a wet on wet technique, leaving some areas white, but paint in very pale shades of Yellow Ochre and Payne’s Gray.   Allow to dry.

Sea Oats:

Using a wash of Sap Green, Yellow Ochre and Van Dyke Brown, drop in these colors at the base of where you would like your sea oats.  Paint one plant at a time.  After dropping in your paint, use the edge of the credit card or the palette knife to pull up stems of sea grass.  Then using the round brush, paint in some leaves by pulling up from the base.  Paint all four plants in the same manner.  After the plants have dried, use clean water and wet an area under the sea oats; this will be the shadows of the plant.  Drop in a light shade of Payne’s gray mixed with Yellow Ochre to form the shadows under each plant.   Allow to dry.

Finishing touches:

Cover the sky and water with a tissue or sheet of paper to prevent spatters of paint from getting on this section.    Use a wash of Vandyke Brown, Yellow Ochre and Payne’s Gray and spatter dots of the paint on the sand.  This will indicate the small pebbles, shell and wood debris scattered along the beach.  Allow to dry. 

Tip:

If you have trouble painting around the waves and leaving areas of the waves white, masking fluid can be used to mask off the waves while painting the water and then removed after the paint has dried.  You will still need to go back and paint in some shadows in the waves to indicated movement.    

Any substance that will “mask” the paper and prevent paint from settling on the page can be used to leave your wave areas white.  In addition to masking fluid, I have used bits of masking tape to mask areas of the painting.  If you don’t want straight lines, be certain to tear little bits of tape by hand rather than using scissors for an uneven edge. 

 Check your painting for any details you may want to add.  When satisfied, sign your painting!

 Congratulations and Happy Painting!

Karen

 

 

 

 

"Storm Brewing" (Waves near the Pier) – Cape Hatteras

 Storm Brewing (Waves near the Pier) – Cape Hatteras

Storm Brewing was painted on location (plein air) while at the Outer Banks of North Carolina.    This was painted rather quickly late one afternoon before an afternoon thunderstorm sent me back inside.    There were already storms not too far out to sea and the water was churning near the pier where the rocks were located.  In this case, the water was mainly a deep green.    The sky was dark with hints of gray mixed in with the white clouds. 

Materials Needed:

140 lb. watercolor paper* or watercolor journal

(I used a journal for these paintings, as I painted while on vacation.)

*Always prepare your paper by using masking tape to secure to a board.

Brushes:  Size of your choice

• Round brush
• ½” flat brush
• Liner or detail brush

Paint:

• Cerulean blue
• Windsor Blue
• Ultramarine blue
• Payne’s Gray
• Sap Green
• Yellow Ochre
• Alizarin Crimson
• Vandyke brown

Pencil

Kneaded Eraser

Instructions:

I lightly sketched in the horizon and the rocks and pier.  This was for placement only not for details.  I painted in this order:  sky, rocks/pier, water.    I did, however, pencil in the areas that I wanted to remain white, so that I would not fill in those areas with color. 

Sky:

Paint in your sky first using a wet on wet technique down to the horizon where the sky meets the water and the rock/pier.  I used layers of color:  gray/blue, strip of white cloud, Cerulean Blue, white cloud, a mix of gray and Windsor blue down to meet the water at the horizon.  Using lots of water and a tissue, drop in your paint across the page and blot up any excess water and paint, creating swirls and clouds.

Allow to dry. 

Rocks/Pier

Use a wash of Van Dyke Brown, Payne’s Gray, and yellow ochre for this section.  I started with a light wash of yellow ochre and then dropped in Payne’s Gray and Van Dyke Brown in various intensities.  Be certain to work around the areas of water and foam.   Allow to dry.  Using a dry brush and Van Dyke brown, paint in some lines for the logs in the pier.  Refer to the photo above and added some darker areas.  

Ocean:

Paint in the ocean using varying shades of green blue mixed from Sap Green and Windsor blue leaving small areas of white to indicate waves.  Adding a touch of sap green to the blue helps separate the sky from the water.  Using a round brush, swirl the paint lightly in the waves to indicate movement.  Allow the ocean to dry.   

Tip:

If you have trouble painting around the waves and leaving areas of the waves white, masking fluid can be used to mask off the waves while painting the water and then removed after the paint has dried.  You will still need to go back and paint in some shadows in the waves to indicated movement.    If you don’t want to use masking fluid, paint around the white areas and/or use a blade to scrape away some of the once it is dry. 

Check your painting for any details you may want to add.  When satisfied, sign your painting!

Congratulations and Happy Painting!

Karen

 

 

 

"Deep Blue Sea" – Cape Hatteras National Seashore

 

"Deep Blue Sea"  – Cape Hatteras National Seashore

The watercolor painting above was painted from one of the many beaches along the shore at Cape Hatteras National Seashore.  Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the nation’s first national seashore, was established in 1937 to preserve significant segments of unspoiled barrier islands along North Carolina’s stretch of the Atlantic Coast.

 This painting is my Impressionist interpretation of a section of the ocean near the shore with waves breaking showing the turbulence of the water and the changing colors in the waves. 

Various colors, shades and intensities of blue and green are used in the water.  The use of various shades and intensities of color will make your painting more interesting and realistic.

 Materials Needed:

140 lb. watercolor paper* or watercolor journal

(I used a journal for these paintings, as I painted while on vacation.)

*Always prepare your paper by using masking tape to secure to a board.

Brushes:  Size of your choice

Round brush
½” flat brush
Liner or detail brush

Paint:

• Cerulean blue
• Windsor Blue
• Ultramarine blue
• Sap Green
• Hooker Green

Pencil

Kneaded Eraser

Instructions:

The only sketching that I did on this painting to was sketch in the sections of water that I wanted to remain white.  Notice that I painted the waves at an angle moving across and down the sheet of paper from right down to left.   Do not paint the waves straight across the page.   Now, let’s get started painting!

I painted sections; one at a time above and below the large white wave using a wet on wet technique.  As with any watercolor, work from light to dark as you will be unable to cover up any darker paints with lighter ones.  Mix all of the paint that you feel you will need before you start painting.  You will need to work quickly allowing the paint to mix together with very little help from your brush. 

Using my painting as a reference, paint and drop in the greens and blues to add interest and movement to your waves. As the paint is starting to dry, use a spray bottle with clean water and mist some of the sections of your waves and allow them to bleed into your white sections of foam.    Allow to dry.

Using the tip of your round brush or liner brush, paint in a few lines of color on the crest of the waves using a deep blue. 

Do not overwork this painting, it is better when the paint mergers together and creates swirls without assistance.  Let the water do the work?

 

Tip:

If you have trouble painting around the waves and leaving areas of the waves white, masking fluid can be used to mask off the waves while painting the water and then removed after the paint has dried.  You will still need to go back and paint in some shadows in the waves to indicated movement.    This will not allow your painting to be as spontaneous and it will be less impressionistic.  I am an impressionistic painter so I prefer the look achieved when not using the masking fluid.

Check your painting for any details you may want to add.  When satisfied, sign your name!

Congratulations and Happy Painting!

Karen

 

 

 

Window into the Past

                        

Window into the Past

A watercolor painting by Karen A. Cooke

This is another painting that lends itself to the properties of watercolor.  I like the way the window panes are painted showing the dust and grime of the years and the open window showing the illusion of the empty room inside.    The focus of the painting is the window which has some detail, but is not” photographic.” 

Since this painting will need to be sketched in more detail than some paintings in order to get the perspective correct for the window, as well as the lines of the log walls and stone, you will need to decide where to execute your sketch.   Depending on how comfortable you feel with your sketching, you can sketch directly on the watercolor paper or prepare a sketch on the same size paper and transfer to your watercolor paper when complete.  Watercolor paper does not hold up well to too much erasing;  so if you feel as though you will need to erase multiple times to get the perspective right, then prepare a sketch on a piece of drawing paper and transfer to the watercolor paper once you are satisfied.     As always, the sketch is not main focus of the painting, but should be a guide for the placement of color.  Details will be added as the painting progresses with your brush.    Refer to my photo below.

Materials Needed:

140# Watercolor paper – I use Arches

Multiple size brushes of your choice, I used the following:

·       #12 round brush

·       Flat brush

·       Liner brush

Masking fluid

Watercolor Paint: 

·       Burnt Sienna

·       Burnt Umber

·       Medium Yellow

·       Payne’s Gray

·       Sap Green

·       Ultramarine

·       Yellow Ochre

·       Sepia

 

Let’s get started!  This painting takes time and is executed in several steps to allow the paint to dry.  Don’t rush the work and enjoy the painting!

Masking:

Masking will be needed on and around the window frame as well as some of the stems and flower area below.    

This can be a very time consuming process, but is very important to the final outcome of the painting.  A very fine brush will need to be used to make these lines or you can use a fine line masking fluid pen.    I used a masking fluid pen on this painting.  The one I like consists of a small plastic bottle that can be filled with masking fluid and has a small, hollow metal tube that allows the fluid to flow out of the tube onto the paper.  Various types can be purchased on line or in art supply stores.  A fine liner brush will also work; however, the pen allows for easier control of the size of the line and helps prevent bubbles in the fluid.   

Let’s start painting! 

Window Panes:

The window panes are painted using a flat brush and a wash made of a mix of Payne’s Gray, Yellow Ochre and Ultramarine.   Allow to dry.  

Wet the painted panes and working each one separately, use a round brush and scrub the painted surface.  Use a paper towel and lift out some of the color in various spots on each pane.  This creates the look of dirty window glass.  Vary the look on each window pane.   Allow to dry. 

 

Refer to my photo above. 

Window – Lower Open Section:

Use a wash of Payne’s Gray and a flat brush, paint in the dark open sections of the window, both above and below the window panes.  Allow to dry.  Use a wet brush and lift sections of the paint from the darkened window to indicate an inside view.  Refer to my photo.  Allow to dry.

Window Frame:

Remove the masking.  Use a light wash of Payne’s Gray and Yellow Ochre and paint the window frame, leaving some areas white.  Use the gray and yellow to paint shadows and dirt.     Allow to dry.

Wood around the window and the shutter:

Painting wood with watercolor paint is one of my favorites!    Using a wash of yellow ochre, Payne’s Gray and Sepia (not mixed on your palette), paint the wood using a wet on wet technique.  I used yellow ochre first and then dropped in Payne’s Gray and Sepia in various locations.  Refer to my photo.  Allow the wash to dry.  Using a ¼ to ½ inch flat brush with the bristles separated dry brush lines of Payne’s Gray and/or Sepia for wood grain.  Using Payne’s Gray, add knots, nail holes, etc.

Note:  Paint each wood piece separately where the edges touch.  Allow to dry.  Do not paint the entire section at the same time as you want each piece to look like a different piece of wood, not a continuous piece of the same wood. 

Logs and Chinking:

Using Payne’s’ Gray and Burnt Sienna, paint the logs and the chinking between the logs.  Since watercolor will flow where ever the surface is wet, you will need to allow the sections to dry before painting sections side by side.   I solved this problem by painting the logs first and then the chinking.  By the time I was finished painting the logs, they were dry; and, I could then paint the chinking between the logs.  These are painted using a wet on wet technique. 

Painting the logs:

Using a flat brush and various intensities of Payne’s Gray, paint the logs.  Drop in Burnt Sienna in a few locations.  Refer to the photo.  Allow to dry. 

Paint the chinking:

Using a flat brush and various intensities of Burnt Sienna, paint the chinking between the logs.  Drop in Sepia in various locations, especially on the edges where the chinking touches the logs.  Allow to dry.

Details on the logs:

Use the same technique used on the wood surrounding the window.  Dry brush a wood grain on the logs using Payne’s Gray and/or Sepia.    Add knots, etc. as desired.

Details on the chinking:

When you paint the chinking it is interesting to know what use used for chinking log cabins in the past in the United States.  Sticks or rocks were used between the logs and then mud was dabbed over the top of this material to fill in the gap and make the structure solid to prevent gaps for air, insects or small animals to get inside. 

Using a flat brush and/or a liner brush, add some detail in the chinking to indict the texture in the chinking. 

Greenery:

As you are painting the logs and chinking in the lower section of the cabin, leave spaces for the greenery.  Drop in various intensities of Sap Green.  This will be only the background color and details will be added later.  Allow to dry. 

Stone Fireplace:

Painting stone is time consuming as you must paint each stone separately.  This is the only way to make each stone look like one independent stone rather than one huge mass. 

Use the following colors:

·       Payne’s Gray

·       Ultramarine

·       Sepia

·       Sap Green

 Wet a stone and drop in the above colors varying the colors and the intensity on each stone.  The darkest colors will be where the rocks touch.  If you skip around when painting the stones, you can work quickly as the paint will dry on one stone while you are working on another one.  Drop in a little Sap Green in various locations on the rocks for moss.  Allow to dry.

Round logs - upper chimney area and chinking:

The round logs and chinking in this area are painted like the cabin logs.  The only different in this case is the shape.  Refer to the previous instructions and refer to the photo. 

Flowers, Leaves and Stems:

Flowers:

Using Medium Yellow and Yellow Ochre, paint the petals of the followers.  Refer to the photos and use the darker colors where the petal meets the center.  Paint the center of the flower with Burnt Sienna and Sepia.  Allow to dry.

Leaves and Stems:

Using Sap Green and a round brush, paint the stems.  Vary the intensity from light to dark on the stem to show reflected light and shadows. 

Leaves:

Using your round brush, paint the leaves – “drawing” them with the paintbrush as you go.  If you don’t feel comfortable “drawing” with the paintbrush, lightly pencil in the shapes of the leaves and then go back and paint.  Vary the color and intensity by adding a little yellow to the green to lighten and add yellow highlights.   Deepen the intensity and color by adding Ultramarine to the Sap Green for darker areas and shadows. 

Finishing touches:

Leaves and flowers may need small lines to add details.  Check the remainder of your painting and see if any additional details need to be added to the windows, wall or fireplace. 

Great job – sign your name!

Happy Painting!
Karen

Summer in France

"Summer in France"

 

Summer in France

A watercolor painting by Karen A. Cooke

 

This painting lends itself to the properties of watercolor.  I like the way the bricks of the cottage can be painted with the illusion of detail as well as the surrounding greenery.    The focus of the painting is the door and the bike, both of which have slightly more detail, but are not “photographic.”

 Since this painting will need to be sketched in more detail than some paintings in order to get the perspective correct for the door, step, bike and sidewalk, as well as the lines of the bricks, you will need to decide where to do your sketch.   Depending on how comfortable you feel with your sketching, you can sketch directly on the watercolor paper or prepare a sketch on the same size paper and transfer to your watercolor paper when complete.  Watercolor paper does not hold up well to too much erasing;  so if you feel as though you will need to erase multiple times to get the perspective right, then prepare a sketch on a piece of drawing paper and transfer to the watercolor paper once you are satisfied.     As always, the sketch is not main focus of the painting, but should be a guide for the placement of color.  Details will be added as the painting processes with your brush. 

 Materials Needed:

140# Watercolor paper – I use Arches
Multiple size brushes of your choice, I used the following:

·       #12 round brush

·       Flat brush

·       Liner brush

Masking fluid

 Watercolor Paint: 

Below are the colors I used; however, feel free to use the colors you would like.  For example, a different color door could be substituted for the red I used.

·       Grumbacher Red

·       Burnt Sienna

·       Medium Yellow

·       Windsor Blue

·       Payne’s Gray

·       Sap Green

·       Ultramarine

·       Yellow Ochre

·       Van Dyke Brown

Let’s get started!  This painting takes time and is executed in several steps to allow the paint to dry.  Don’t rush the work and enjoy the painting!

Masking:

Masking will play a big part in this painting.  In order to maintain areas for white or lighter colors in the dark brick, greenery and the bike, masking is an important step.

Examine the photo above and you will see that the following will need to be masked:

·       Brick – some, but not all lines for the bricks in the cottage

·       Roof – highlights on the shingles

·       Highlights on the wood on the porch

·       Greenery – some lighter stems

·       Flowers – both in the pots and growing on the bricks

·       Window panes

·       Bike

·       Highlights in the sidewalk cracks

This can be a very time consuming process, but is very important to the final outcome of the painting.  A very fine brush will need to be used to make these lines or you can use a fine line masking fluid pen.    I used a masking fluid pen on this painting.  The one I like consists of a small plastic bottle that can be filled with masking fluid and has a small, hollow metal tube that allows the fluid to flow out of the tube onto the paper.  Various types can be purchased on line or in art supply stores.  A fine liner brush will also work; however, the pen allows for easier control of the size of the line and helps prevent bubbles in the fluid.    

Let’s start painting!  The greenery, bricks and sidewalk will be painted using a wet on wet wash.   

 Greenery:

Prepare a wash of various shades of green from light to dark.  Prepare the paper by brushing on clean water in the areas for the greenery.  Paint the green to the left of and above the door first using deeper colors of green beside the door and allowing the colors to lighten as the greenery grows up and to the left.  Drop in Ultramarine blue in the greenery near the sidewalk.  Work around the yellow flowers above the door and paint the flowers in after the greenery has been painted.   Allow to dry.  

Paint the greenery on the right side, painting around the red flowers.

 Bricks:

Prepare a wash of Burnt Sienna, Paynes Gray and Yellow Ochre.  We will be painting wet on wet; so using clean water, wet the brick area working around and up to the edges of the greenery.   Using the photo above as an example, drop in the paint allowing the colors to merge moving from lighter yellow on the left side and deepening the colors by adding sienna and gray as you paint across the page.   Allow to dry. 

 Porch Roof and Sides:

Paint the wooden sides of the porch with a light Van Dyke Brown varying the color to indicate highlights.  Drop in Paynes Gray in several places as indicated on the photo above.  Allow to dry.

 Paint the porch roof using a wash of Van Dyke Brown mixed with Burnt Sienna varying the intensity in several locations on the roof.  Allow to dry. 

 Door:

Paint the door wet on wet using a deep intensity of paint working carefully around the mail slot and the porch light.  Add in a little Van Dyke Brown to vary the color on the door deepening the color at the door edges and to create shadows on the door.  Allow to dry. 

 Sidewalk and Steps on Porch:

Using Paynes Gray mixed with Ultramarine, paint the steps and the side walk letting the color become lighter as it flows out toward the street.  Drop in Burnt Sienna on the step behind the bike and on the right front side of the porch bricks.  Add Van Dyke Brown to the gray mixture as you paint down the sidewalk towards the street. 

 Street:

Add some Ultramarine to the sidewalk mix, dilute with clean water and paint the street.  Drop in deeper colors of this mixture with Van Dyke brown in the cobbles of the street.  Do not overdo this section.  Let the paint fade to almost clean as you paint to the far left corner of the street. 

 Flower Pots and Flowers:

Pots: 

Using Van Dyke Brown, paint the wooden areas of the pots and drop in Paynes Gray for shadows in various locations on the wood.  Allow to dry.   Paint the metal stays of the pots with Paynes Gray leaving some sections lighter than others.    Note that the pot on the left is darker than the one on the right as it sits in the shadow of the porch and greenery. 

 Leaves and Flowers:

Using various shades of Sap Green from light to dark, paint the leaves of flowers in the pots working around the blooms.    Allow to dry.    Drop in the colors of the flowers varying the intensity of the color.    Allow to dry.

 Bicycle:

Remove the masking that protected the shape of the bike while you painted the all the surrounding areas. 

 Using a light mix of Paynes Gray and Ultramarine, paint the bike tires.  Allow to dry.  Using a pale wash of Paynes Gray and Van Dyke Brown, paint the frame of the bike using the same color used for the tires as shadows on the frame.  Refer to the photo for placement.  Allow to dry. 

 Window:

Paint the window frame with a light wash of Ultramarine, Windsor Blue and Paynes Gray.  Allow to dry.  Paint the windows with the same color increasing the amount of Paynes Gray to deepen the color.  Drop in a pale wash of Burnt Umber in various locations to indicate reflections.  Allow to dry. 

 Finishing touches:

Remove the remainder of the masking from all areas.  Using a light wash of Yellow Ochre mixed with Burnt Sienna, brush over the top of the brick lines where the masking was removed.   Use this same paint on the lines on the porch where the masking was removed. 

 Using a mixture of Paynes Gray and Van Dyke Brown, paint the address sign.  Using Paynes Gray and Yellow Ochre, paint the lamp on the porch.  Allow to dry. 

 Using a liner brush, add some accent lines in the sidewalk and the street.  Check for any other areas that may need to be highlighted.

 Great job – sign your name!

 Happy Painting!
Karen