Heads Held High - Part 3

Sorry for the interruption, but I enjoy doing all sorts of painting/crafts and thought you might enjoy something a little different.

Time to start painting!

As in almost all watercolor paintings, one should work from the back to the front. Also, it is a good idea to work from top to bottom. Working from the back to the front enables the artist to put in the background easily and then paint the focal point of painting. Working from top to bottom helps prevent any accidental smudges.

Painting the sky:
There is only a small piece of sky in this painting. I wanted the sky to be a bright blue to play off of the color of the sand. I used a wash of Windsor Blue. Prepare the wash of your choice of sky color in the intensity that you would like. Apply clean water to the sky area only, and paint in the sky using a large flat brush (wet on wet application). Allow this to dry. See the photo of the painting above that illustrates this step.

Painting the Sand:
The sand is not one color, but is made up of various colors to indicate shadows as well as hills.

I worked one section at a time rather than paint the entire surface so that the paint would not dry before I could drop in deeper colors for shadowing. One could work the entire area of sand at one time, depending on drying conditions. It is summer for me and the paint dries quickly.

Prepare your paint colors before starting to paint in the sand and determine if you plan to paint by sections or the entire surface.

I used the following colors for the sand:
-Yellow Ochre
-Burnt Umber
-Burnt Sienna
-Payne's Gray

Using clean water, wet the section of sand you plan to paint. While the paper is still wet, but has lost it shine, lay in the base color of the sand. Again, applying the paint in a wet on wet application. I chose a light wash of yellow ochre. While this color was still wet, I dropped in various shades of Payne's Gray, Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna, leaving most of the background Yellow Ochre. See example below of one section of the sand. The finished sand background is pictured in the photo at the beginning of this blog.

Next blog, we will start working on the figures. Until next time,

Happy Painting!
Karen