In The Studio: Two Plein Air Watercolors

I really did three watercolors but one of them was just too boring to post.  It was a really grey day and the landscape was very grey.  I just wanted to paint some watercolors, I have been working on oils mainly and just wanted the immediacy of watercolor, and the quick cleanup was an added bonus. I will post an image of the scene so you can get a feel for the day.Here is the finished watercolor, I was trying to get a nice feeling of the grey day and strong afternoon light.  The trees were dark against the light grey background.This is what I was looking at and I decided to only use the three trees in the foreground and really simplify the composition.  This scene was too busy for my tastes.drawing

this was after to first wash and I was keeping everything light values and muted tones of greys, ultramarine blue with burnt sienna for the sky and water and raw sienna, olive green and the sky mixture for everything else.  Remember to not over mix the colors.The dark trees make the painting and give it the light I wanted.  The value contrast is the whole idea and without making the trees nice and dark the painting would be ho hum.  When I painted the trees I used the side of a round brush to run up the trunks which gives me the texture and edge I like so much.  The colors are pretty much a mixture of burnt and raw sienna, with ultramarine blue and the occasional olive green.  Give it a try, but don’t over mix colors or they will be flat and boring.

Here is the last painting I did and it is on a really small piece of rough landscape format paper, I really like the surface and dimension.  I was forced to really keep the concept simple and focused.  My concept was just to play the wonderful light that popped out on the water and to invent the cast shadows in the foreground.  Everything else is kept really dark and I reduced most of the details.  I used the same colors in this painting as is the last. The only change is Cerulean Blue for the sky and waters.  Here is what I was looking at.  I just emphasized the light on the water and pulled in a little sky.  It is important to edit the scene and really look for a composition, and a contrast of color, value and texture that excites you.