Loose and colorful poinsettia, completed at open studio today. I used a limited palette of lemon yellow, Winsor green and quinacridone red. To finish, I splashed on some metallic yellow paint in a starburst pattern.
Watercolor Wednesday: Holiday Fun
Category: painting
Friday Finish: Tutorial with Shari Blaukopf
Earlier this year I shared some work made following a tutorial taught by Montreal artist Shari Blaukopf. She is an urban sketcher and watercolorist who offers a wide range of online lessons through Teachable. Today I finished painting A French Village Scene, which is the final lesson in her course by the same name.
https://learn.shariblaukopf.com/courses/
The challenges were multiple: perspective drawing, sketching in ink, and completing the scene with watercolor.
Here is Shari’s reference photo. She took it while teaching in France this year.
I labored over the perspective drawing for 2 or more hours. Perspective drawing doesn’t come easily to me, and I wanted my work to be believable, if not 100% accurate. When satisfied, I inked the important lines and erased the pencil marks.
I was forced to take some liberties with the scene, because my paper was not proportional to the original. Mine is wider.
I did most of the painting before our Thanksgiving trip to Wisconsin. Returning home, I was keen to finish this and get it off my workspace. Other projects, both started and planned are stacking up awaiting my attention.
Here is my (almost) final painting.
It’s a truism, at least for painters, that they must take some time away from a work before deciding that it is finished. So that’s what I will do. Even looking at it now, I see a few areas that need more work.
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Sunday Squash
Not many people would call a pumpkin a squash, but I just love alliteration. I can’t help myself.
I’m a few weeks late in finishing my pumpkin painting. Painting was supposed to take place on the first Monday in October, when Cheryl Bryan conducted her once a month tutorial. I had prepped my paper and packed my traveling paint kit, but didn’t attend class. I was at a funeral for a friend that morning.
As the month wore on, I kept busy in the garden (and with stash-busting knitting.) So, it’s today that my pumpkin painting is ready to be viewed.
My reference photo is by Megan Lee, who generously shared it on Unsplash.
Thank you, Megan.
What attracted me to this image was the background primarily. I liked that the pumpkin is still in the pumpkin patch, surrounded by its vine, whose leaves are changing to yellow. The white tendrils (or roots?) which are visible throughout the image keep the eye moving through the scene.
My goal was to capture a spooky feeling, along with the intense highlights, as if a beam were focused on the pumpkin – the star of the show.
Did I achieve the goal? I believe so. What do you see?
Painted on Arches cold press using Winsor yellow, Winsor green, transparent orange, alizarin crimson, burnt sienna and ultramarine blue. White highlights emphasized with Dr PH Martin’s bleed-proof white.
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Watercolor Wednesday: Blaukopf Online Learning
I gave myself a gift by purchasing another Blaukopf tutorial through Teachable. This one appealed to me because it featured ink and watercolor.
https://learn.shariblaukopf.com/p/sketching-a-french-village-scene
For the first lesson, Shari walked us through the mixes we would be using throughout the course. My swatches came out nicely, despite the fact that I had no Hooker green paint and substituted Winsor green.
Our first painting was of a balcony scene in a Normandy village featuring lots of stone and pots of plants perched on a wall.
Shari suggested that we avoid pencil lines and draw straightaway with the ink pen. I am using Pigma Micron with archival ink.
Not too bad. The basic shapes and textures look as expected.
First wash.
I was so focused on finishing that I didn’t take any other images of intermediate steps.
Here is my final ink and watercolor painting of the balcony scene.
While I didn’t have fun throughout the entire experience, I got re-introduced to my watercolor paint and had enough fun for a Wednesday.
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Watercolor Wednesday Tutorial
Last Wednesday in Open Studio, Cheryl introduced the group to the work of Soon Y. Warren, a painter who excels at creating light and texture in her watercolor works. Cheryl has taken a workshop with Soon and raves about her.
To get us started, Cheryl sent her own version of Soon’s Orange as a reference.
To achieve the effect of bright light on the orange, the artist applies masking fluid on the areas of white. After the painting dries, the mask is scrubbed off and final details are painted in.
I need practice using masking fluid, so I went along with the instructions. It was not a difficult lesson, except for removing the mask. I had to scrape vigorously with fingers, fingernails (go wash my hands and come back) and more fingernails. Ultimately, all the masking fluid came away, but in the process, I rubbed some dirt and/or paint into some places on the white paper where the mask had been. (sigh.)
Fortunately, the areas with the worst stains were pretty well covered with an application of Dr Ph Martin’s Bleed Proof White.
Here is my finished study. It will make a nice greeting card.
I chose a different palette for my version: W&N French ultramarine blue, Thalo blue, Winsor lemon, transparent orange, and permanent alizarin crimson. A little salt and paint spatter added texture.
If you enjoy light-filled, transparent watercolor paintings, check out Soon Warren’s site.
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