IMAGINATION AND PAINT
It is a beautiful day and I think we should all grab our imaginations, pack up some paints and create something !
This week , we will use a photo of a lovely Victorian home that I came upon on during one of my walks. I enjoy painting architecture, but sometimes I want to step away from my photos and use my imagination to create something a little different.
You may wonder is there only one way to paint with watercolors?
The answer is no! When we paint we can make many choices that will allow us to use our imagination and make a view or still life or figurative painting that is a little different and special.
We are artists and that means we can all make choices when we create!
Give yourself permission to use your imagination!
You may wonder is there only one way to paint with watercolors?
The answer is no! When we paint we can make many choices that will allow us to use our imagination and make a view or still life or figurative painting that is a little different and special.
We are artists and that means we can all make choices when we create!
Give yourself permission to use your imagination!
Henri Edmund Cross " La Dogna" 1903 WC
As artists we can choose to use loose, imaginative brush strokes on dry paper. We can create a landscape using the broken brush stroke methods of an American impressionist...
Childe Hassam " Flag series" WC
Have you ever considered painting on the "wild" side and being abstract? It is good fun, using our imagination when we paint with watercolors or any medium!
Charles Demuth chose to divide his architectural composition into geometric shapes, thereby making his painting more abstract. Rex Brandt used "neutral" hues and shapes to create a painting about a location that inspired him.
Rex Brandt " At Monteray" WC 1977
On the other hand Dan Burt author of "You can paint vibrant watercolors" enjoyed using bold hues that step away from what my considered traditional.
Watercolor by Dan Burt
I like to use my imagination when painting. Frequently, I will step aside from what my inspirational photo tells me and instead change colors or values all to allow color to lend itself as I tell a visual story. I will use warm "happy" hues for some images that make me smile or I can choose to use "cool" colors to tell a more somber story.
What colors do you like to use?
Please read on and lets further discuss how you and I can make unique choices as I tell you about the steps I used in the painting of the home shown above.
What colors do you like to use?
Please read on and lets further discuss how you and I can make unique choices as I tell you about the steps I used in the painting of the home shown above.
To begin with, let's draft out our image and when done mix some fluid watercolor paint up on your palette , then wet your paper and let's have some fun dropping a variety of primary colors across the image.
For this painting I am choosing to use a variety of warm hues, especially around my house, which is my center of interest. Yes, I am stepping aside from following my photo and instead of painting a blue house with a green yard etc... I am picking different paint colors to work with!
For this painting I am choosing to use a variety of warm hues, especially around my house, which is my center of interest. Yes, I am stepping aside from following my photo and instead of painting a blue house with a green yard etc... I am picking different paint colors to work with!
I have chosen Permanent alizarin crimson , ultramarine blue and New gamboge yellow to work with, today. I have dropped in the crimson hue around the house and because I am also using ultramarine blue I can see some beautiful purples developing on my 140lb wc paper as my wet into wet techniques blend my paint into gorgeous secondary hues.
Layering paint is the easiest method of developing a painting using watercolors. Essentially the plan is to work with light washes or strokes followed by darker ones. I can create layers by working on wet paper and dropping juicy bits of wet paint onto it or I can work on dry paper and end up with a nice range of colors but with hard edges. In either case, by diluting my pigments with lots of water on my palette, I am able to control the values that I want to create with, because I begin with transparent washes and continuously add multiple layers of paint to create an exciting range of additional values. With each layer of paint my region begins to get increasingly darker.
Have you tried this method of layering paint?
Have you tried this method of layering paint?
As I build my painting, I can see what is referred to as "depth of field" ( think dimension) developing due to the layers of diluted washes + color choices that I am painting with. One element that is important to remember is that as I begin to use rich, saturated darks throughout my composition, I make my strokes slightly smaller, so that I am not painting each area over and over in equal size but rather am laying shapes or strokes one on top of another making subsequent shapes or strokes smaller as I work up from the paper. .
close up of painting
One of the things to keep an eye out for in our paintings is to avoid going too dark, too soon! So I continuously study my artwork and take black and white photos so that I can better judge my values. My goal is to see a range of values and hues throughout my subject.
value study
How does this look thus far? Ask yourself these questions :
does your painting, thus far, have a full range of values going from 1 the white of the paper to 6 or higher for your very rich saturated darks?
Does the painting require some adjustments to the lights, mid values or darks. If the answer is yes well then let's get back to work!
does your painting, thus far, have a full range of values going from 1 the white of the paper to 6 or higher for your very rich saturated darks?
Does the painting require some adjustments to the lights, mid values or darks. If the answer is yes well then let's get back to work!
close up of left side of painting
I like to spend most of my time studying my artwork, before I touch my brush to the paper. On this painting, I felt that I had gone too dark in some of my areas and the painting would benefit from "lifting" off some of the color previously painted.
Lifting is a technique where I wet a specific area, lightly rub it with my brush or a Q tip and finally blot the wet paper. The great part about this method is that I have successfully lightened some shapes in order to further contrast the lighter values next to the darker spots.
You can see in the close up photo that I lifted a few areas on the tree to the left and the bushes that stand in front of the house. My goal is to bring back out a few lighter shapes.
After lifting and decreasing the values in my trees, I wait for my paper to dry so that my final finishing strokes can have hard edges .
Lifting is a technique where I wet a specific area, lightly rub it with my brush or a Q tip and finally blot the wet paper. The great part about this method is that I have successfully lightened some shapes in order to further contrast the lighter values next to the darker spots.
You can see in the close up photo that I lifted a few areas on the tree to the left and the bushes that stand in front of the house. My goal is to bring back out a few lighter shapes.
After lifting and decreasing the values in my trees, I wait for my paper to dry so that my final finishing strokes can have hard edges .
"Home sweet home" © Beattie 11 x 14 transparent wc
The final strokes, I call "fine tuning". I go over the painting creating small calligraphic strokes to emphasize the natural shapes of leaves or siding that do not receive direct light..in other words the details that make this painting interesting.
In a final look at this painting, I got a "wild" idea and decided to add a light wash of New gamboge yellow over my foreground. Because the yellow washes are a complimentary color to the purplish hues used in the house, I was able to increase a little bit of colorful pizazz in this painting.
Yes, I have stepped aside from painting a traditional landscape with a house. Yes, I have used my imagination to be expressive with color and value. And I have had a grand time playing with paint and color today!
Why don't you give these ideas a test drive and see where your imagination can take you?
In a final look at this painting, I got a "wild" idea and decided to add a light wash of New gamboge yellow over my foreground. Because the yellow washes are a complimentary color to the purplish hues used in the house, I was able to increase a little bit of colorful pizazz in this painting.
Yes, I have stepped aside from painting a traditional landscape with a house. Yes, I have used my imagination to be expressive with color and value. And I have had a grand time playing with paint and color today!
Why don't you give these ideas a test drive and see where your imagination can take you?
Thank you for visiting this blog post and painting fearlessly with me. If you would like to learn more about my artwork I invite you to visit my web site www.beattieartworks.com and check out my original mixed water media paintings and art shop.
Are you interested in learning more about painting fearlessly with watercolors or acrylics? Please visit my art classes page, where you can register for my Fearless Painting classes? Here is a link to my in-person and online art programs for painting with watercolors or acrylics sponsored by Spokane Community College.
I also teach private online programs for those interested in a more personal approach to learning how to paint. If you are looking for a creative gift to give, how about a gift certificate from Beattie Artworks?
https://www.beattieartworks.com/art-classes.
#art , #fearless painting , #Elise Beattie , #art classes , #painting , #watercolor
Are you interested in learning more about painting fearlessly with watercolors or acrylics? Please visit my art classes page, where you can register for my Fearless Painting classes? Here is a link to my in-person and online art programs for painting with watercolors or acrylics sponsored by Spokane Community College.
I also teach private online programs for those interested in a more personal approach to learning how to paint. If you are looking for a creative gift to give, how about a gift certificate from Beattie Artworks?
https://www.beattieartworks.com/art-classes.
#art , #fearless painting , #Elise Beattie , #art classes , #painting , #watercolor
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