Painting from reference photographs

Ullswater Mooring

I think this would make a great reference photo for a watercolour painting.

These shouldn't be copied to every pixel, but used as an idea, or for scale.

The horizon of the lake could be moved lower to give more drama in the sky.

More detail could then be added to the boat.

I would ignore the canoeists, not that I dislike canoeists, I would want to create a sense of space and tell a story about the single boat.

The mountains could be painted with more atmosphere and misty conditions with wet in wet and plenty of water. The trees on the shore could give a strong tonal value against the light tones of the lake. This would add more drama to the painting.

I would also imagine a few more reflections under the gorgeous Red sailing boat.

The float could be masked out with masking fluid?

The lake could shimmer with a little wax added.

I would keep to a limited palette of around four to five primary colours Cadmium Red been a definite contender.

So all it needs now is paint to paper.

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Sunflowers in watercolours

Sunflower Day

Painted in Watercolours

I'm really enjoying working on the Saunders Waterford paper for a change. It reacts in different ways to the Arches. The Sunflowers were shouting to be painted, after one failed result. I attacked with a calm and open mind or Brush!! In fact I mainly used a flat synthetic brush for most of the painting. 

It started with  dampened paper, I added weak washes of paint, moved the board around. Stronger values were added along with sprinkles of salt and sprays of fine water. I painted it all in one wet in wet sitting. No hairdryer, just a cool room letting the paint softly merge together.

Gosh it was fun. I wondered about more detail?

But the brush has been laid down and the artist is happy with the outcome :-)

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