The addition
of watercolor.
After most of the inking had been
done I stopped to consider adding watercolor. It may be that additional pen and
ink line work will still need to be added and I will only know that after
watercolor has been added. The watercolor is meant to give color to the drawing
and not detail. All the detail is in the pen and ink work but the watercolor
will give more tone and shading and liven up the painting. In addition, the
watercolor will lend more three dimensionality to the painting.
The first task was to paint in the
sky. Here, I wanted the suggestion of clouds in a blue sky but nothing specific
to draw attention away from the subject. First, I primed the paper with two
washes of clear water. While still plenty damp (but not glistening wet), I
washed in Winsor blue, wet in wet, leaving areas of white to indicate clouds. I
even used a paper towel here and there to remove paint from some areas to
heighten the white of the clouds. Then, I let it dry.
Next, I painted in the trees – to
the left, behind the house and to the right. I used Hooker’s green, raw sienna
and French ultramarine blue. The raw sienna warmed the green, dulled it a bit
and made it more olive green in color. Olive greens just look better in
landscapes, I think, so I try to always keep my greens on that end, unless I
specifically need something else.
Because the foliage will be
splotchy and non-uniform, I painted wet on dry, starting with lighter values
and varying the combination of colors to keep variety in the greens – a bit more
raw sienna here or there, then darker some places than others, dabbing to
indicate leaves. I then mixed up darker versions of the mix and went over the
shaded areas of pen and ink, blending it outward to the lighter areas. I left
the trees behind the House lighter and simpler, with less variety of tones,
because they are further away. I made several passes, stepping back here and
there to assess the progress, looking to see if I needed any more color. There
was an unconscious tendency to add detail as I went, so I had to resist giving
in to it. I kept reminding myself that the color was playing a supporting role.
Once I was satisfied with the
trees, I painted in the roof. Here, Cadmium red, Permanent rose and a bit of
Hooker’s green to dull the mix seemed to work. Here I wanted a smooth and
uniform color, so I primed the roof first with two washes of clear water. Then
I washed in the color. I prefer many times to start out with a lighter layer
because I can always creep up on the intensity I want and I did that here.
Three or four additional washes of color were added, always preceded by two
washes of clear water. I always made sure the previous color was completely dry
before laying on a clear water wash.
Using the same combination of
greens, I painted in the two trees in front of the House and then the boxwood
hedge. Where I felt it was necessary, I added more pen and ink work, for
branches in the trees or additional foliage work. I may add more later if I
think it needs it. That’s a big help – knowing that I can alter things here and
there as it becomes necessary – tweaking it – a bit more pen and ink, a bit
more color.
More pen and ink work, or
watercolor, or a combination of each may be necessary in the final stages to
get to a final painting, but this is a good start. There’s not too much left
here to do and I believe this will be completed in the next Update.
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