If find it helpful to watch YouTube videos on watercolor instruction. Yesterday I landed upon a tutorial by a woman from Maine, Jennifer Branch. She uses a big brush and her style is impressionistic – two skills I am working on. I was inspired and did a couple of quick paintings.
The first was a rose. While it doesn’t look like a rose, it is the style I wanted. I am more happy with this rose than any of the other flowers I have painted thus far. So, now I have something to work on more in the floral department!
The second was inspired by the sunset outside of my window. I wanted to make a gutsy and bold statement like Phoebe did in class this week with a sunset painting. The clouds were very dark against the golden sky, the vibrant green late spring foliage was in the foreground and the mountains were muted in the background.
I was done, getting ready to dump my water when I thought, “What if I put a dark cloud over the sun.” Clearly that was NOT a smart move! My statement is the beautiful sunset and clouds, yet I lead the viewer to the purple mountains on the left. What if I were to crop the picture?
That’s a little better, but I need to do something with the grey blob over the sun! Ray also didn’t know that the bottom of the painting was a reflection from a pond. I am not sure of where I will go with this painting, but plan to do a little rework.
Key Learnings:
- Stop when you stop! Don’t overwork.
- The big brush is kind of fun!
- Live painting isn’t as scary as it seems, but you need to work fast with a subject that changes by the second.
- Drying in between layers will prevent cauliflowers!
