Art Lessons For Beginners - Art Instruction Blog » Landscape/Plein Air Painting & Drawing Lessons

How to Paint a Landscape in Watercolor

rserpe — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:04:45 +0000

About John Fisher

I was born and educated in England, graduating from the Luton School of Arts (now Barnfield College) in 1945. It was my hope to become a graphic artist, but at the end of the Second World War returning service men and women had first crack at the few jobs available, and rightly so. I took a number of jobs while I tried to break into my chosen field, and ended up being a reluctant carpenter. Many years passed and I emigrated to Canada in 1952, married a Canadian woman, started a family, and in 1955 finally started on a career which took in graphic arts, owner of my own graphics arts company, art director at an advertising agency, and careers in marketing, advertising and public relations.

I wish I could claim that my passion for art burned brightly throughout those years, but alas, the need to make a living took prominence. As with many people, I always promised myself that when I retired I would get back to painting again. That time came in 1989, when my wife and I were living the winter months in our condo in Destin, Florida. Robert Long, a talented watercolour artist, was offering private lessons from his nearby condo. He was my mentor, and made my retirement years infinitely richer.

In those days Robert taught only technique, and there were rarely more than four to six of us in those early classes. From Robert I regained my interest in photography as an adjunct to painting, and as the cliche goes – I never looked back. I have had many paintings accepted and hung in exhibitions in Florida and Ontario, where I now live. I’ve won some prizes, come first in some exhibitions, and occasionally won the Citizens’ Choice awards. But I mainly paint for fun – hence the choice of name for this site.

To learn more about John and to view more of his work, please follow the link below:

===> http://www.watercoloursforfun.com/

Step by Step Watercolor Landscape Painting Demo Part 1

A step by step demo of a landscape for my class of beginners in watercolour.

My class for beginners in watercolour tackled their first serious landscape recently, and I wanted to incorporate many of the techniques we have been using over the past season. I chose this subject matter based on a old pencil sketch I’ve had kicking around in my “ideas” file for years as it uses wet-in-wet, dry brush, stone and brick, reflections, foliage, sky, and water.

Step 1

With beginners I always like to emphasize a careful drawing first, as a kind of underpinning to allow them some leeway to bring their own style to bear. I intentionally left off the reflection of the cottage until later as too many lines prove confusing at this stage.

Step 2

Next we paint in the basic roof colour, using a mixture of Raw Sienna, Brown Madder, Cadmium Red, and a touch of our standard shadow colour made from Brown Madder, and Antwerp Blue. Notice how I’ve left some negative spaces for the leaves where they cross the roof. You may notice I accidentally painted over an area on the gable which should have been left white. I corrected this by masking it off and lifting it out with plain water and facial tissue. This is why I always insist my students use only 300 lb. paper as it helps in correcting mistakes.

Step 3

We indicate the tiles or shingles with the same colour over our first wash. Using a #2 round brush we give the impression of the roof covering. No need to paint in every tile, but try to stagger them a little. Be sure to extend your tile courses under the white spaces left for the leaves.

Step 4

Now I went over the tiles with a number 2 round brush, using our standard shadow colour to emphasize certain areas. Personal style will come into play here, but the idea is to create a realistic roof area without painting in every single tile.

Step 5

Here’s how it should look at this stage, after blending this area with a #2 round brush loaded with water. Try to emphasize the ridge tiles and show he edge of the tiles along the outer roof line. Lots of opportunity here for personal style in colour and texture.

Step 6

Now put in the two chimneys, using a brick colour to match the stone cottage. Raw Sienna with a touch of Brown Madder for the brick work, followed by a slighter darker version for the bricks. Don’t attempt to paint individual bricks at this size, just indicate a few bricks here and there. Follow this up with some standard shadow colour to emphasize certain areas. If the result doesn’t please you, try blending with plain water. For the chimney pots use Cadmium Red with a touch of Brown Madder in a light wash, then show the shadow side with our standard shadow colour.

The chimney ledge is probably concrete, so indicate that with a faint shadow wash. I’ve put a shadow under that ledge, and to fix our light source and direction, I’ve painted one side in our standard shadow colour. You’ll have to mix this and try it out first. Don’t get it too dark. You can always add another layer later. This is not an architectural rendering so we’ll try for realism, but in a loose way.

Step 7

This is the basis for our stone technique.

Step 8

Mix up several stone colours from your existing palette in separate wells and try them out on scrap paper. Using a #4 round brush, paint in a series of rough stone courses, remembering to brake the courses as we did in our brick demo. No need to paint in every stone – just a suggestion. We’ll be blending all this in with water at a later stage. Mix and match colours to get that old, weathered look.

Step 9

Here is what we’re aiming for, but you can have fun with this by introducing your own style. Vary the shapes and colour, but remember this is actually a very small area of our painting whereas this photograph is a close-up in bright sunshine. Experiment on a piece of scrap paper first.

Step 10

Next blend in the results with a #4 round brush and clean water. Depending on how much colour you’ve used, you may have to work in the colour quite heavily. but try not to paint over the clean white edges of the windows and other wood trim. Stand back and look at the the results from a normal viewing distance: about six to eight feet away. You add more colour and texture to suit.

Step 11

Work this well into the paper and use lots of water.

Step 12

This will do for now, and we can come back later to modify this if needed. We’re trying to give the impression of a stone wall.

Step 13

The little lean-to shed was blocked in with a light gray made from our standard shadow colour. Carefully paint around the woodwork trim to leave white paper. The shed roof was a light wash of Burnt Sienna, my favourite rust colour.

Step 14

Put in the shadow areas and leave the whites for the tree on the RH side of the painting. You may want to go back in those shadow ares and re-indicate some of the stones to make them stand out. Our cottage is completed for now, but we may modify this at a later stage.

Step 15

The background trees are blocked in with a wash of plain water using a 45 degree flat 1/2″ brush. This enables us to allow us to let the eventual colour flow up to the edges of the cottage smoothly and gives us time to soften the top edges. The colour is gradually diluted as the background trees disappear behind the cottage.

Step 16

I decided to recommend protecting the edge of the cottage and lower wall with liquid masking to make it easier to paint the background trees. If we were painting this outdoors we would be using a looser style, but in a studio painting from a photograph more discipline is required. Here I’m using the end of a brush to push the masking around to save damaging a brush. For finework using liquid masking I have a series of relatively disposable brushes I wash out with detergent. Some colour may be lost as we eventually removed this, but the amount will not affect this subject.

View Part 2 >>

How to Paint a Landscape in Watercolor Part 2

rserpe — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:02:33 +0000

Step 17

Next we begin blocking in the background trees, using the same technique from our recent tree project. Begin by selecting areas for negative painting. Note we have left out the lower hedge for later work. Use a #4 or 6 round brush loaded with colour. As these trees are in the background they will contain more blue than our foreground mix. With the cottage protected with liquid masking, you can paint quite freely up to the edge.Next we begin blocking in the background trees, using the same technique from our recent tree project. Begin by selecting areas for negative painting. Note we have left out the lower hedge for later work. Use a #4 or 6 round brush loaded with colour. As these trees are in the background they will contain more blue than our foreground mix. With the cottage protected with liquid masking, you can paint quite freely up to the edge.

Step 18

After the second layer blend all this with a wash of clean water using a 1/2″ square brush.

Step 19

With some emphasis on the lower trees were it gets darker, step back and view the results. You should gently soften the tops of the background trees and make sure there are no accidental shapes needing treatment.

Step 20

Now indicate some tree trunks as with did in our previous tree session. Keep the distant tree trunks smaller and thinner to indicate perspective and distance. Remove the liquid masking except from the lower wall.

Step 21

Block in the foreground tree with a #6 round or 1/2″ angle brush, with a wash made from Aureolin Yellow, Sap Green, a touch of Antwerp Blue and our basic shadow colour. Switch to a #4 round brush where the leaves meet the cottage and lake.

Step 22

Here is how it should look. Note some open areas in the foliage for the sky and tree branches to show up.

Step 23

Using our foliage technique again, block in the second layer with a #6 round brush. Darken the green with Antwep Blue and our shadow colour. Keep your brush fully loaded with colour at this stage.

Step 24

Here is the second layer, just as we did in our tree project.

Step 25

Our third layer uses a darker shade of green. Using a #6 round brush fully loaded with colour, start to pick out the negative painting areas as we did in our tree project. There is plenty of scope here for personal style as you try to create a smaller leaf structure than our previous foliage project. Dab on the colour and occasionally go back and drop some colour into partly dry areas. Keep stepping back to make sure the overall effect is what you want. When in doubt, half close your eyes and squint at it. This reduces the tonal values and helps you correct any obvious areas with improper colour or placement.

Step 26

Our third layer should look something like this.

Step 27

Our fourth layer is applied using a fully loaded #4 or #6 round brush, with a darkened mixture of our basic green. Once again, seek out those areas for our negative paining technique. How you do this will depend on your personal style. Keep stepping back to view your results. Don’t rush this.

Step 28

Hold your #4 or #6 brush as shown, keeping your wrist on the paper for maximum leverage, and with your fully loaded brush dab straight down. Go back occasionally to drop some of the colour in spots not quite dry to blend in the technique.

Step 29

This is how it should look at this stage. Later you may come back and modify this to suit your personal style. That will do for today. Tune in again for the remaining images.

Step 30

Now we begin blocking in the foreground tree trunk, using a wash of Raw Sienna, a touch of Brown Madder and darkened with our basic shadow mixture. Note the branches appear to go behind the foliage. Compare this to our original tree project for this technique

Step 31

Working on the tree trunk will give the plenty of opportunity to develop your own style and technique, but here I’m working wet-in-wet using a #4 round brush well loaded with a strong shadow colour made from Antwerp Blue and Brown Madder. At the base of the trunk I leave some negative painting areas for later grass to show up. Also note the messy spot beside my brush were I was careless. Never mind, with clean water and a scrub brush I can lift this out with our blot and lift technique. 300 lb. paper is very forgiving.

Step 32

The completed trunk and branches. Later modification may be needed depending on the finished painting. In this project there is plenty of scope for your own interpretation and these images are for your guidance only. Each student will bring a different approach, both in colour, tonal values and the general appearance. There is no “right” way to realism in watercolour, and the degree of realism will depend on what you decide to create.

Step 33

Before we map in the reflections, I’ll block in the middle-ground rocks with a light wash of Raw Sienna with a touch of Brown Madder and our shadow colour. Then go over with the washes that will make one look behind the other. You can use a mix of colours including Brown Madder, Raw Sienna, our shadow colour, a touch of Ultramarine – anything you feel will give these rocks rugged and solid look. The extreme close-up images distort how we actually look at a painting, so always remember to step back occasionally for proper viewing distance. In this case about six to eight feet away.

< Back to Part 1 | Part 3 >

By John Fisher

http://www.watercoloursforfun.com/

How to Paint a Landscape in Watercolor Part 3

rserpe — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:58:25 +0000

Step 34

Now we rough in the grassy areas using an initial wash of Aurolin Yellow, Sap Green and a touch of our shadow colour. Our middle-ground rocks are finished for now, and we may come back to them later once our water reflection are painted in. We may need more contrast.

Step 35

An extreme close-up show our rocks with various colours and textures. You can achieve various effects using wet-in-wet or dry brush. Although only a small portion of this painting, it’s a secondary centre of interest so it deserves special attention. I used mostly #4 and #6 round brushes on this.

Step 36

You will notice the grass is incomplete, although the negative painting technique has been used to create a rather unkempt and wild appearance. (Nobody is going to row out there and cut the grass). I have avoided painting any grass that shows above, in the water area, to avoid “runs” when we begin our water reflections. We will tackle this later. Note also I’ve complete that background hedge area.

Step 37

I’ve completed the hedge that runs along the wall and pencilled in the reflection area again. I left this until now as too many pencil guidelines can be confusing in this sort of subject.

Step 38

Here’s how it should look at this stage as we prepare to tackle the reflections. I’ve also used liquid masking to protect the tops of the foreground bull-rushes so our water texture can run right across as we paint it in.Here’s how it should look at this stage as we prepare to tackle the reflections. I’ve also used liquid masking to protect the tops of the foreground bull-rushes so our water texture can run right across as we paint it in.

Step 39

I often turn my painting upside down when putting in reflections as it seems to lessen the confusion when sorting out the colours and tones. We are, in effect, painting our cottage and some other parts in reverse and in watery colours and tones. We’re moving into unknown territory here, as the exact colour and tone will depend on the quality of the water and how still it is. Dirty water gives fewer reflections. Moving water will distort the reflections. I’ve chosen a nice clean lake in calm weather. No matter how calm, water usually has some movement or ripples, so we must indicate this by making the edges wobbly and irregular. Our colours and tones must also be watery and fairly loose. Lots of room here for personal style and experiment. You might want to try this out on some scrap paper before venturing onto the actual painting.

Step 40

In this extreme close-up I’m roughly indicating the tiles on the roof in an appropriately watery colour and tone.

Step 41

Having completed my watery rendering of the cottage I turn my painting back to its original position and blend in the results with a 1/2″ flat brush, turning it on its edge in places to imitate ripples or waves.

Step 42

Here’s how it should look at this stage. Once we start putting in the colour and texture of the water, we can blend this in until it’s less dominant. There’s plenty of room for error here as long as you don’t start off with strong dominant and staining colours in your first reflections. You can always add some colour at a later stage.You will notice a long thin line of almost white paper where the shoreline meets the water – it usually pays to put this in even if it doesn’t exist in the reference photograph or while your painting outdoors. It helps the optical illusion of shoreline difference.

Step 43

Our reflections begin with a clear wash of water over the whole area. Use a 1/2″ flat brush and soak up to the protected edges leaving that narrow edge where the shoreline meets the water, and the same with the middle ground grass and rocks. While this is still wet (at the glisten stage) block in a wash of Cobalt Blue with a touch of Antwerp blue. As you will be applying this to wet paper the colour will be diluted, so make it stronger than usual. Try it out first. Apply this with horizontal strokes so if any brush marks show they will look like water reflections. From now on all our additions must be in horizontal strokes. Notice I’ve also added some horizontal strokes of colour using our basic wash with added blue, green and gray. Lots of room here for personal style. Stand back and look – if it looks like water, it is!

Step 44

In this extreme close-up I’ve added some dark green/blue above the rock area and I’m lifting out some grass and water sparkle with a knife. Your paper must be dry when you do this, and don’t overdo this technique or it will look obvious. Knife strokes must be horizontal in the water, but follow the grass when doing that area.

Step 45

Here is how it should look at this stage. No two painters will achieve the same results from this sort of subject, and that’s good. You can begin to develop your own style and brush strokes. As long as you keep your additional colours and strokes horizontal and don’t overdo it the water and reflections will be fine.

Step 45

Occasionally turn your painting upside down and step back. See if anything looks out of place and in need of modification.

Step 46

Next we remove all the liquid masking and begin painting the bull rushes. Notice I have modified the reflections by adding more colours to the water and increased the depth of colour in the roof reflection and some shadow areas. As each of your paintings will differ in colour and tone, this modification will allow you scope to use your own style.

Step 47

Here is a photo reference of a typical clump of bull rushes.

Step 48

Begin with a wash of Raw Sienna and a touch of Burnt Sienna to get that rusty brown look.

Step 49

Here I’m using a few passes of a hair spray substituting for a professional fixative after I completed my under-painting of the bull rushes. This will prevent the background rock colour from running when I complete those rocks. If I put the rocks in first it would be difficult to cover the darker colours and texture, and to paint in all that undergrowth with liquid masking would be too tiresome and look clumsy.

Step 50

All done. I’ve added some more foreground foliage using our negative painting technique and put in a few finishing touches here and there. I usually let completed painting stand around in my studio for a few days so I can walk by and note any last minute touches I feel should be done. Students often ask me “How do I know when my painting is finished?” My answer is usually evasive as in “It all depends”. Beginners (and some of us who should know better) often overwork a painting. Learn when to leave well enough alone. After all, it’s the NEXT painting that really counts, isn’t it?

< Back to Part 2

By John Fisher

http://www.watercoloursforfun.com/

Pastel Painting for Beginners Step by Step

rserpe — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:12:37 +0000

About Christine Kane

Christine Kane is a pastel and watercolor artist who is inspired by the Midwest landscape and it’s seasons. To find new ideas for her paintings, she hikes in the forest preserves during all seasons.

Christine began drawing at an early age. She focused her education on art and has a degree in Graphic Design. She is continuing her studies and is currently pursuing a degree in Natural Resources.

Translating weather is also evident in her work. “Weather makes a landscape painting come to life. How I love to show leaves blowing in the Autumn time, snow falling in winter, or a beautiful thunderstorm approaching in my summer paintings.”

Christine finds God’s handwork in all aspects of nature and tries to translate her awe and reverence in her artwork. Never disappointed, she relies on His creation for inspiration.

To learn more about Christine and to view more of her work, please visit her site by following the link below:

==> http://letspaintnature.com/

Christine’s work can be viewed at the LaGrange Art Gallery

Let’s Paint November Sunset!

What is it about November that I like so much? Could it be the calm before the storm (peace before holiday chaos)? Could it be the de-clutter of leaves on the trees, providing a sort of de-clutter in my mind? Is it the warmth of the sweater that surrounds me or the first sip of hot chocolate? I’m sure it is a combination of all of these and many more. I love autumn even when it sheds its happy colors and puts on a more subdue garment. At this time of year, the grays and browns dominate, but you can still catch some exciting colors in the sky.

So let’s enjoy this time of the season by making a pastel painting of a November Sunset! This is going to be 100% pastels from start to finish. It won’t be too hard and you will have sooooooooo much fun in the process!

Step 1

I am using a sheet of Kitty Wallis Museum Grade 18×12 pastel paper. It feels like sand paper. You can get this wet and apply an undercoat, which we will do in a few steps. I made a rough sketch with a pastel pencil, it doesn’t matter what color, it will disappear in the end.

Step 2

Holy Hot Tamales!!! This is a fun step, well all of them are fun, but this step will connect you to your child like self buried deep, deep, down somewhere. Don’t worry about the bold dark color. This will be painted over. In this step and the next few, we are just laying down color. I am using Rembrandt pastels. Scribble in most of the sky using a dark pink, a little red and some orange. Repeat the same colors in the water.

Step 3

Now take a medium blue and scribble in the rest of the sky and some of the water. Take a dark blue and scribble in where the distant trees are just above the horizon.

Step 4

Look Mom! Look what I brought home from 1st grade! Hahahahahaha. In this step scribble in the land with a dark maroon/brown. Wait until you see what comes next!

Step 5

Now we are going to spread it around. Pour a small amount of turpentine (smells) or turpenoid (doesn’t smell) in a cup and wet a 2? bristle brush. Dab on a paper towel to get excess off. You do not want it sopping wet. Start on the lightest color and touch the pastel spreading it around with small sweeping strokes. Clean brush before you move to the next color.

That’s what I’m talking about! Yessssss. Spread it around now! This is an undercoat. Don’t worry how obnoxious it looks. We are going to apply another top coat of soft pastels. Only a tiny amount of this color will show through. Let this dry completely.

Step 6

We will start at the top and work our way down. When your undercoat is dry, take a light pink pastel and paint in the sky. I hate saying exact color names or numbers on my step by steps. I do not want people to run out and buy more art supplies because they think they don’t have the “right” color. All colors are right. All colors are usable. Use what you have. When I’m determining what color to use on top of an undercoat, I just use a shade lighter.

Paint in the sun colors using a lighter orange and a touch of dark yellow. Paint the lower half of the sky with a light blue.

Step 7

With your finger and a light touch, blend the two colors with a sweeping strokes.

Step 8

Using the light blue sky color, fill in the water near the horizon. Take a medium blue pastel and paint in the distant trees. Using your finger blend the trees upward towards the sky. Looking good so far.

Step 9

Now I realized my maroon land color was not dark enough, so I’m adding a very dark blue Unison pastel color. The darkest Rembrandt is not really dark enough for me. Unison pastels can get very, very dark. I also painted more of the water with the light sky blue color.

Step 10

This is a close up of the land where I’m going to describe how to paint the dried grasses. Now because the light technically is coming from the back and it’s the beginning of evening, the grasses will not have much color. Using a dark blue pastel pencil, make dots and lines on top of the water just above the land. This represents cattails in the distance. Next take a gray-purple pastel and make lines for grass on the land. I like to be messy about it. Neat is boring.

Step 11

Take a lighter pastel, like a light gray-brown and make some grasses in the front. Take your dark blue pastel or pastel pencil and make some tiny grass sticks here and there in the very front, some put right in the water. Oh this is coming along nicely!

Step 12

Using a dark blue pastel pencil, paint in the trees. I thinned them out from the picture. I didn’t want them to be too distracting. After my trees were established I went over them with a dark brown color. Working on the water, take the same sky colors and paint the foreground. Don’t forget the nice orange color of the sunset. Make sure you add the tree trunks reflecting in the water.

Step 13 Final

Add more blue sky color to the water in the foreground. Because the wind was so strong, it was breaking up the reflection in the water, so paint some more like blue and pink in the water.

Lastly, let the sun kiss the tree trunks and limbs by adding some hot colors; hot pink and orange work nice. Finished!

“Sweet November Sunset”
pastel,18×12

If interested in purchasing the original, click here to see availability.

I hope you enjoyed this free step by step pastel painting demonstration. I am so very honored that God has blessed me to be able to share this with you.

Watercolor Painting Tutorial Variegated Sky Wash

rserpe — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:30:14 +0000

In the following Watercolor Painting Tutorial you will learn how to create a Variegated Sky Wash. While similar to a graded or graduated wash, the purpose of the variegated wash is to create a smooth transition between multiple colors. This is the reason why this technique is so challenging for beginners. With more than one color involved, things can get messy if you are not careful.

In the following video, Bob Davies will demonstrate how to create this variegated sky wash. He will be using three different colors for this particular demonstration. The first color is a warm grey created from a mixture of light red and ultramarine blue. The second color is a light red and the last color is raw sienna. He is using a No.12 round brush and 140lb Bockingford Paper.

One particular problem that you may run into while painting your sky wash, are those annoying stripes, that can quickly ruin the illusion of the sky. If you would like to avoid those unwanted stripes while doing this kind of wash, Bob recommends that you dampen the paper first with clean water. This will enable your colors to blend much easier and help avoid the stripes. You will however need to make your colors stronger as they will be diluted somewhat with the addition of the water.

These three colors together will give you a lovely variegated wash reminiscent of a beautiful evening sunset.

Learn exactly how to do it in the step by step lesson below. Enjoy and happy painting!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G56m4ImJZzM

Big thanks to instructor and artist Bob Davies for sharing this wonderful tutorial. Bob has more wonderful lessons, on his YouTube page, so be sure to head on over after viewing this lesson. You can also check out his website, Watercolor Secrets, which is a step by step online instructional course.