Watercolor Still Life Painting Step by Step – Part 3
This lesson is courtesy of Rod Webb. Rod is a veteran Watercolorist from New Zealand. You can learn more about Rod and view more of his work by following this link to reach his Website.
This is Part 3
<< Part 2
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Shadows added to show folds in cloth and holes in lace painted at the back. Light grey with a touch of green used.Whoops, I just spotted a mistake. I painted the blue background right down to the cloth over the table top. |
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Soon corrected. I laid a plastic ruler along edge where table should be to protect the background wash. Then used a wet sponge to lift the paint, still left a slight stain but that will be covered with the green. |
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Both sides were sponged off. |
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Green table surface painted. Made darker at the back and lightened at front. |
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Holes in lace painted with the grey/green mix. Remaining graphite sketch lines erased with the putty rubber. |
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Lines following the folds and curves of the cloth painted in. |
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Dots added over lines for weave effect. Strength and pattern varied. |
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Stronger shadows placed around apples to anchor them down, up to now they appeared to be floating. |
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Shadows on rear folds strengthened, pale yellow added to front fold to bring out the middle fold. |
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Some dots were darkened in the weave, rear shadows touch of blue added, yellow shadow near apple and touch of red added to front shadow. There is only just a hint of each color, although it is difficult to see in the photo. |
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Decision time, is it finished?. I usually wait a few days and have another look before deciding. |
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Placing a tempory matt around painting makes a lot of difference. Find a nice spot for you signature. Don’t know what color matt or frame I will use, any suggestions?  The image to the left shows what I considered to be my “final painting”. However, after showing this piece to several of my fellow artists, I discovered that there were a few things I could do to improve this painting.
Want to see those changes? Good, then keep reading! |
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Added some color into the background to break up the solid blue. |
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Left apple. |
Watercolor Painting Techniques – Watercolor Blooms
About Mary Ann
Raised in Mississippi, my interest in art began at an early age, but was secondary to my study of music until at the college level when I decided to pursue art as my major…..then studying Advertising Design, and not taking up watercolor painting until much later when my children were in school all day and I could devote long hours to the practice of painting. Eight to ten hours a day were spent trying to “catch up”. I was driven by the desire to learn the craft and excited when I began winning awards in both local and national shows.
My subjects have been so varied over the years, that I don’t know which is my favorite. As I tackle a challenging subject, and learn the ins and outs of painting it successfully, I move on to another challenge. I, perhaps will never be known for painting one thing all my life, as the world is so full of wonderful experiences that I want to paint them all!
At my ripe old age, I am really having fun learning new things about waterbased mediums, and my latest is painting in acrylics with a palette knife. Using blending mediums and retarders, I can make it feel as if I am painting with oils, yet they dry much faster. It is fun to get three-dimensional textures to my work. Another avenue, another adventure. I try to upload images frequently so that my students and the public can see what I am up to! It is fun, and I encourage your responses to what I produce… Read more
Watercolor Painting Demonstration by Joe Cartwright
About
I have been painting with watercolor since 1998.
My paintings cover a wide range of subjects including portraits ,seascapes, landscape, flowers, wildlife and townscapes. I do not feel inclined to specialise in any one category as any subject can make an interesting work of art.
I have been exhibiting at regional and National art shows over this period at which I have sold many paintings and received many of awards. In 2009 I won the prestigious John Copes Watercolour Prize.
I have also also exhibited and sold paintings at other major exhibitions such as the Sydney Royal Agricultural Easter Show and the Blacktown Art Show.
The Australian Artist Magazine has published my articles on two occasions.
Watercolor Painting Techniques – Painting Metal
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.
Watercolor Painting Demonstration – Simple & Confident Brushstrokes
Here are two wonderful 
watercolor painting videos from artist Vinita Pappas. The purpose of these watercolor lessons is to teach you how to paint using simple, loose and confident brushstrokes. Vinita stresses the importance of practicing your brush strokes. Strong confident brush strokes will create strong confident paintings. Its as simple as that!
Confident and Simple Brushstrokes in Watercolor Painting Part 1
This first watercolor demo is a simple warm up exercise using only one color and a head of garlic as her subject and its designed to give you more confidence in your brush strokes. Vinita sets a limit to the number of brushstrokes that she will use in this painting. She says that this teaches you how to visualize the painting process before you begin. This tutorial is painted on dry paper that has been taped down to a board with masking tape.
Watercolor Techniques – My Simple 3 Step Process
I developed my Priming Method over a period of many years, and I now teach this watercolor technique to all of my students. It is a simple but very effective 3 step process:
The first step is to apply water to the region you wish to paint and then allow the moisture to be absorbed into the paper.
Next, while the paper is still barely damp from step one, i.e. the sheen of the surface has just disappeared, lay in another light wash of clear water.
In the 3rd and final step of the Priming Method, while the previous wash is still wet and shiny, lay in your pigmented wash. Before moving on to apply further washes it is extremely important to ensure your watercolor paper is BONE DRY.
That’s it! 3 simple but extremely effective steps to mastering watercolors.
Soft Focus Watercolor Painting Technique
Here is a very interesting Watercolor Painting Technique video by artist Elizabeth Fluehr. This is a technique that you don’t see often and a somewhat unconventional usage of the Watercolor painting medium. Most of the water that she uses with this technique is for the purpose of wetting the paper and not added to the paint itself. She only uses a small amount of water to lightly dampen her brush.
The name of this technique is called the “Soft Focus” technique and you will understand why it was given this name after watching the video.
Elizabeth begins by saturating a piece of 140lb Arches Watercolor Paper with water. The paper is then allowed to sit for some time until it loses its shiny appearance.
The Looser You Get, The More Real It Seems: Watercolor Demonstration
About Debi Watson
I showed talent with my drawing from an early age, but my parents discouraged me in the hope ‘that I would pursue something more productive’.
I spent much of my adult life working as a operating room nurse, but couldn’t abandon my love for painting. Working long hours and raising two children didn’t leave me with much free time, but I still managed to paint whenever I got the chance.
Starting Life As A Watercolor Artist
Watercolor Rose Painting Tutorial – Heidi Klum Rose
About Doris Joa
My name is Doris Joa and I am an artist from Germany.
My mediums are watercolor and oil. One of my special favorite subjects are Roses and figurative work. I paint roses and also other flowers in oil and watercolor. Beside Pansies, Rhododendron, Peonies, Daisies and Tulips, there are a lot of roses in my gallery on my website like Heidi Klum Rose, Sangerhauser Jubiläumsrose, Rose “Mein schöner Garten”, Rose Golden Celebration from David Austin, Rose Innocencia, Rose New Dawn, Rose Clair Renaissance, Rose Queen Mother, Rose Bonita Renaissance and more.
My goal is to paint in romantic realism. I am also doing figurative work, portraits, still lifes and in 2005 I have started a new series of colourful Horse paintings in oil. I also have started with doing postcard paintings in 4?x6? and other small studies .
Painting Demonstration in Watercolor and Gouache
About Doug
Doug Purdon was born in Toronto, Ontario. He is a full-time painter, teacher and writer. He is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists and Ontario Society of Artists. He currently lives in Toronto with his wife, the writer Rosemary Aubert.
He exhibits his work in galleries in Canada, the US and the UK and his paintings are in many private and corporate collections, including The Toronto Public Library, The City of Toronto, The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, Sears Canada, and The Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic CT, where his painting Tugboat Alley was awarded the Museum Purchase Award in 2005. A major retrospective of his work was held in October 2007 at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto.
Doug believes that artists should continue the tradition of passing on their skills and knowledge to other artists and does this through his workshops, seminars and writing. He currently teaches courses at Loyalist College, Belleville, Ontario; Bridgewater Retreat, Tweed, Ontario; and the School of Continuing Studies, University of Toronto and in workshops for art associations across Canada.
While he paints his native Ontario, he also enjoys travelling to different locations and has painted in Scotland, England, France, and the American Southwest and on the eastern and western seaboard of North America. He is represented by Studio 737, Tweed, Ontario; Arnold Fine Art, Newport RI; and the Gallery at Mystic Seaport, Mystic CT.
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