Autumn Mist
04/01/06 Update:
This past October, Rita was traveling East on I-435 and she popped over
a hill (just past Holmes) and she saw a scene where the sun was streaming
down into a valley that was misty/foggy. Of course, being the good
artist that she is, she slowed down to get a mental picture in her mind.
Now for those of you in the Kansas City area, you know what that means,
i.e. slowing down on I-435? Yes, you're definitely taking your life into
your own hands! But on this particular morning, the Lord protected her and
she did not get rear-ended! However, she may have heard a few screeching
tires from other drivers popping over the hill and trying to avoid her
very slow vehicle! :) But as an artist, she was oblivious to all of that!
After all, what's more important than art and a pretty scene? Especially
when you're out and about without a camera, i.e. no reference photos here!
But the adventure to capture the mental image was worth it! (I know, I may
be a bit biased!) When Rita returned home, she grabbed her sketch pad and
produced this sketch:
Just so you know, the church, the rocks, the mist, and the sunlight were
actually present in that scene. Rita has rearranged them to create a more
dramatic composition. And as you can see, this sketch is somewhat different
than the final piece. But it provided a good starting point for planning
out the final composition of Autumn Mist.
4/8/06 Update:
Since we wanted to jump right into the new technique, we going to skip the
pencil sketch on the watercolor paper itself. But you can see the outline
of a group of trees on the middle right side of the piece. What amazes me
about this image is the list of paints used:
- Windsor Yellow
- Windsor Red
- Cobalt Blue
Yes, that's the complete list! I thought she was teasing me when I asked for
the list, but she assured me that this was it! I know that I'm easily amazed.
But still, three paints? So for the purpose of this how-to, you will need to
have a basic understanding of the color wheel. In case you need a refresher,
there are three primary colors; red, blue and yellow. Red and blue will give
you shades of purple. Blue and yellow will give you shades of green. Red and
yellow will give you shades of orange. All three, for this piece, would give
you shades of brown. And remember that these pigments are transparent versus
opaque or staining.
Rita started with three bowls (one for each color), about the size of plasic
margarine tubs (hint: the plastic lids are helpful in keeping the paints from
drying out!) and mixed the paint with water, about the same consistency as milk.
The technique we're going to describe is a pour technique. And the steps are
very simple; tilt, pour, spray, brush. For this pic, there were three pour
sessions. This week we're going to describe the first pour. Next week, we'll
wrap up the discussion for the remaining two pours.
The sky pour (when it rains it pours!):
Tilt: Imagine a blank sheet of paper with nothing but a pencil sketch of key
features. Rita wanted the clouds to have a layered look. So she tilted the
piece on it's left side. Like this:
The angle of the tilt varies depending on how fast you want the paint to run
off the board.
Pour: Rita then took the blue bowl and poured a small puddle of blue on the top
left side (where the blue is bluest!).
Spray: She then used a spray bottle to further wet the paper (yes, she had pre-wet
the entire sky). The spray created a trail for the blue paint to follow as it
flowed down the paper. The spray also created a really soft edge to the clouds.
Brush: With the paint running down the paper, she'd use her brush to make any
adjustments to the track. This is how she dispersed the blue into a soft edge
of the clouds towards the bottom.
Now between the left most blue sky and the trees, you can see two additional layers
of blue/purple. Rita used the same technique, except that she added a small touch
of red to get the purple effect in the clouds as the blue was dripping down the page.
04/15/06 Update:
Today we want to finish the remaining pours. Tilt:
Pour: As you can see, Rita wanted to backlight the tree's with sunlight. Therefore
she used the yellow bowl to pour several puddles.
Spray and Brush: The technique is basically the same as we described last week.
And you can see the effect as she brushed out the yellow into the blue sky!
But the last pour is where things got really fun. Tilt:
As you can see, we've now flipped the image and have it ready for the last series
of pours. Before that was done, Rita did mask off the foreground and sky areas. That
is why you can see the drips from the pour in the foreground did not take.
Pour: This part got a little more complex because Rita was pouring a three colors
individually. Behind the penciled trees, she poured red. Below that, she poured
yellow and below that, was the blue. So where the blue and yellow mixed on the paper
we have shades of green. And where the red and yellow mixed, we have the shades of
orange. And in the blues, you can see where the red dribbled in to create shades of
purple. Is that fun or what!
Spray: Now this is going to be a little more difficult to explain, but here goes.
Before the pour, Rita did pre-wet the paper. This gave the paint the oppourtunity
to spread across the paper in various shades of color. But the tricky part was
creating the mist. To do this Rita actually sprayed the color off the paper by
getting it really wet. If you can imagine, she has a small stream of water coming off
the paper. By adjusting the flow of water, she created the extremely soft edges of
the mist. Obviously, some experimentation was required to figure all of this out.
Brush: Some brush work was done, but primarily in the tree line/church steeple. By
brushing this in it helped to prevent the splash of unwanted color in the sky area.
This concludes the "pour" technique for this piece. From this point forward, Rita
will revert to more traditional techniques to finish the piece. However, she's still
using the same three colors for her palette. But what really makes the pour technique
effective is the use of transparent pigments.
4/22/06 Update:
The next time you drive into the sun, notice what happens to the shapes and color of
various objects. With the sun backlighting them, basically what you see is a
silhouette. And that is exactly what Rita is doing today.
Today's images illustrate, at least in part, what Rita did to build up the silhouette
of the hill. The first image she still has the mask applied to the foreground. The
second image, the mask is gone. She began mixing her three colors to get the yellow,
orangey brown shades. And then began applying them where the tree tops would extend
above the mist and be hit by the sun, ok, back lit by the sun. And then she really
darkened down the bottom of the hill where the foreground begins to overlap.
By using transparent pigments, notice how the base colors still come through the image.
Again, the web images don't do this justice. But if you were to examine the original
piece you would see how all of the colors blend together!!
We discussed in previous how-to's the design element of repetition. And how odd numbered
repetitions of various elements add more compositional interest than even numbered.
Without looking below, examine the last image above and identify elements where Rita has
used repetition. How many can you identify?
- three layers of sky separated by three layers of clouds
- three distinct hilltops
- three groups of treetops extending above the mist (or is it five?)
- three white dots (which will disappear later)
- three groups of foreground shrubs (not yet painted)
- three rock outcroppings (not yet painted)
4/29/06 Update:
Rita has a dear friend who will periodically come over (at Rita's request) to help
critique a piece. Unfortunately or fortunately, she has a very sarcastic sense of
humor. And when she saw this piece, she quipped, "What exploded?" So as you view
today's image, just remember that Rita is not painting fireworks! But maybe there's
something we can do to use fireworks to create a unique application of watercolor
paint across the paper? ;)
If it's not obvious, Rita is painting the base colors for a back-lit group of trees.
And no, nothing has exploded! At least not yet!! From a technique perspective, Rita
has used her spray bottle to pre-wet the paper, i.e. some areas are wetter than others.
But the overall feel of the paper is slightly damp, since she doesn't want the paint to
bleed across the paper. So, the paper alternates between dry and slightly damp.
Using a brush and pure yellow paint, she begins dabbing the paint in the areas that she
wants her leaves. Also, she want to leave a little white paper to identify where the
light is the brightest. After the yellow is applied, she has mixed some more shades
of brown on her palette and begins to apply the darker browns to denote where shadows
of the leaves will be.
Now, where the paper is dry, it will leave a hard edge to the paint and she begins to
form the general shape of leaves. And where it is damp she will let it bleed and help
form a grouping of leaves.
Rita enjoys a feedback rich environment. Because she emotionally gets very involved in
each piece as she paints, she appreciates objective critiques from family and friends.
Positive and negative feedback is provided and Rita will listen without reacting. (For
me, if I get negative feedback, I tend to react to that feedback.) My point is this, if
you want to improve a piece that you're working on, generally feedback from a trusted
friend will do wonders to help you see what could be done to make it better. Now that's
not to say that Rita will always use that feedback, because she doesn't. But I'm always
surprised at how often she will make adjustments that improve a piece based on the
feedback provided to her.
6/10/06 Update:
Today, we're going to be "branching" out to a new topic; branches. Yes, unfortunately,
the pun was intended! But Rita is painting in the tree trunks on the right, the branches
in the trees and finally the scrub branches on the far left.
I'm always amazed at what Rita will do! For example, I would have painted just one trunk
of a tree on the right, rather than three. When I ask her why she did that, she quips
something about interesting shapes. Earlier in this how-to, we discussed the design
element of repitition. And it's interesting to note that she carries that theme on with
three trunks as opposed to just one. But notice how she tied the three trunks together to
make an interesting shape. The trunk on the left has no apparent branches, but she bends
it to the right and the bend of the trunk adds interest to the grouping. The middle trunk
has two (or is it three?) branches off of the trunk. And the farthest left trunk has no
apparent branches until we almost get into the leaves. So each trunk individually is very
unique. And when combined they create a very pleasing and interesting shape.
If you haven't guessed by now, shape is also another design element. If you're an artist,
look at your latest piece and identify what shapes you have in the image. And how can you
add interest by modifying those shapes? Again, I think this is a learned skill, but it does
take practice to develop. So, practice, practice, practice!!!
Again, her colors were mixed on her pallette with the red, yellow and blue. But on the
right side of the tree trunks, she leaves it a light yellow and works her way to the left
with brown and then almost a brownish black. This effect goes a long way towards giving
the illusion that sun is shining behind the tree. Rita also carries this on with the branches
of the scrub on the left side. You can see that she has left highlights where the sunlight
is hitting those branches.
And finally, Rita has added branches among the leaves to help tie them together. She fades
them in and out among the leaves, as if the leaves are partially in front of them. How cool!
6/17/06 Update:
This week, Rita begins to build the foreground. Before she started painting, she added
some mask/resist to the areas where the weeds/brush will extend into the rocks. And then
she started the rocks. Now realizing that I'm unbiased and very objective, I think Rita
does great rocks!!! Ok, so I'm a little (or totally?) biased, but don't tell anyone else!!
But her rocks rock!!! They're unique and have a style that is very rock-like! So how does
she do it?
If you live in the Midwest, then you probably have seen limestone rocks as you drive along
where they've made cuts into the sides of the hills. And you've probably noticed that
limestone is a very layered rock. And when it's initially exposed, it has some color,
typically yellows to browns. But the longer it's in the sun, the more bleached it becomes.
And the longer it's exposed to the elements, the rounder the edges become. So for this
piece, Rita has replicated layered, weathered limestone rocks.
Part of the rocks are painted wet and part are painted dry. But before we go there, note
that Rita was careful to preserve the white paper, where the sun is hitting the rocks.
The darker areas of the rocks, were painted on wet paper. As the paper dries, she
continues to add more paint until she gets it as dark as she wants. For the lighter areas
of the rocks, she paints then on dry paper. And this gives her the control to create the
layered look of the limestone. How cool is that!
Next Rita painted in the weeds/shrubs. And she used her favorite brush for shrubs, the
toothbrush! Yes, those weeds are nothing but a bunch of splatters!! The trick is
splattering the paint where you want it and avoid splattering where you don't want it!
Profound isn't it! :) And remember, that the mask/resist protects the paper to give the
lighter part of the weeds.
Finally, Rita went back to the rocks and painted the shadows of the tree trunks on the
rocks. The sharper edges were painted dry and then water was used to fill in the shadows
with paint.
6/24/06 Update:
In today's image, Rita has finished the foreground. For the weeds/shrubs close to the
rocks, she used the same technique as described in last week's update. However, the
technique she use for the weeds from left to center of the foreground is completely
different. And by doing so, she created a different look and texture. So, how did she
do it? Good question!
Have you ever painted your house (inside or out) and used a real brush? That is, one
that you wanted to reuse? And because you wanted to reuse it, you were forced to clean
it! And so you put soap and water on it (ok, it has to be latex paint) and rinse and
rinse again. And as you're attempting to get all of the water out, you snap the brush
down with your elbow/wrist in a sudden abrupt movement. And even though you thought
you had all of the water out previously, the centrifigal force pushed more water out of
the brush. For the sake of today's discussion, we're going to call that action 'flecking'
the brush. Now this newly described "technical" term was invented by Rita! Now if
flecking previously meant something different to you, we apologize! We'd also like to
hear from you on what you thought flecking really meant. It's too bad we don't have a
chat room attached to this web site! And then we could debate the finer points of
flecking in real time. :)
Ok, back to the real subject at hand! To achieve the layered look, Rita applied a mask
to the weeds where she wanted them lighter, i.e. where the sunlight was hitting them.
So we're going to fleck in two layers or passes. First pass will be to fleck on paint
where it will be darker. And Rita will use her standard watercolor brushes, Sizes 2-8,
depending on the size of weeds she wants. (When flecking, you need to protect the areas
that you don't want painted!) If you can visualize this, essentially each fleck becomes
an individual weed. So to create the group of weeds, there was a lot of flecking.
Then she rubbed off the mask. And where you had mask you have white paper. Now she
repeats the flecking process. And she will continue to fleck until the white paper has
the look she was after. Of course the combination of the two passes makes the base of
the weeds darker (shadow) than the lighter (sunlit one pass) parts of the weeds. And
then she will brush in some additional texture to tie the two together. Hopefully, this
helps you see how it can be done. Of course, to do it successfully requires practice.
So practice, practice, practice!
7/1/06 Update:
And here's the final image from the 3rd page in her online gallery:
Autumn Mist
This final image has been meticulously color corrected and fine tuned by Rita. As I
compared this final image with the previous how-to image, it was obvious that the
previous image was too contrasty. By that I mean the highlights were too bright
and the shadows were too dark. And that was not what Rita had envisioned for this
piece!
Once Rita has finished painting the piece, she enters what I call the 'fine tuning'
phase. While the piece is still stapled to the board, she moves it from room to room
as she does other chores or activites. For example, when she's cooking, it's in the
kitchen (usually on top of the microwave). And there will be many glances in that
direction. And when she moves to another room, she hauls it in there. Why does she do
all of that? And how long does this go on? Good questions!
For most artists(?), when we've just completed a piece, there's a lot of emotional
energy involved and we're looking at the piece, thinking, this has got to be my best
piece ever! Right? Maybe. Maybe not. It may be close to being the best piece, but is
it there yet? Is there some fine tuning required, an adjustment here or there that
would enhance the image? How do you become more objective about the piece? Give it
some time. At least that's what Rita does. As she hauls the piece from room to room,
she giving herself some time to become more objective. Plus, she's evaluating it in
different lights and settings. North light, south light, florescent light, tungsten
light, no light! (You've got to get some sleep! And if you can't sleep, you're still
too emotionally attached to the piece!!) :)
For Rita, this process may last anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.
And yes, Rita knows a national watercolorist who will take a piece out of the frame
to fix something wrong. It's not done if your eye catches something that doesn't
look right to you.
And what did Rita see in this piece? Primarily, the leaves of the trees on the right.
As she look at the piece, she felt that the leaves needed a little more definition.
Once she made the adjustments, the piece still traveled around the house with her for
another day or two. I'm always glad to hear her say, I've signed it. That's my signal
that she's finished with the piece.
That wraps it up!! If you have questions, just send us an email.