Rules. Basics. Secrets. More rules…..
For the beginner watercolorist, it can be, all very overwhelming to try to remember it all!
You don’t have to.
Painting Water
My thoughts on painting water.
Keep it super simple.
For Beginners: Short easy sessions, that you focus on just one technique at a time are the key.
Just one process you want to get down.
Not the whole shebang at once.
You can have a lot of fun, keeping it simple, learning to paint water.
Impressionist Approach
Keep it nice and loose.
Carefree. Fun.
In an Impressionist’s approach.
Its really about Your impression of the subject you paint.
Its more about how you are feeling about the subject that makes the difference.
Its how you personally are interpreting it, what dialogue you have between the two of you… that counts most.
Just let us know, show us.
Sometimes the water appears bright and tropical, fun and summery. Light and easy.
So. Paint it that way.
Utilise white sparkles of the paper shining through, to accent and highlight this point.
Don’t allow it or yourself, to get all bogged down and tight; the work filled with hard edges won’t capture the fun loose and carefree vibe.
Sometimes the water appears dark. Choppy. Moody and Sullen.
Well, paint that feeling! cool, stormy colors with short choppy strokes will evoke this sensation.
Leaving white of the paper is a big help.
Painting a few squiggled lines for ‘ripples’ is another fast and simple method that works quite well many times.
Graded washes, light -mid – dark tones in your water, is another key factor to remember.
The other thing to remember about water, is that the farther away it is – white waves will be ‘greyed off’ not stark white, and the less detail, the less color intensity, the less contrast, the less strong dark deep tones it will have.
That right there, is worth jotting down!
Beginners Watercolors
Beginners at watercolor, may find it useful and easier, to begin with simpler designs.
Simple basic easy shapes.
Starting right at the beginning.
Nothing too complicated or complex, no matter how much our minds are leaping to do so.
I know.
We are yearning to…. paint that busy harbour scene filled with action.
Boats, sailors, shipping lines, cargo carriers, seagulls in flight, reflections shimmering, sailboats flying in the wind.
But, I have discovered, small steps.
One thing at a time, works.
Sinks in.
So that week by week, month by month we do see incremental improvements.
Then, we can paint the more involved scene.
Such as the shadowed fir trees reflected in the misty early morning waters of the Pacific Northwest.
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Watercolor loose and free and easy
Watercolor Impressionist – John Peter Russell
