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Landscape Painting in Watercolor
SIGN UP Online HERE for Winter Watercolor class
Directions to Riverbend
Park Nature Center
From the Beltway: Take Beltway Exit 44 (Georgetown Pike Rt. 193)
west 4.5 miles to right on Riverbend Rd.
From Reston or other points west of Great Falls: Go east on Georgetown Pike, through Great Falls village, then approximately 1.5 miles to a left on Riverbend Road.
Once on Riverbend Road, go about 2 miles, and veer to the right onto Jeffery Rd. Proceed approximately 1.5 miles on Jeffery Road to the end of Jeffery Road, past Potomac Hills St., to the bottom of the hill. Stay right, and go about 1/10 mile to the Nature center parking on the left.
Watch for stop signs and seasonal potholes, as these are narrow and somewhat rural roads.
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Materials
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If you already have watercolor materials, bring those with you to the first class. Otherwise, you may want to bring just a pencil and pad for sketching, and decide on which materials to get before the next class.
Art materials can by mail ordered (Jerry's Artarama, or Cheap Joe's, for example), and there are a few good local stores such as Plaza Art on Nutley St. in Vienna, Va. Michaels also has watercolor materials, at a higher price (although weekly mail coupons and register receipt coupons are readily available for up to 50% discounts).
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Watercolor Paints: Good quality paint, i.e. Winsor and Newton Artist, Holbein, etc., is important, student quality paint (i.e. Cotman or Academy) costs less, but usually does not perform as well. I use Winsor & Newton because it is consistently good, and can be purchased in many local art stores.
Emphasis will be on use of a limited palette, i.e., no more than 3 or 4 tube colors per painting.
Get as many of these colors as you can (at least the complete basic palette). Otherwise, the list is not really prioritized, as so much depends upon personal color preference, although I have included only those pigments with which I have had the most success..
Some pigments are more expensive than others, due to manufacturing costs. For Winsor & Newton, for example, a series number, 1 thru 4 is assigned to each pigment, with series I being the lowest cost, and series 4 the highest.
Usually two tube sizes are available. If you are not familiar with the colors, get the smaller tube size until you decide on your favorites.
Note: The cadmium and cobalt pigments have health warnings
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While it is highly instructive to limit the number of pigments used in a single painting(sometimes as few as 2) , I am also covering a more "full color" palette below from which I recommend limiting your selection in any single painting to 3 or 4.
Check out the page on Color Harmony on this site
Basic Palette (low-key):
burnt sienna (medium strength basic earth color)
Raw Sienna (warm yellow)
cobalt blue (medium strength middle blue, subtle mixes of useful blue-grays)
Extensions to the basic palette:
winsor blue green shade (high strength - for darker values, greens, gray mixes)
Winsor Yellow (cool yellow)
Light red (similar to, but stronger and more opaque than Burnt Sienna)
quinacridone gold (warm brownish yellow for warmer greens and fall foliage)
Cadmiums: red medium,orange,yellow (all are opaque - use with care)
permanent rose (transparent skies, warm mixes)
alizarin crimson (transparent, for strength)
French Ultramarine (granulates, strong blue-gray mixes)
cerulean blue - summer skies, greens
winsor violet (dioxazine, transparent)
Effective color schemes are often built on a triad of the three primaries, one yellow, one red and one blue pigment. Try the following pigments for a higher key (see week 3), transparent, and well harmonized result:
Winsor Yellow
Permanent Rose
Cerulean Blue
For a truly "Full color" palette, add a warmer or cooler (depending on the triad) second set of primaries to the original triad.
Over time, the benefits of thinking in terms of a color triad will become apparent in terms of overall color harmony and consistency.
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Paper (Arches 90 to 300 lb. and/or Canson 140lb sheets or pads/blocks up to 18" X 24"). Note that watercolor papers come in smooth and rough surfaces (hot and cold press), and basically two materials - inexpensive wood pulp, and higher quality rag fibers. You may want to try some of each surface type and quality. There are many good quality papers out there, and eventually you will notice the differences between them.
Brushes (synthetic/sable blends in square (up to 1") and round (up to #10). The sizes of the brushes that you will need will depend on the paper size, i.e., smaller paper size, smaller brushes. Always try to use the largest brush you can in order to get a bold result.
A small liner brush ("rigger") also comes in handy for painting delicate twigs and branches.
Palette for Mixing color
I like the John Pike palette. Any clean, white plastic or enamel surface such as old or plastic plates can work well. For outdoor painting, small bowls are easier to manage.
A loaded palette with individual paint wells is convenient, but not necessary, as you can squeeze out individual colors from their tubes in preparation of painting.
Wooden canvas stretchers (2" larger than your paper size) for stapling paper to, or sturdy board for support. These will not be needed if you are using a watercolor block of paper, which prevents the paper from wrinkling, buckling, etc.
Easel (not required but very helpful when painting outdoors) Indoors, it's important to have some way to keep your painting tilted during the painting process.
Pencil/Sketchbook A number 2 and number 6 drawing pencil will give you the range necessary to develop a value sketch (thumbnail). Alternatively, two or three gray felt-tip pens (light, medium and dark values), such as those from Prismacolor, can be used in an expressive way for this purpose.
Light duty stapler w/ 1/4" staples (Masking Tape can be used in lieu of stapling). These will not be needed if you are using a watercolor block of paper.
Spray Bottle and container for water (plant sprayer, empty plastic bottle with a wide opening, for example). Very handy for special effects, carrying water, wetting your palette, etc.
Masking Fluid for reserving small, critical highlights in your painting
Hair Dryer may be useful for speeding up drying time when necessary |
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Winter Session: 8 Weeks
Starts January 14th
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Week 1
What's so great about Watercolor?
Your definition of "Landscape"
What Materials are good to use?
How to pick a subject to paint
A short Intro to composition: Shapes + values + color
Think of your picture as big shapes within the frame
The landscape: Earth, Sky and Water - that doesn't sound too difficult...
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Week 2
A "short" discussion of each of the following:
Color Theory
Color Harmony
Color Palettes
Color Mixing
The "Personality" of Watercolor
Transparency, Granulation, "Staining/Non-staining" attributes
The importance of letting Watercolor do what it wants to do
Traditional Watercolor Techniques
Washes: The building blocks of your painting
Wet in Wet, Dry brush, glazing
The #1 Question: How much water should I use?
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Week 3
More Landscape Composition
"Seeing" a Composition in your mind's eye: everybody's a designer
The formula: Shapes + Color + Values = Composition
Letting go of literal reality - it's ok
Exaggeration/Simplification - it's sometimes required
Interpreting a subject: let your imagination go free: you really can move that tree.
High/Low Contrast and High/Low Key - the mechanics of color and value
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Week 4
Other elements of composition and technique worth mentioning:
Temperature
Direction
Overlapping Objects
Soft and Hard edges
Using the white of the paper
Shadows and Reflections
Using Thumbnail sketches and Color Studies |
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Week 5
Adding mood to your work:
Stronger skies and stronger palettes
Triads: Ultramarine, Burnt Umber, Light red |
Week 6
More mechanics: Complimentary and Analogous Palettes: Yellow/violet, blue/orange
Using Architecture and Figures to enhance your landscape |
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Week 7
More techniques (it's all about water): Salt, resists, mediums, spattering, pouring techniques
Outdoor Painting: simplify,edit
Use of Photography
Framing and presentation |
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Week 8
Developing your style
Joining an Artists Club or Group
Review/Questions
Where to go from here |
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References:
Painting Your Vision in Watercolor, Robert Wade
Watercolor - The Wet Technique, Arthur Barbour
Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green, Wilcox Guide to Watercolor pigments
Making Color Sing, Jean Dobie, Chapters 1 - 5
Public Library
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