 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 |
September 13, 2011
Repeats & Values
Last week, arriving in Normandy Park to do a watercolor demo, I was stunned by
the beauty of the beach and surroundings. Bright sunlight glanced off water and
buildings, creating warm shadows.
My plan was to paint a repeat of a watercolor that had previously sold and had
been special to me, entitled "A Little Paradise" ( view it on the Classes/Workshops
page). It turned out to be a good choice as the light and shadow of my
surroundings was similar to the subject of that painting.
Achieving a feeling of strong light always requires strong darks for high contrast.
So I brushed dark perylene green, olive green, cerulean blue, and a little alizarin
crimson into the background, careful to paint around the shapes of the houses.
Then with the white areas saved, I used a slightly smaller brush to add cerulean
blue, raw sienna,and a touch of alizarin crimson to the shadows. The windows
and the figure were painted last.
Warmed by the fellowship with a talented group of painters at the demo, I finished
the painting quickly. While it was not exactly like the first one, I was satisfied with it,
KC
.
Repeats & Values
Last week, arriving in Normandy Park to do a watercolor demo, I was stunned by
the beauty of the beach and surroundings. Bright sunlight glanced off water and
buildings, creating warm shadows.
My plan was to paint a repeat of a watercolor that had previously sold and had
been special to me, entitled "A Little Paradise" ( view it on the Classes/Workshops
page). It turned out to be a good choice as the light and shadow of my
surroundings was similar to the subject of that painting.
Achieving a feeling of strong light always requires strong darks for high contrast.
So I brushed dark perylene green, olive green, cerulean blue, and a little alizarin
crimson into the background, careful to paint around the shapes of the houses.
Then with the white areas saved, I used a slightly smaller brush to add cerulean
blue, raw sienna,and a touch of alizarin crimson to the shadows. The windows
and the figure were painted last.
Warmed by the fellowship with a talented group of painters at the demo, I finished
the painting quickly. While it was not exactly like the first one, I was satisfied with it,
KC
.
September 22, 2011
Finding Inspiration in Unlikely Places
Last Spring my Mother's Day plan had been to drive out to the town of
Snohomish with bikes on the rack and cycle the Centennial Trail,
though to make a long story short, rain stopped us after a few miles of
cycling. But I had kept busy with my sketchbook that day, and looking
back on those drawings, the one that caught my eye was actually
penned from the car on Bothell Way heading to Snohomish.
While my husband maneuvered through traffic, I had sat idly sketching
and something about the configuration of the buildings, cars,and
pedestrians caught my eye. Later back home I copied the sketch onto
a 1/4 sheet of watercolor paper and proceeded to paint the sky with
raw sienna and a little ultramarine blue, then used those colors along
with perylene green and cerulean blue to charge in the dark trees,
painting around the building shapes. Some alizarin crimson added to
the sienna produced the orange walls, and the cars and figures were
added next. Lastly, the resulting mix of colors on my palette produced
the warm grey for the foreground.
I liked the ordinary casualness of the painting and the fact that it had
been inspired by a most unlikely place!
KC
Finding Inspiration in Unlikely Places
Last Spring my Mother's Day plan had been to drive out to the town of
Snohomish with bikes on the rack and cycle the Centennial Trail,
though to make a long story short, rain stopped us after a few miles of
cycling. But I had kept busy with my sketchbook that day, and looking
back on those drawings, the one that caught my eye was actually
penned from the car on Bothell Way heading to Snohomish.
While my husband maneuvered through traffic, I had sat idly sketching
and something about the configuration of the buildings, cars,and
pedestrians caught my eye. Later back home I copied the sketch onto
a 1/4 sheet of watercolor paper and proceeded to paint the sky with
raw sienna and a little ultramarine blue, then used those colors along
with perylene green and cerulean blue to charge in the dark trees,
painting around the building shapes. Some alizarin crimson added to
the sienna produced the orange walls, and the cars and figures were
added next. Lastly, the resulting mix of colors on my palette produced
the warm grey for the foreground.
I liked the ordinary casualness of the painting and the fact that it had
been inspired by a most unlikely place!
KC
October 5, 2011
Finding the Right Key
The painting at right was inspired by a walk along the Snohomish
River last Spring. Back then I had penned a quick sketch, but just
yesterday re-opened the sketchbook and drew the scene onto
watercolor paper. The composition was already there: layers of sky,
land, and water, with an arabesque type entry. But the next step, ie
values, needed to be planned.
For this painting, I chose a predominance of light values. I assigned
the sky and water to be light and light-mid-tone respectively. But what
about the narrow layer of land and trees? For this area, I decided on
medium-dark tones with just touches of very dark values near the
figures and white areas for contrast.
Overall this is a high key painting,meaning that light values are
dominant. A painting with mostly light values feels free and open, a
sensation that I wanted to convey about the river walk that day. The
opposite, a low key painting, provides a more settled, interior feel, or
may connote high drama depending on the subject and composition.
The key is one more consideration when planning your watercolor. I
always recommend taking plenty of time for planning and limit your
time on the actual painting to avoid overworking
KC
Finding the Right Key
The painting at right was inspired by a walk along the Snohomish
River last Spring. Back then I had penned a quick sketch, but just
yesterday re-opened the sketchbook and drew the scene onto
watercolor paper. The composition was already there: layers of sky,
land, and water, with an arabesque type entry. But the next step, ie
values, needed to be planned.
For this painting, I chose a predominance of light values. I assigned
the sky and water to be light and light-mid-tone respectively. But what
about the narrow layer of land and trees? For this area, I decided on
medium-dark tones with just touches of very dark values near the
figures and white areas for contrast.
Overall this is a high key painting,meaning that light values are
dominant. A painting with mostly light values feels free and open, a
sensation that I wanted to convey about the river walk that day. The
opposite, a low key painting, provides a more settled, interior feel, or
may connote high drama depending on the subject and composition.
The key is one more consideration when planning your watercolor. I
always recommend taking plenty of time for planning and limit your
time on the actual painting to avoid overworking
KC
October 25, 2011
Facing Your Fears
They say that confronting your fears little by little helps to defeat them.
For instance someone with a fear of public speaking would start with
small audiences and might eventually end up talking comfortably in front
of large auditoriums full of people. So went my thinking when I decided to
try overcoming my fear of painting faces.
Armed with a large newsprint pad, I started attending figure drawing
sessions hosted by local arts groups. The models were adept at
interesting poses, and I quickly began enjoying the fast pace of drawing
with the charcoal pencil. But after accumulating a supply of drawings it
was time to consider rendering these faces in watercolor.
After carefully considering which sketches would make for a good start, I
transferred them onto watercolor paper. The vignette at upper right
illustrates one of my early attempts at painting a face. As you can see,
the man's face is mostly turned away, only the eyebrow and a small
portion of eye and nose are visible---a small step.
Then after painting several sketches of the model with head either
completely or partially turned away, I attempted a watercolor with the face
in profile (lower right). While I don't expect to reach the auditorium
equivalent of painting faces, I can see progress.
KC
Facing Your Fears
They say that confronting your fears little by little helps to defeat them.
For instance someone with a fear of public speaking would start with
small audiences and might eventually end up talking comfortably in front
of large auditoriums full of people. So went my thinking when I decided to
try overcoming my fear of painting faces.
Armed with a large newsprint pad, I started attending figure drawing
sessions hosted by local arts groups. The models were adept at
interesting poses, and I quickly began enjoying the fast pace of drawing
with the charcoal pencil. But after accumulating a supply of drawings it
was time to consider rendering these faces in watercolor.
After carefully considering which sketches would make for a good start, I
transferred them onto watercolor paper. The vignette at upper right
illustrates one of my early attempts at painting a face. As you can see,
the man's face is mostly turned away, only the eyebrow and a small
portion of eye and nose are visible---a small step.
Then after painting several sketches of the model with head either
completely or partially turned away, I attempted a watercolor with the face
in profile (lower right). While I don't expect to reach the auditorium
equivalent of painting faces, I can see progress.
KC
November 20, 2011
The Photo Problem
Teaching a landscape workshop earlier this month at Daniel Smith, I confronted
the "Photo Problem." While most of us have boxes or files full of Northwest
scenes, how many of those contain good compositions? Someone once pointed
out that nature does not arrange herself for our convenience, so painting
directly from a photo may be a recipe for problems.
The snapshot (below right) is actually one of my better photos, yet it has several
problems for the painter: the beach comprises a large portion of the space,the
headland points directly out of the picture, and the value pattern is not clear.
A photo should be a tool, just like your pencil and paper, that you use to
compose your piece. Unless you are painting a commission and your patron
specifically requests that you replicate the photo, then you are free to arrange
and re-arrange.
With that in mind, I began work on my design. The headland shape and
reflection had originally inspired me, so I lowered the horizon line to make the
headland the focus. After that change, the beach took up less space and I
could focus on what originally had caught my attention.
Next the problem of the rocks pointing out of the picture frame: I simply moved a
large rock over to the left of the picture and made it "point" back at the headland
to form a "compositional stop".
Finally the value choices: I assigned a dark tone to the headland in contrast to
a light sky and water, and a mid-tone to the distant land form and beach
A lot of work? Yes. But planning a painting is 90% of the job. The actual brush
work of a watercolor takes up very little time, unless you overwork it (which is
another story!) .
KC
The Photo Problem
Teaching a landscape workshop earlier this month at Daniel Smith, I confronted
the "Photo Problem." While most of us have boxes or files full of Northwest
scenes, how many of those contain good compositions? Someone once pointed
out that nature does not arrange herself for our convenience, so painting
directly from a photo may be a recipe for problems.
The snapshot (below right) is actually one of my better photos, yet it has several
problems for the painter: the beach comprises a large portion of the space,the
headland points directly out of the picture, and the value pattern is not clear.
A photo should be a tool, just like your pencil and paper, that you use to
compose your piece. Unless you are painting a commission and your patron
specifically requests that you replicate the photo, then you are free to arrange
and re-arrange.
With that in mind, I began work on my design. The headland shape and
reflection had originally inspired me, so I lowered the horizon line to make the
headland the focus. After that change, the beach took up less space and I
could focus on what originally had caught my attention.
Next the problem of the rocks pointing out of the picture frame: I simply moved a
large rock over to the left of the picture and made it "point" back at the headland
to form a "compositional stop".
Finally the value choices: I assigned a dark tone to the headland in contrast to
a light sky and water, and a mid-tone to the distant land form and beach
A lot of work? Yes. But planning a painting is 90% of the job. The actual brush
work of a watercolor takes up very little time, unless you overwork it (which is
another story!) .
KC
November 29, 2011
Integrating Figures
Planning to teach a class on painting people in street scenes, I pondered what
qualities made for successful figures in a composition. After paging through piles
of old watercolors, I concluded that a mix of lost and found edges around the
figures resulted in the best paintings.
I critiqued the Seattle scene at right for edge variation: the red figure at far left
is fairly well integrated into the background, whereas I left a little too much white
around the 2nd from left. The next fellow in the red jacket sports a nice mix of
lost edges (over his left shoulder) and found edges (his right shoulder). Coming
up next, the "green man" in the middle also features a hard edge on the left and
a soft edge gradating into the green background on the right. The next group of
3 (with the red-coated person) acts as a secondary center of interest and thus
can probably be forgiven for showing a lot of white and hard edges. The people
at far right are so well integrated that they are barely visible!
Reviewing these watercolors renewed my interest in more closely watching
edges in future paintings.
KC
Integrating Figures
Planning to teach a class on painting people in street scenes, I pondered what
qualities made for successful figures in a composition. After paging through piles
of old watercolors, I concluded that a mix of lost and found edges around the
figures resulted in the best paintings.
I critiqued the Seattle scene at right for edge variation: the red figure at far left
is fairly well integrated into the background, whereas I left a little too much white
around the 2nd from left. The next fellow in the red jacket sports a nice mix of
lost edges (over his left shoulder) and found edges (his right shoulder). Coming
up next, the "green man" in the middle also features a hard edge on the left and
a soft edge gradating into the green background on the right. The next group of
3 (with the red-coated person) acts as a secondary center of interest and thus
can probably be forgiven for showing a lot of white and hard edges. The people
at far right are so well integrated that they are barely visible!
Reviewing these watercolors renewed my interest in more closely watching
edges in future paintings.
KC
January 2, 2012
What Makes You Happy
Having just returned from vacation I am thinking about a book I read
during that time. Briefly, in "The Happiness Project" the author
researches the subject of Happiness and then tries to increase her
general level of happiness by trying a different technique each month for
a year. It may seem like stating the obvious, but we each need to find what
we like to do, not just what someone else likes to do.
For example, one month's project: recall what you enjoyed as a child,
then try to incorporate some of that into adult life. For me, it was drawing.
But since I am already spending plenty of time on my passion, ie sketching
and painting, I tried adding a cat into my repertoire. Why? Because I like
cats, and the family feline was often the subject of my childhood sketches.
The sketch at right is of my grand-daughter's stuffed animal "Nihi." Also
while my husband was playing at his passion (golf), I visited a favorite
street and inked in the morning shadows.
Question for readers: what did you like to do as a child? I would love to
hear what you enjoyed and whether you have continued it in some form
into adult life
KC
What Makes You Happy
Having just returned from vacation I am thinking about a book I read
during that time. Briefly, in "The Happiness Project" the author
researches the subject of Happiness and then tries to increase her
general level of happiness by trying a different technique each month for
a year. It may seem like stating the obvious, but we each need to find what
we like to do, not just what someone else likes to do.
For example, one month's project: recall what you enjoyed as a child,
then try to incorporate some of that into adult life. For me, it was drawing.
But since I am already spending plenty of time on my passion, ie sketching
and painting, I tried adding a cat into my repertoire. Why? Because I like
cats, and the family feline was often the subject of my childhood sketches.
The sketch at right is of my grand-daughter's stuffed animal "Nihi." Also
while my husband was playing at his passion (golf), I visited a favorite
street and inked in the morning shadows.
Question for readers: what did you like to do as a child? I would love to
hear what you enjoyed and whether you have continued it in some form
into adult life
KC
January 19, 2012
Warm Thoughts and Simplification
The weather outside is last heard to be 28 degrees, but inside my cozy
studio I am creating warm thoughts while going through a sketchbook from a
trip to Hawaii.
The watercolor at right (Sugar Beach,11x15) is based on one of those
sketches (lower right). But before I painted it, some simplifying was in order.
I had sketched in some of the condos lining the shore, but on
reconsideration, those buildings were going to draw attention away from the
people on the beach which were my main focus. So the condos changed into
greenery with the stroke of a brush.
A secondary center of attention was the shape of the mountain itself which
dominates the picture by its size. But to prevent the viewer's eye from "rolling
down" the mountain I purposely "lost" an edge where the sky fades into the
side of the mountain. In addition the boat's mast was already acting as a
compositional stop.
I recommend diverting attention to warm memories!
KC
Warm Thoughts and Simplification
The weather outside is last heard to be 28 degrees, but inside my cozy
studio I am creating warm thoughts while going through a sketchbook from a
trip to Hawaii.
The watercolor at right (Sugar Beach,11x15) is based on one of those
sketches (lower right). But before I painted it, some simplifying was in order.
I had sketched in some of the condos lining the shore, but on
reconsideration, those buildings were going to draw attention away from the
people on the beach which were my main focus. So the condos changed into
greenery with the stroke of a brush.
A secondary center of attention was the shape of the mountain itself which
dominates the picture by its size. But to prevent the viewer's eye from "rolling
down" the mountain I purposely "lost" an edge where the sky fades into the
side of the mountain. In addition the boat's mast was already acting as a
compositional stop.
I recommend diverting attention to warm memories!
KC
