The repetition of the flat wash. The more watercolor washes you can experience the stronger painter you will become.

 The Flash Wash Design:

 

Take a 11 x 15 watercolor paper -1/4 sheet and create a design of your choice. 

This could be elements of ocean design, planets, animal life, desert, western, musical instruments, 

fish, vegetables, leaves and flowers.  

Take a shape and repeat it three times in different sizes being sure to overlap the designs. Take multiple lines and draw through each shape. This could be straight line, curved line, circle shapes and repeated design shapes. 

Every-time you come to a new shape paint it a different hue, value, and saturation. 

Leave a third of the paper white to introduce leaving whites in design.  

Examples below. 

 

 

Brush work on a variety of washes.

 Using a variety of brush stokes to create these botanical designs on a variety of washes is a great way to introduce brush stroke to watercolor. Brush strokes may be thick, thin, vertical, horizontal and of course diagonal. Brush strokes may also create organic or geometric shapes. 

There are four basic washes in watercolor

 Wash one and five. 

The Flat Wash. 

Wash two. 

The Variegated Wash. 

Wash three and four 

The Graded Wash which I believe are upside down. Start dark to light.  

 

 

 

Value studies are very powerful in directing the color study.

Value studies clarify and create and fast read taking out many errors before beginning a painting. 

I believe even though I am an educator that having a coach is so important. 

Tiger woods had a coach. 

Scott Christensen has a great on-line course that has been coaching my direction. 

My drawing and studies below really direct a good piece of art work.  

Line drawing to find placement is critical for good design. Value drawings with 4 values sets a painter up for success

 Learning new limited watercolor palettes.

 1. Top left. Nickel Azo Yellow. Permanent Alizarin Crimson. Phthalo Blue. All Staining pigments. 

 2. Bottom left. Permanent Yellow Deep. Transparent Orange. Naphtha Red. Cobalt Blue.  

 3. Top Right.  Transparent Brilliant Orange. Yellow Ocher. Burnt Sienna. Cobalt Teal. 

 4. Bottom Right. Azo Yellow. Permanent Rose. Cobalt Blue.  A soft delicate triad. 

Painting title: St Anthony Idaho Tetons.
Gouache has a great versatility in preparing studies for larger paintings  

The above 5x7 Painting was created with just four gouache pigments. Cadmium yellow pale, Venetian Red, Cobalt blue and Titanium White. 

Beginning with a line drawing for placement and moving to value studies is a great support before starting the color study.  

 Analogous color scheme of Orange, Yellow, Yellow Green Green Blue green and a small compliment of red. 

Value plan from top down are: Middle light dark. From the bushes are middle, light dark. Patterns in values create a strong unity in painting. 

This Painting medium is Gouache.

This resource is actually from a portion of my large painting, titled, Natures Playground Summer. 

I love limited palettes. Here is an example of the Old Masters palette (you can find on this blog). Value study, value chord, color study are a must.

I love limited palette

 Value Chords of a Limited Palette color scheme. Paynes Gray/Burnt Sienna/ Raw Sienna. I use Raw Sienna rather than Yellow Ocher because it is a transparent earth pigment. 

Also included is a Delicate Triad of the same resource. 

Always do a value study and chord.  

I use the Munsell Value System.

Lunch Break

Glazing technique with wet in wet wash.

Negative painting using two hues.

As we begin a new Winter Semester at BYU-I, one of the assignment we do is Negative Painting. This is a great way to see positive and negative shapes as a duality, also taught in Notan Principles.  You begin with a shape then using a high key mingled wash place in two pigments. This painting has Cobalt Teal and Raw Sienna a great combination. Let this mingled wash dry, then add more shapes of varying sizes and paint around these.  Note the creation of dark's the last step that goes behind the leaf shapes. This dark pattern is just off the center in design creating an informal balance.
These leaves come from my aspen tree just in front of my deck. It is early spring here in Idaho and the Robins are gathering in my aspen, ceder and long needle pine trees. It brings a lot of pleasure watching them hop from the ground to obtain ceder berries from off the bottom limbs. There are now two morning doves that have joined the chores of bird song. The earth is a place of great joy to my soul. If there was one thing I am very grateful for it is the earth, its creation is a wonder.

Here is a wonderful Black mixed from Red Oxide and Prussian Blue. This is a nice limited palette
I called it Low Earth.

Wet in Wet watercolor Metods

Class Demo

For this assignment begin with:

• On a 140 lb. Arches Watercolor Paper, begin with wetting the paper with a good size watercolor brush (1 1/2" for a quarter sheet of paper, 3" watercolor brush for a full sheet) use the largest brush that you are comfortable with.  Often times students use to small a brush in wet in wet washes. 
• Be sure you have a good composition plan before you begin by sketching in your sketch book. 
• Complete a watercolor value plan in black and white.  Have passages of the light value area, middle value area ,and dark value areas. This creates patterns that unify and give structure to the painting. 
• Have your pigment or hues you have chosen ready on the palette before you begin. 

I will be using the Old Masters Limited Palette of Yellow Ocher, (my yellow), Burnt Sienna, my red) and Paynes Gray, (my blue). All other colors greens, oranges, and violets will be mixed from these three primary colors. Yes the color harmony is very muted (low intensity).
Step by step examples are forth coming. 

Taggart Lake Painting Series

Taggart Lake is a favorite family hiking area as well as Surprise Lake in the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. The Above painting is a watercolor palette of Cobalt Turquoise Light, Cobalt Blue and Nickle Azo Yellow. The red range from Winsor Red to Indian Red. A great day.
I love the striking white Granite rock in this area with the dynamic vertical pine. 

Here is another view of Taggart Lake this painting is completed with an earth palette of Ultramarine Blue, Raw Sienna and Quinacridone Burnt Sienna.  Logs and rocks are powerful patterns and unique underwater challenge.

Watercolor Flat Washes and Leaving Whites Assignment 1

Leaving Whites Assignment

Granulating, Bleeder's, Settler's and Personalities or Qualities of pigment

Researching the watercolor pigments you use by creating charts or swatches of color on scratch watercolor paper is essential part of becoming a watercolor technician.

I am constantly working on my brush skill of  a good straight line and steadiness. 

Sometimes 1/2 inch masking tape comes in handy for me to clean up nicely. 

Quality brush work is like daily morning scales on the piano. 

Practice practice and practice. 

No Perfect Practice and Practice and Practice. 

Lets watch my progress on this. 

*Note to self. Self:  If its worth doing its worth doing well.  Self: Noted.

Chicken Nuggets
Here is a little design with a variety of fragment shapes.
Note the small flat washes and hard edges.
Delightful

Shasta daisies: Leaving whites and creating darks.