Commitment: the state of being emotionally impelled to do something. My commitment is to making art, loving life and doing well.

Daily Artworks... my continuing challenge for 2015: Observe and record. Record and observe. And stretch - s-t-r-e-t-c-h - myself.
What will I discover?

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Art Every Day Month - November 17

Layers: Diluted Washes








I have been challenged to do a watercolor landscape from a photograph of an early winter sunset on a quiet, partially frozen lake.
All the colors in the photo are pale, but they do cover the full spectrum of color.
There are dark areas in the foreground of the photo, but I may crop them out in the painting, or I may leave them in to give weight to the bottom of the composition.
We'll see.

My experiments yesterday with graded washes showed me that to do this winter sunset project, I need to thin my watercolor paints much more than I have been.
So for today's 16-block challenge, I began working in layers of heavily diluted color to achieve the range of tones I would need for this landscape, letting each color layer dry before I applied the next.
At one point I was startled when I realized that the water I was rinsing my brush in was more intense than the paint I was carefully mixing to apply as a wash.

It seems strange that I could accomplish today's art challenge with the tiniest dabs of three colors of paint, but I am happy with the opalescent quality of the light that I am seeing reflected off the paper.

If it works, that's what matters.



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love all these watercolors that I've looked at tonight for you aedm projects! They are all so beautiful and unique. And I enjoy your discussion of the processes with each one! All so lovely!
Lisa

Mavis said...

Thank you Lisa! I am so glad that people like you are keeping me company as I learn more and more about watercolors!

Julie Jordan Scott said...

We are learning right alongside you!

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