One of the fun things about blogging are all the interesting people who you "cyber meet" and learn from. Barb (her blog is under my blog list to the right) and I have been chit chatting about my recent class with John Lovett in the early part of June. (See my June 6,7,8,9 blogs below).
Our focus of discussion is how to use John's watercolor techniques en plein air.
John's class was painting from photos but one "should" be able to extrapolate to outdoors, wouldn't you think?
This little 8 x 10 watercolor was in studio (not en plein air) but I thought about it as if it were en plein air and how to approach it. Below see how I "blocked" with watercolor. I put the paint on rather intensely for a first block...but when you are working out of doors you don't have time to do many layers. I tried to think of shape, color, composition, center of interest. Just as in any medium. (Barb has been painting in oil out of doors.)
I did very little drawing...just a few pencil lines.
John sticks with 4 colors (phalo blue, aliz crimson, quin gold, and prussian or ultramarine blue.) I admit to drifting off a little bit but basically that is what I used. I added some scarlet lake to the roof color and I wanted to keep things very warm. I think I may have used a little aureolin yellow too.
The red flowers were magenta acrylic paint and I used gouache mixed into some of the drippy flowers. I also used gesso thinned to mist off edges. Now whether or not I'd do the gesso bit while en plein air or not I don't know, but I might. You need a big soft brush for that. I also used some acrylic ink with an old fashioned nib pen.
Today is VERY dark, and damp in the north WI woods and not at all an en plein air day. But we are supposed to have sunshine for our out door group this coming Thursday morning. So I will take my watercolors and see how this approach translates. Barb has ordered John's book...I have a ton of his magazine articles from International Artist Magazine and three of his 10 minutes videos. So I plan to keep plugging away.
Ginny - I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this painting. Thank you so much for the step-by-step - I can see me doing this, I think! Can't wait to see Thursday's painting.
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