watercolor painting – Lee Muir-Haman Watercolor Painting

July 21, 2021April 23, 2022

How Can I Become My Own Best Watercolor Teacher?

Wouldn’t it be terrific if we could each find our perfect watercolor painting teacher (if watercolor is our chosen medium)? But they are hard to find! And a great artist doesn’t necessarily make a great teacher. How many good teachers are there? And how easy are they to find? I looked for years for a local watercolor teacher before running into my mentor by chance. You may be limited by where you live and the desire to take in-person classes. You will have more teachers to choose from if you are willing to take a workshop or even an online course. But after the workshop ends, then what? Even if you could find a good local teacher, would classes cost a lot of money? And each teacher you are able to locate will provide instruction in their own way, in their own style. Will they teach what you need to know?

What if, in addition to any painting instructor or classes you find, you could also become your own teacher, able to learn about and explore all the things you need and want to know? You can, with the proper attitude and mindset. First you must make a strong commitment to improve your painting. To become your own teacher, consider what you’d hope for in any good teacher, then strive to cultivate those same characteristics in yourself.

Are you able to cultivate the awareness and OBJECTIVITY necessary to evaluate your paintings with some detachment? In other words, can you get some distance on your work? To be a good teacher to yourself, you must be able to step back and view your work as though someone else painted it (during the painting process, as well as after the painting is complete).

CLOSELY OBSERVE details in your work and the scene you are painting. Does what you’re doing in your picture work? What is going wrong? If something is not quite right, pause during painting to evaluate the situation. You’ll need to figure out the problem if something looks odd, before rushing in to try this or maybe that. While pausing, ask yourself what you might change to correct the problem. For instance, are my values (lights/darks) correct? Am I using the colors and color temperature I need to create an effective image? Are edges soft or crisp enough where they need to be? Am I using too much (or too little) wetness? Am I emphasizing my center of interest appropriately, or has another section of my painting taken over center stage? Have I lost important highlights? Through such an assessment, you can become aware of the picture’s difficulties and create a plan to resolve any problem. With possible solutions in mind, you can then resume painting.

You will need to have PATIENCE with yourself. Learning to paint takes perseverance and time. While we all strive for quick progress, often it seems like we take two steps forward only to take one step back. Yet, that is how we all learn – we need to take action and learn from our mistakes.

Be KIND to yourself. You deserve respect and understanding. A good teacher is warm, caring, supportive, and has empathy – encouraging painting strengths as well as pinpointing places to make improvements.

Don’t give up! A good teacher is positive and reassuring. It’s okay to step away from a painting for a breather if you need it, but remember to be ENCOURAGING and give yourself a pep talk, in spite of any frustrations. For more insight on self-assessment of painting problems, you might like to read ‘A Positive, Problem-Solving Attitude To Overcome Frustration’, (1/9/2020), https://leemuirhaman.com/2020/01/09/become-a-problem-solver-to-overcome-that-awkward-stage/.

Let’s be HONEST. Give yourself honest feedback (but not harsh criticism). Painting is NOT a matter only of talent – painting skills can be learned. Improvement comes from lots of practice and repetition.You know learning to paint can be difficult, and sometimes frustrating and discouraging, but don’t forget it can be fun and worth all the hard work!

Take RESPONSIBILITY for improving yourself. Search out and study when you want to learn more (through books, YouTube videos, ‘googling’ a question you might have, signing up for a workshop, joining art Facebook groups that interest you, taking online classes with teachers you admire and joining their online support groups). Try not to blame mistakes or poor painting on outside circumstances (poor quality paper, humid weather, lack of time, confusing template image, cheap paints). Blaming takes responsibility out of your hands and will make it difficult for you to see what YOU can do to take charge and resolve any difficulties.

Do not settle for half-hearted effort from yourself. Strive to do your best! A good teacher has high expectations, and will MOTIVATE and CHALLENGE a student. Encourage yourself to do the hard, consistent work necessary to improve.

Finally, don’t take yourself TOO SERIOUSLY. Yes, you need to work hard, but keep in mind that everyone makes mistakes. No worries! Strive to enjoy the process of painting. Remember a good teacher is fun, full of joy, playful, perhaps even high-spirited. My favorite watercolor teacher told jokes and stories throughout every single class.

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June 14, 2021

From Pretty Good To Better Composition!

Only occasionally, as artists, do we discover a perfectly designed composition we’d like to paint. More often, we find an appealing image that needs some improving and editing to make it more effective. Editing allows an artist to interpret a scene and tell the picture’s story in a stronger, more personal way. All the information may be there in front of us, but we may want to re-organize some of the parts. We might want to combine several reference photos, or totally remove some distracting information. We know we don’t want to just copy a reference, but how would you go about ‘improving’ a composition?

Here is an image that appealed to me. Let’s evaluate the composition though – it does have some problems. It’s hard to tell what this picture is about, isn’t it? It probably wouldn’t make a very good painting, as is. What attracted me to this scene in the first place? I was drawn to the dramatic cliff (barely visible in the photo) rising steeply behind the vibrant, early spring colors. So, my first decision would have to do with figuring out what I want my center of interest to be, and then deciding how best to emphasize it.

I decide to make the cliff my center of interest. How could I simplify some of the shapes or eliminate unnecessary detail? There is too much information in this reference photo. I certainly don’t have to include all of the trees from the photo. I will remove some of the smaller trees blocking the view of the cliff to uncover it. I will also eliminate a few trees on the far right, but leave one tree to help frame the cliff. This tree on the right would also function to stop your eye from following the line of the top of the far hill right on out of the picture. While I think the large green gold trees on the left also function as a frame of the cliff, I want to move them more to the left to further open up our view of the cliff. And I want to increase the height of the trees on the left, hoping they appear closer to the viewer and increasing depth in the picture. And finally, I plan to exaggerate the size of the cliff to make it even more prominent in my painting.

Early Spring Color, Joe English Hill, Another View.

Color will be important to give the picture the feel of the new leaves and grasses of springtime. Spring is a time of fresh growth, when buds and flowers burst forth. Fields and forest floors are becoming free of frost and snow, and bright green shoots begin to appear. I hope to exaggerate the brightness and variety of colors in the final painting by using bright complementary colors. Reds and greens (complements) will be used for newly emerging leaves, and yellow and green gold leaves will complement purple-tinged rocks and purplish shadows. Muted grays and browns are planned to contrast with the bright colors.

I hope to make use of differences in color temperature as well. Cooler colors on the distant hill (and minimal detail) should help it recede, increasing depth in the painting. In contrast, warm yellow greens in the foreground field and trees should advance.

Values (lights/darks) in the reference photo seem to be much too similar. By looking at this black and white version of the reference photo you can see there is very little contrast in values. If there are too many areas of equal light intensity (or a lack of shadows) in a painting, the image will tend to look flat, less interesting, or bland. I will need to create more contrast to make the picture work better! Good value contrast (with light values close by and emphasized by darks) can create the illusion of light, depth, and a center of interest.

Black and White Version of Reference Photo.

After experimenting with several small thumbnail sketches to find a better arrangement of strong lights and darks, I chose this arrangement.

The lightest values in the painting will be the green gold leaves, road, cliff, some saved light birch tree trunks. Mid-values are planned for the middle distance trees on the opposite side of the road. And the darkest values, which will help to highlight the cliff, will be the top of the hill, dark shadows and tree trunks.

Below is the finished watercolor painting, and its black and white version, which resulted from the improved composition.

May 15, 2021

Know Your Edges!

Edge quality in a painting is important! Proper use of edges helps to direct the viewer’s eye toward your chosen center of interest. An edge is the border between shapes, the transition from one shape to another, where contrast occurs between shapes. By adjusting the degree of contrast along the edges of shapes in a painting (in addition to the contrasts of value and color), an artist can control eye movement and focus. Edges also suggest the mood or atmosphere of a subject. A hazy, humid picture might have many soft, fuzzy edges, and generate a mellow feel. Or a painting of a cold, crisp winter day might have numerous numerous hard edges.

Soft, Hard, Lost Edges – ‘Flowing Forward’ Watercolor

When we talk about an edge in painting we mean how it appears to the eye. Keep in mind that an edge in a painting may NOT be just an actual physical edge (like the side of a tree trunk, building, or rock). An edge can also be the transition between sunlight and shadow, between wet sand and dry sand, between a ripple and calm water.

Types Of Edges And How To Paint Them.

There are, in fact, several types of edges. A good artist tries to incorporate, in each painting, as many of the types as possible to create variation and interest. A HARD edge forms a clear, crisp, abrupt transition between shapes. The contrast of a hard edge will attract the viewer’s eye; perfect to use at the focal point or between light and dark areas. Some hard edges are good in a painting, but using only hard edges will result in a flat image without depth (e.g. as in a woodcut). Hard edges are painted on DRY watercolor paper.

Hard, Soft, Lost Edges – ‘Red Bumpers’ Watercolor

In contrast, an infinite variety of SOFT edges exist. Softer, less-defined edges are used to de-emphasize, and are useful in the background or distance, within a shadow, or when you want a shape to recede further toward the background. Soft edges are gentle and a bit blurred; perfect when painting fog, haze, or mist.

The relative wetness of PAPER and brush will determine finished softness of the edge and the extent of the spread of the watercolor pigment. Try to learn to judge the wetness of your paper by observing the amount of sheen. More shine means more wetness, less suggests a damp or drying paper. It is also good to test the result you want to achieve on a test sheet/practice paper (made of the SAME kind of paper you’re actually painting on to approximate similar results).

Soft and Hard Edges – ‘Swamp View’ Watercolor

Keep in mind that controlling edge quality has as much to do with the dryness of the BRUSH as with how wet the paper is. A brush overloaded with paint will lessen your control and may flood an area in your painting, whereas a brush with too little wetness will not allow the paint to move easily. Further, when the brush becomes wetter than the paper (from added water or wet paint) you will be in danger of creating an uncontrollable ‘cauliflower’, ‘run back’ or ‘blossom’ in your painting.

A LOST AND FOUND edge is a broken or interrupted edge that will tie the shapes to the background or other objects in the painting. It will connect shapes, allowing them to partially flow into one another.

Varied Edges – ‘Barn Interior’ Watercolor

A LOST edge is an edge that has disappeared. One shape has merged into another, as in a dark shadow. When the values of touching shapes are the same, the edge between them tends to vanish, whether soft or hard, even when there is a color change. Lost edges force the viewer to invent any missing information, and can be quite interesting. By creating shapes of equal values, you will be able to merge edges. In other words, nearby shapes of similar value tend to have less obvious edges. But adjacent shapes with more value contrast will have edges that are well defined.

Lost, Hard, Soft Edges – ‘Red Geranium’ Watercolor

When To Use Different Edges.

Sometimes the subject matter of a painting will tell you whether edges should be hard or soft, but no rules apply. Think about placing hard edges at your center of interest, where you want the viewer to look, then de-emphasize other less important areas with softer edges. Soft edges describe a subject in more general terms, while hard edges provide more detailed and specific information. It might be appropriate to paint a soft object, like a teddy bear, with soft edges. A cut glass crystal bowl, however, will have numerous hard edges. Distant objects often are painted with softer edges, while closer components could have harder edges. Make choices about your desired mood for the painting, deciding what types of edges are appropriate in the same way you choose your values and colors. For instance, an evening painting might be low key, painted with mostly cool colors but some contrasting warm colors, and a lot of soft or lost and found edges along with a few hard edges for emphasis.

April 14, 2021April 14, 2021

What Does It Mean To Simplify A Painting?

Most artists have heard that they need to ’simplify’ when painting. We’re told that simplifying is good! But why, what is it, and how do you go about ‘simplification’? A beginning artist, unsure exactly what simplification means, may often just go ahead and struggle to copy what they see, details and all, exactly as it is.

Why simplify?

With more experience, however, we come to understand that it’s possible and sensible to IMPROVE a painting by changing some of the components of an image. We want to share a story in our own way about what we see. Perhaps we want to emphasize parts of our picture and encourage the viewer to understand what is important to us. We don’t want to include confusing or extraneous information in our image. Sometimes a painting becomes more effective and stronger if some parts are left out completely. We want to make less be more! That is why we simplify.

What is Simplification?

The essence of simplifying is making something less complex and complicated. In painting, simplifying can mean making your painting and your message clearer, easier to understand. Complex forms with lots of detail are REDUCED or EDITED to become fundamental shapes and including only the most important details. Copying is not simplifying, whereas painting an impression or suggestion of a scene is.

Crocus simplified.

How to simplify? First, Establish Major Shapes.

Begin by thinking about shapes – the MAJOR SHAPES of the scene you hope to paint. (Don’t begin by focusing on details.) Look for the largest shapes, the big overall pattern. Imagine the least number of shapes necessary to make your design. In a landscape painting, the fewest number of shapes could be two – sky and land, or sky and ocean. But your image could have as many as 5-7 large shapes. A row of trees with their shadows (their shapes combined to form one) could be a shape. Or a mountain range can be a major shape. Keep in mind that ‘shapes’ are not necessarily single objects or subjects. A single barn could include several shapes – one side of the barn sunlit, the other shaded (see below).

Some of the major shapes include sunlit front of barn, shaded end of barn.

Only after noting major shapes (which form the backbone of your painting), should you consider smaller shapes, then details.

Second, Reduce The Range of Values.

Shapes in a painting can often be related to VALUE (lights and darks). Strive for simplified value contrasts and limit yourself to light, middle, and dark values as you plan your picture. Rather than trying to capture a lot of little shapes and an infinite range of values, design your painting with strong and simple shapes and a limited range of values. You will avoid confusing clutter that distracts viewers from your intended message.

Third, Use Fewer Colors.

Another way to simplify your image and create a stronger painting is to use a LIMITED PALETTE of colors. Too many colors can complicate a picture, making it appear garish, as well as make mixing of color burdensome. Fewer colors, on the other hand, can increase color harmony and balance.

Limited palette of colors used.

Fourth, Limit details.

Better artists are able to look at the vast amount of information around us and screen out extraneous details. To do that yourself, stop and ask yourself what it is about your subject that you liked. Once you have identified what interests you about the scene, think about what details are important to your message (that you might want to emphasize) and which details do not contribute (which you might be able to make less important or completely filter out of the picture). It’s sometimes a good idea to even crop out/eliminate an area that does not add value.

You may want more detail around your center of interest to encourage a viewer to focus on this area of your painting. Soften and eliminate some details elsewhere in the picture (perhaps blurring details in the distance and shadows).

In this barn painting, I cropped away some of the edges, simplified a bit of the fencing and barn board, and got rid of the trough in the foreground completely.

Details limited in painting.

Thumbnails To Help You Simplify.

Use several THUMBNAIL sketches to structure the best possible composition for a painting. Thumbnails are not finished drawings, but quick, small, simplified sketches, 2X3 inches (or perhaps 4X5 inches) that help you explore where your painting might go. Try to keep your thumbnail sketch proportions similar to what you plan for the finished work. Experiment with the arrangement of shapes and values. Your first thumbnail is often not the best arrangement you can come up with, so draw several thumbnails, with pencil, before choosing a final composition.

Fourth and Final Quick Thumbnail for Field Painting.

Sketching out a few thumbnails is like brainstorming, investigating options or variations on possible picture arrangements. It need only take 3 to 5 minutes. By working small, there is no room to fuss with detail. It is one of the best ways to organize and simplify a composition, and to focus on important information, while eliminating the unnecessary.

In Summary.

As an artist, strive to simplify, interpret a scene, and make it your own. Be bold. Simplifying your composition improves its focus, clarity, and power. To simplify may seem difficult at first, but less can really be more!

February 3, 2021

My Approach To Watercolor… Step By Step.

All artists develop unique ways to create their art – there are many variations in approach to painting, not one correct way.

I prefer an interpretive realistic style much of the time. I don’t strive for a hyper-realistic or photographic reproduction of a scene, but for an image adapted from what I see – one that expresses emotion and shows strong value contrasts. To create good realistic art, you need to make it personal. Your art should reveal what you want to say and what the image means to you. See Realism: Better Than An Exact Copy, a blog post written January 22, 2019, https://leemuirhaman.com/2019/01/22/realism-better-than-an-exact-copy/.

STUDY IMAGE. FINALIZE COMPOSITION.

Template – Flowing Forward.

Initially, I just sit with the image I have chosen to paint. I look carefully, study, and analyze before beginning. (Painting Begins With Looking And Seeing” (12/18/2018), https://leemuirhaman.com/2018/12/18/painting-begins-with-looking-and-seeing/.) I’m trying to anticipate possible problems I might encounter as I paint.

I think about what attracted me emotionally and what details, therefore, will be important to include in the painting. In this way, I design a CENTER OF INTEREST to emphasize. Here, I choose the sunlit orange bushes along the far edge of the river to be my center of interest. I see this focus framed by verticals (tree trunks) and horizontals (shore line and flow of the river). I note that there is open water (where there are reflections) in addition to the hard ice toward each shore. (These differences in ice/open water are barely noticeable, yet important.) I also consider whether there are unnecessary details that detract from the effectiveness of the picture. For instance, I will simplify this image by reducing too numerous tree trunks in a busy background, and by removing distracting branches hanging near the center of interest. However, I decide to keep the broken stump in the foreground because it points like an arrow toward my center of interest.

I might explore lights and darks with VALUE STUDIES, including light, mid, and dark tones. (I want to insure that the greatest contrast of values occurs around my center of interest to draw the attention of viewers.) I like that the orange bushes are surrounded by the dark woods and white ice. I must also keep in mind, as I paint, from what direction the light is coming. I make a note of the sunlit middle ground and shaded distance and foreground. I also occasionally experiment by changing the COMPOSITION (arrangement of shapes) with small thumbnail sketches, especially if I’m combining two photographs or have added/removed some shapes. ( I Have An Image I’d Like To Paint. Now Where Do I Start? 8/21/2018), https://leemuirhaman.com/2018/08/21/i-have-an-image-id-like-to-paint-now-where-do-i-start/.) In this image, however, I like the composition as it is.

PLAN. CONSIDER TECHNIQUES AND COLORS.

More specifically, I consider my plan of attack. Where will I begin painting? Perhaps I’ll start with the background or the sky? I need to have some idea what I want to do, but also want to be open to adapting plans as the painting proceeds. I think about what TECHNIQUES and specific steps I might try. I decide that when I complete my pencil sketch (which doesn’t include every detail shown in the template) on watercolor paper, I will mask the top edge of the orange bushes and a few tree trunks in the distant trees to protect some sunlit areas. I feel that too many details in the distance would detract from the orange bushes, so I’ll try to avoid overdoing the far trees. I won’t mask any of the ice – since open water in the middle of the river will be painted wet-in-wet, while darker hard ice in the foreground will be painted around the lighter ice areas.

As I think about beginning to paint, I think about LAYERS. Some parts of the picture are ‘in front of’ others. This suggests that one would begin painting the ‘behind’ layers or ‘underneath’ layers first. In a watercolor landscape, therefore, painting often starts in the sky or background. In this image, I will begin with the far tree line, above the shore and bushes. Further, I see several colors in the trees, which suggests that several layers will need to be applied to the trees.

But I mustn’t get ahead of myself! Before painting, I consider what pigments might be best to use. I like to create a TEST SHEET with a number of pigment possibilities before I make decisions about what colors to try in an actual painting. (If you intend to paint this image, substitute the pigments you have on hand already. You can see by looking at my test sheets that there are many suitable color combinations.) Since I want the effect of sunlight in the middle distance, I consider yellows that I could use for an underlayer. Originally, I begin with Raw Sienna, but feel it doesn’t ‘glow’, so I then investigate Gamboge and Winsor Yellow. I know I want transparent, non-staining colors for the second layers of both the distant trees and the orange bushes (because the technique I will try in both locations is to scrape the second layer of paint to reveal tree trunks and branches underneath). See the attached photos of my color experimentation for this painting.

Color test sheets – Flowing Forward.

SKETCH IMAGE, MASK, AND BEGIN PAINTING.

I transfer my image to watercolor paper ( Saunders Waterford 300 lb. rough), mask tops of orange bushes, a few distant tree trunks, a few horizontal snow strips in and among the orange bushes, and the small sunlit patch on the right-hand front tree trunk.

Initial sketch with masking – Flowing Forward.

When masking is dry, I scumble in tree shapes (with pale Gamboge) over the far tree line, leaving plenty of ‘sky holes’ among the trees. While this is drying, I mix Raw Umber and Ultramarine Blue to make a dark brown-gray for the next tree layer. I have my palette knife at the ready. When the yellow paint is dry, I scumble varied tree shapes (again leaving ‘sky holes’) over a small section of the yellow far trees. As the shine (of wet paint) starts to dissipate, I use the point and edge of the palette knife to scrape back some tree trunks to reveal the sunlit yellow ‘underneath’. I paint the brown-gray, in small sections, varied but darker at the bottom and lighter higher up, to insure enough time to scrape before the paint dries. (Scraping back color is effective only when the paint is damp/wet.) I finish scraping one section before painting and scraping the next section of tree line.

When the scraped tree line has dried, I dot in some sky color (very pale and juicy Cerulean mixed with Cobalt Blue) in the saved ‘sky holes’.

MIDDLE DISTANCE.

When the distant trees and sky paint have dried, I remove masking fluid from the bushes and far trees. With the same yellow (Gamboge) used for the tree underlayers, I paint an underlayer (with pointy tops) to cover all the middle distance bushes. I let dry. Then I mix the orange for the second layer of the middle distance bushes. I decide to try a mixture of Transparent Pyrrol Orange and Transparent Red Oxide. I’m hoping to apply orange more thinly in some sunlit layers, more richly in more shaded areas. I paint a small section at a time, as with the far tree line, and scrape with the point of my palette knife to lift numerous thin branches out of the orange to reveal the yellow below. When dry, I will be able to shadow below and in the more shaded sections of the orange bushes.

Background painting – Flowing Forward.

WATER/ICE.

I plan to paint the wet, open water in the center of the river with a wet-in-wet technique. This area shows reflections of the sky, some distant tree trunks, and orange bushes. I create three puddles of color to be ready to paint this area. These puddles can be mixed somewhat darker than you might expect, since the color will be diluted to some degree by painting wet-in-wet. First, I combine Cerulean Blue and Cobalt Blue (sky reflection). Second, I form a puddle of Transparent Pyrrol Orange (bush reflections). Third, I mix Cobalt Blue and Transparent Red Oxide to create a blue-gray. At this point I pre-wet the paper, but only in the area where I see reflections and know there is open water (in the center of the river).

When the wet shine just leaves the paper, I pick up some sky blue paint and swoop it onto a small section with horizontal strokes. I immediately pick up some blue-gray and place it across the damp paper, leaving white space for placement of the orange paint, which I paint next. I do NOT mix these colors, but charge them (drop them) next to each other. All edges will remain soft and the colors will remain separate if not mixed on the paper. As the wet shine begins to dissipate, I use a damp thirsty flat brush to lift out a few tree trunk and small branch reflections. I let dry.

I prepare to paint the gray solid ice next. I will leave the lighter sections of foreground ice as the white of the watercolor paper for now, so I mix a medium value gray from Cobalt Blue with just a touch of Transparent Red Oxide.

When applying paint here, I try to keep in mind there are hard edges (wet paint applied to dry paper) where I see the gray meet white ice in the foreground. As the gray ice extends into the center of the river, however, it meets the open water with a soft edge. (I apply the gray paint, adding water to thin the paint and soften the edge where it meets the already painted open water.) I don’t try to darken at the base of the tree trunks yet, although I try to vary the value of the gray as I apply it in some areas, and I also paint a bit of dry brush texture.

Water and ice underlayers painted – Flowing Forward.

GLAZING.

While planning, I have already determined that the foreground is shaded. (See above STUDY IMAGE section.) I use a GRAY SCALE to check the value (lightness/darkness) of the ‘white’ ice in the foreground – I know from past experience that eyes can play tricks. I’m also aware that the value of a shaded object is usually 40% darker than the same object in sunlight, as written by Jan Kunz (Painting Watercolor Florals That Glow (1993), p. 68), and others. When I check the value (on my template) of the sunlit ice and compare to the value of the ice in the foreground shade, in fact, the shaded ice is 40% darker in value! I realize I need to darken its value in my painting, probably by applying a GLAZE. This glazing will help highlight the sunlit center of interest, by contrast. Read Why Should I Bother To Use A Gray Scale? (5/21/2019), https://leemuirhaman.com/2019/05/21/why-should-i-bother-to-use-a-gray-scale/, to learn more about the usefulness of a gray scale.

A glaze is a transparent wash of color using a thin application of transparent pigment. Transparent pigments are desired so that the colors below the glaze, or the white of the paper, in this case, continue to be visible through the finished glaze. Here, I combine Cobalt Blue with just a touch of Transparent Pyrrol Orange (blue-gray) in a thin, juicy mix. After testing the value, I apply a glaze over the shaded foreground with a fairly large, soft brush. I reevaluate the value of the foreground ice and compare it to the value of the sunlit ice in my painting (with the Gray Scale), when the first glaze has dried. If necessary, I will glaze again, on dry paper, until the lighter-shaded, foreground ice is about 40% darker than the sunlit ice in the middle distance. Correct relative values are one of the most important factors in creating an effective image.

FOREGROUND TREE TRUNKS, BRANCHES, FINAL DETAILS.

I combine Raw Umber and Ultramarine Blue to mix a strong blue-black. Dark foreground tree trunks are then painted darker at the bottom and lighter toward the top. Since some higher spots and the left side of the trunks are sunlit in places – I blot the color to remove some paint and provide texture there. I will add some sunlit yellow (Gamboge) only to the sunlit left sides of the trunks (when the blue-black paint is dry).

With the same paint mixture, I add smaller branches up high in the foreground trees and a few thin twigs on the foreground ice. I try to simplify to avoid busyness that would distract from my center of interest.

Then I add some final textures and shadows (with the same blue-black mixture) to the foreground ice (dry brush, dots, a few streaks, with occasional softening of edges). I now make sure to darken the area in the ice circling each foreground tree trunk to suggest depressions.

Finished painting – Flowing Forward.

Finally, I step back and evaluate. I ask myself if my values highlight the center of interest. Do any marks seem out of place or distracting? Are there any adjustments I feel I should make? (It is possible to correct some mistakes and improve watercolor paintings. See I Guess We’ve All Made Painting Mistakes (10/9/2019), https://leemuirhaman.com/2019/10/09/i-guess-weve-all-made-painting-mistakes/.) Sometimes, I set the picture aside for a day or two, and look again later with fresh eyes. Occasionally, a mistake needing to be fixed jumps out at me. At other times, I am satisfied that the painting is ‘finished’.

Photos taken and copyrighted by Tristan T. Haman (https://www.instagram.com/thaman15/).