Day 11 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

THERE WILL BE ROSES

As I'm sitting here enjoying the beauty of the snowflakes floating down for the third morning in a row,

it occurs to me that what's needed is a big bouquet of COLOR.  This technique has always been and always will be my favorite way to approach painting a watercolor.  It works well for landscapes, florals and just about anything you want to paint. I like to begin with a very basic drawing, then I wet both sides of the paper.  With very fresh moist pigment I begin laying in color, usually beginning with my lightest values and working toward the darker values.  It requires keeping a close eye on the drying time  in order to keep a little control over the edges of the shapes.  As the painting begins to dry, I can create more and more hard edges so I approach very slowly and (sometimes) patiently. 

I'm prepping to teach a 3 day watercolor workshop February 16 - 18th at the Duluth Art Institute, sponsored in part by the Lake Superior Watercolor Society.  We'll incorporate this technique in landscapes as well as in little moments in nature. Looking forward to a good time with those Lake Superior painters.