Painting people with watercolors

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In his demonstration video last week, my watercolor teacher Eric Wiegardt showed us how to paint figures so they blend together and show action. He painted five or six blobs on semi-wet paper so that the colors ran together. After they dried a bit, he added heads and legs. For the legs, he made two quick dry strokes that skip across the paper, giving a dry-brush look. Making one leg longer than the other makes it look like the figure is walking. Adding a background across the top of the figures sets them off, with a little white paper showing on the head and shoulders.

I practiced painting figures and after several tries, came up with a good representation. Then I painted a crowd of people disembarking from the ferry. I thought I could do better, so I tried again, but I’m not sure it was an improvement.

These figures blend in well, and their legs show action.
My first attempt at people disembarking the ferry.
My second attempt at painting people leaving the ferry. This painting isn’t as fresh as my first try.

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Abandoned farmhouse

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Some of my favorites subjects are the old farms, barns, and farmhouses scattered throughout Kitsap County. Not only do they evoke the memories of a slower era, but they make great subjects. Nearly every week on my way to Poulsbo Artist League, I pass an abandoned farmhouse near the corner of Finn Hill Road and Rude Road. It’s been abandoned and shuttered for years while the owners presumably make plans for some big development.

Last week when I drove by, the winter sun was slanting across the property, lighting up one end of the building. I found a place to park on the busy road and got out to make a photo. When I got home, I made it into a watercolor. My goal was to spotlight the sunny end of the farmhouse and show the light streaming across the grass. My execution was a bit clumsy, but I got the general idea. Below you can see the photo and the watercolor.

Abandoned farmhouse, corner of Rude Road and Finn Hill near Poulsbo.

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Dramatic skies

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After watching some videos about painting skies in watercolor, I decided to try to create some sweeping, dramatic skies like those of the English watercolorists. Paintings by Edward Wesson, Trevor Chamberlain, and Edward Seago show moist, colorful English skies, and they’re my models. The sky above us seems blue but it usually has more colors in it, and pale washes of blue, red, and yellow help bring the sky alive.

For my first scene, I painted a wet, cloudy sky and let it blend into the field below, painting around the barn. Then I added trees, the barn colors, and the foreground.

First attempt at skies

I liked the way that turned out, so I decided to do it again. This time I added a slash of sunlight coming across the field, which adds a lot of interest to the scene. I also put a few cow-like figures in the field.

Second attempt at skies

I liked that even better, so I copied a Joseph Zbukvic watercolor for my next attempt. This is an Australian farm, and you can imagine the summer heat. I’m pleased with the way the washes ran together in places, bringing the painting together. This is the way I’d like to paint — loose and suggestive.

Copy of Zbukvic watercolor

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Looser barns

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I liked the barns at Hunter Farms that I painted in my last post, so I decided to paint them again, but more loosely. This time I sprayed the front and the back of the paper with water until it was saturated, then I applied the watercolor washes and let them run. The idea is to get a misty, watery feel to the painting. After letting the initial washes dry, I came back in with a dry brush and painted the darker shapes with harder edges. That way hopefully I would get some soft edges to the shapes and some hard edges.

I painted this scene twice. The first time I let the barns look watery and soft. In the second painting I firmed up the shapes of the barns.

My first painting. This is probably too loose.
My second painting. Some of the colors from above flow down into the lower area, tying the painting together.

I submitted the second painting to Eric Wiegardt, my watercolor teacher, for our Saturday class critique. He liked the how the blue from the side of the center barn flowed down into the grass. He liked the variation of colors in the trees also. But again he remarked that the shadows in the barn doors and on the silo are”dead.” They need more of the meadow colors brought into them.

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The barns at Hunter Farm

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Every Sunday on our way to church Katy and I drive past Hunter Farm, located on the grass flats next to the outlet of the Skokomish River. It’s a diverse farming operation, with hayfields, dairy cattle, a pumpkin patch, corn maize, organic produce, and a retail operation that is packed with cars from Halloween to Thanksgiving. They have a couple of old barns that are quite striking for their location under the wooded hills above the Skokomish River.

I made a pencil sketch of the barns, then a value study, then I painted three watercolor paintings. I wanted to show the light rooflines of the barns against the dark background of trees, with the silo as the focal point. I also wanted to use the reflections in the standing water and paint some soft edges. Although I’m not satisfied with these paintings, I think each one got a little better and I learned some things.

First attempt 7×10 inches
Second attempt, 7×10 inches
Third attempt, 11×15 inches

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Fishing boat at Port Townsend dock

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A few years ago I took a photo of a fishing boat at a dock in Port Townsend. Yesterday and today I made two paintings of this boat. On my first attempt, I was dissatisfied with the pilings under the dock. They’re just grey, without any local color. My teacher, Eric Wiegardt, has told me twice to add color to my shadows. Also the proportions of the cabin on the boat aren’t quite right. So I decided to paint it again. On the second attempt, I got more color in the shadows and the proportions of the boat are better.

First attempt
Second attempt

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Painting the marsh

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In his demo last week, Eric Wiegardt painted a marsh on Willapa Bay. He emphasized the importance of adding a complementary color to a background wash to make it come alive. The actual color isn’t as importance as the vibration that comes from the two colors together. In his painting, he started with a yellowish wash, then he added strokes of purple, the complement. In this painting, he also showed how to use the mop brush with its bristles splayed out to make the texture for the trees and the grasses.

I made a copy of his painting, then I made another painting from my photo of a marsh on Brownsville Road.

My copy of Eric Wiegardt’s painting
Brownsville Road marsh

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Snow Creek farm series

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For my homework for last Saturday’s watercolor class with Eric Wiegardt, I painted a farm I visited a couple of summers ago on Snow Creek near Discovery Bay. I wanted to show the hills behind the barn as misty, cloud-draped shapes, and keep the barn and silo as my center of interest. I wasn’t satisfied with my initial attempts, so I kept trying. I did a series of eight paintings all together. Here’s my best attempt and a photo of a bunch of the others.

Eric commented that this watercolor has good separation of values (light grass and dark trees), and he liked the lines showing the curve on the road. He liked the way the green tree color fades into the right side of the shed in the front, and he suggested that I add some color into the shadows of the barn. These gray shadows need to be warmed up with color from the grass.

My best attempt, 9 x 12 inches
Some of my many attempts to paint this scene

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Winter barn scene

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In my last post, I showed three value studies I painted of a winter scene. I took the third one and developed it into a more complete painting. I used only three colors: ultramarine blue, burnt umber, and raw sienna. I think the composition as a whole works well.

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