Watercolour Demonstration 91ContinuedSTAGE 9 FOREGROUND
BARN
The barn on the foreground is next. The
reference photograph has flattened much
of the reflected light under the barn and
looks too dark. In order to create a vibrant
dark I wash in a rich mix burnt sienna,
and while this is still wet I charge in a
thick mix of ultramarine blue. If you allow
the colours to mix on the paper, you
will end up with a lovely vibrant dark.
After this has become damp I define the
windows and dark sides of the building
ith this thick mix of the same two colours.
I also define some shadows on the
ground by joining the same wash.
The darks in this area are necessary
to push back the background and to
make them look lighter. Remember
tone is a relative thing!
STAGE 10 FOREGROUND DETAILS
The foreground area needs strengthening to direct the viewer’s eye to middle ground, which is the lightest area of the painting. Basically we
are framing around the painting with darks, isolate the middle-ground. I add a few interesting tree shapes. The fences in the painting look
uninteresting, so I created an uneven line of fence posts; these also act as visual connections from each end. I made good use of some white spots
left on middle-ground by turning them into chickens! This wasn’t planned and it happened accidentally by dry brush marks whist laying my wash.
Sometimes it’s amazing what a bit of creative thinking will do!