Watercolor Artist - USA (2020-06)

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The half-timbered houses of Bourges,

France, were built soon after the

great fi re of 1487. For Bourges

(watercolor on paper, 8x6), I spent

the fi rst hour working out the pencil

drawing in the 8x6-inch watercolor

book (1). I then placed very light

washes in gray and brown, leaving

the white of the paper in the far upper

plane of the central building (2). Next,

starting with the very dark doorway,

I painted the structure area-by-area

(3, 4). I completed the entire painting

using a ¼-inch fl at travel brush. The

chisel shape can be used edge-on

for a fi ne line or full-width for wider

shapes, such as the reddish brown

sill piece at the top of the fi rst fl oor.

I painted the farther buildings on

the right side with lighter tones to

vignette the subject and create

a sense of fog.

A SMALL BUT
COMPLETE PAN SET

For basic transparent watercolor,
I use a small metal watercolor box,
but I don’t use the colors provided in
the set. Instead, I switch them out for
an ever-changing group of 10 to 12
pans. When a pan of a given color
runs low, I refi ll it with tube color.
Th e box, which opens to about 5x8
inches and fi ts the opposite side of
a standard watercolor sketchbook,
can hold 12 half pans or six full pans.
Th e colors I’m currently using are
permanent carmine, Payne’s gray,
ultramarine blue, cerulean blue,
permanent green olive, gamboge,
raw sienna, sepia, Venetian red
and cadmium red. I don’t need more
options than that. I primarily use
synthetic short-handled fl at and
round brushes.

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