http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistMarch 2021 53
PRACTICAL
p u STAGE TWO
With my No. 8 brush and a mix of Indian yellow and cobalt
turquoise I began to lay in the green moss highlights
on the rocks. Notice how the paint sits over the coarse
‘stucco’ type surface, which is miles away from painting
watercolour on paper and such a fresh, stimulating way to
paint watercolours. Moving up into the river bank and using
my yellows, blues and orange diluted to a lovely creamy
mix, I started to brush in the bank colours, moulding the
brushstrokes around the boulders, leaving white areas here
and there. The colours bubbled and boiled over the surface,
creating some lovely texturest p STAGE THREE
Moving back into the rocks and boulders, I used my brown, orange
and blue mixes to begin establishing the shapes and textures. With
a much stronger, creamier mix of my rock colours I painted in the
foreground boulder. Notice how the paint is picking up the rough
consistency of the ground, which is a real advantage when painting
areas of texture and so different from painting on paper. At the end
of this stage I had established all the basic rock colours