Good morning everyone!
I finished my latest painting, a landscape watercolor, which is the first landscape painting I have ever done. I took pictures of the painting throughout the process, so I thought you might like to see how the painting was done.
First, you must start out with an idea or a model of what you wish to paint. This was my model.
The picture I chose as my model
Next, you take the surface you are painting (for watercolors, there is specially developed paper) and draw the main lines of the painting on there. Once the main lines are drawn, you start filling them in. Here, you can see where I have started to fill in the main set of mountains. If you look closely, you can also see the drawn lines for the meadow/valley below.
The Beginning of the Mountains
The next step was to add depth and color to the mountains. Getting the mountains right was probably the longest part of the process.
The Mountains
The next step was to fill in the meadow and other land in the foreground.
Foreground Filled In
A closer view:
A Closer View
Then it was time to start the detail work in the foreground. Here is the detail after my first session on working on it:
Part but not all of the detail
A close up of the detail close to the left side of the mountain:
Close up of the left side of the mountain meadow
The next painting session let me finish the details, and the painting.
The Finished Product
Here’s a closer look at the finished painting:
Close up of Finished Painting
And here is a look at the painting, and the picture that started it, side by side:
Comparison
The hardest part of painting watercolor is the need for patience – patience as you try to mix the colors in exactly the right, patience as you try to build up the right sets of color and patience to go back and try again if the colors don’t quite work the first time. I’m please with the final result though.
Have a great day!
Nancy
Tales from the Mom-Side 