I know I said that I would not post again until I got this painting done... well, I am still working on it. I am having more trouble with the flowers then I have with anything else in the painting. Go figure. Anyway, I have scrubbed the leaves and I am now in the process of re-working them.
This past Wednesday was the monthly meeting for the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society (GCWS). I officially joined. YEAH! I am happy to meet everyone in this group. I am glad that my blog buddy, Deb Ward, made it this month. I will only be able to participate one more month because school will begin and interfere with meeting times. However, I am thrilled to have been able to get to participate this summer and that I have learned something at each meeting.
This month's guest speaker was Jeanne McLeish from Indiana. She paints with transparent watercolors. She was a
very informative teacher. Jeanne began by showing us her very detailed drawing of her subject. Jeanne feels that by doing a precise value study, she then has everything resolved before the painting begins. Jeanne spent time going over the design she created from several photos and how she made sure the flow of the shadows kept your eye moving around the painting (example on the right). Jeanne then makes a chart of her layers to remind her of the value/temperature in her design. She feels this helps her to stay on task to get the finished look that she wants.
When she begins a painting she uses the three primary colors to fill in the paper. Aureolin, Rose Madder and Cobalt are her choices because of their transparent qualities and they are balanced hues.
In her scene, she begins with Aureolin and puts the yellow all over the paper. Jeanne then came back with Rose Madder to the areas that will be mid tone or cooler spots. Lastly, she placed the Cobalt in the dark/cool spots.
Once the first layer is down, she then talked about beginning with your big shapes. Her quote was, "Paint the big dog first then the fleas." Jeanne said that if you went to the little things right away then you will get too tight with your painting. I felt this was a truism that everyone agreed upon. Jeanne then quoted Don Andrews, "Stay in the midtones as lo
ng as possible, because that is where the color resides." She said that was her favorite tip she learned from him.
Jeanne also gave us a tip on mixing colors. She said to mix transparent with opaque colors to keep the paint from becoming too thick.
To the left is her finished painting next to the one she worked on in her demonstration for the group. I really enjoyed her and felt lucky to have learned some valuable tips.
I then went home and put what I learned into practice. To the left is my next painting. I do not have Aureolin or Rose Madder so I used Lemon Yellow and Quin. Red. I began by paining the whole paper in the yellow. I then placed the red for the house and in the plants. Last, I placed the blue for the dark areas.
What do you think? Have I followed Jeanne's formula well? I wonder how long I will stay with the "big dog" before I paint the "fleas" :-)
Leave me a comment.
Gaylynn
I know I said that I would not post again until I got this painting done... well, I am still working on it. I am having more trouble with the flowers then I have with anything else in the painting. Go figure. Anyway, I have scrubbed the leaves and I am now in the process of re-working them.
This past Wednesday was the monthly meeting for the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society (GCWS). I officially joined. YEAH! I am happy to meet everyone in this group. I am glad that my blog buddy, Deb Ward, made it this month. I will only be able to participate one more month because school will begin and interfere with meeting times. However, I am thrilled to have been able to get to participate this summer and that I have learned something at each meeting.
This month's guest speaker was Jeanne McLeish from Indiana. She paints with transparent watercolors. She was a 
very informative teacher. Jeanne began by showing us her very detailed drawing of her subject. Jeanne feels that by doing a precise value study, she then has everything resolved before the painting begins. Jeanne spent time going over the design she created from several photos and how she made sure the flow of the shadows kept your eye moving around the painting (example on the right). Jeanne then makes a chart of her layers to remind her of the value/temperature in her design. She feels this helps her to stay on task to get the finished look that she wants.
When she begins a painting she uses the three primary colors to fill in the paper. Aureolin, Rose Madder and Cobalt are her choices because of their transparent qualities and they are balanced hues.
In her scene, she begins with Aureolin and puts the yellow all over the paper. Jeanne then came back with Rose Madder to the areas that will be mid tone or cooler spots. Lastly, she placed the Cobalt in the dark/cool spots.
Once the first layer is down, she then talked about beginning with your big shapes. Her quote was, "Paint the big dog first then the fleas." Jeanne said that if you went to the little things right away then you will get too tight with your painting. I felt this was a truism that everyone agreed upon. Jeanne then quoted Don Andrews, "Stay in the midtones as lo
ng as possible, because that is where the color resides." She said that was her favorite tip she learned from him.
Jeanne also gave us a tip on mixing colors. She said to mix transparent with opaque colors to keep the paint from becoming too thick.
To the left is her finished painting next to the one she worked on in her demonstration for the group. I really enjoyed her and felt lucky to have learned some valuable tips.
I then went home and put what I learned into practice. To the left is my next painting. I do not have Aureolin or Rose Madder so I used Lemon Yellow and Quin. Red. I began by paining the whole paper in the yellow. I then placed the red for the house and in the plants. Last, I placed the blue for the dark areas.
What do you think? Have I followed Jeanne's formula well? I wonder how long I will stay with the "big dog" before I paint the "fleas" :-)
Leave me a comment.
Gaylynn
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