Memorial Day Salute/ Locked Out Finished

Honor our Troops

On this Memorial Day as we picnic with friends and family, please remember the meaning of the day and give thanks to our soldiers, past and present, who protect us.

Gaylynn M. Robinson  Cincinnati, OH   Locked Out   11"x14" Watercolor

The red orange wall is finished. I changed the title to Locked Out because of the lock on the door. However, in reality it is a public tourist site and was probably not open at the time the shot was taken. 

My Inspiration

When my "daughter", Kelsey, came back from Morocco she was showing me her photos. There were several that I really liked and she graciously allowed me to have a few of them. This particular photo was not only well set up, I liked the colors and the isolation the young man conveyed.

Design Strategy

To get the perspective right! I spent a lot of time in the drawing stage. Without the lines lining up the stones would not work. I brightened the colors on the young man so that he was not lost in the doorway.

Working process

Once the drawing process was complete, I transferred the drawing to my 11"x14" 300 lb. Kilimanjaro archival paper.  I laid in a light wash of W&N Cad. Lemon. Once dried, I whetted the wall down and laid in another wash along with some darks in the  stone. While wet, I pulled some of the paint off to keep those areas light. When the painting dried, I masked the areas to keep the whites or the stone light. When the masking fluid dried I began laying in some darks to establish the lines in the stone and some shading on the door. I moved onto the door and painted it a red brown. While wet I put in a light gray where the light is reflected on the door. I mixed W&N burnt sienna and Yarke madder lake for the doors color. Using a brush with clean water I blended the two areas together. When dried I removed the masking fluid on the door and cleaned up the hardwares shapes.  I have many layers on the wall to create the texture. I used Da Vinci Quin. Burnt Orange to lay in the bottom layers. I then move to W&N Burnt Sienna, Amer. Journey Burnt Umber and W&N French Ultramarine for the darks. For some of the light grays on the wall and on the ground I mixed Amer. Journey Coastal Fog, W&N Indigo and Burnt Sienna. I removed the masking fluid and shaped the areas more. The young man's shirt was W&N Cobalt with layers of French Ultramarine and Indigo. The pants were Amer. Journey Olive and W&N Indigo. The shoes are layers of W&N Yellow Ochre, Amer. Journey Raw Sienna, W&N Smalt Blue and Derwent Light Violet WC pencil. I used W&N Yellow Ochre as the beginning layer for the skin and used blue smalt mixed with the ochre to create the shadows.

Have a great day!

Gaylynn