Watercolor play

Contemplating green waters and long sunsets

Aug 23, 2023

The morning glory winds its vines tightly around the porch rails before lovingly opening white flowers towards the sun. The hum of the crop duster’s engine fades in and out. The shimmering air holds its breath, knowing strong fall winds will visit soon.

Icy stream

With the heat index reaching 121 °F in my small town, I felt nostalgic for winter’s cold adventures. I took this photo while walking along an icy stream with friends about 10 miles from home:

Exploring watercolors

I’m pretty new to using watercolors. I typically use acrylic paints.

With acrylic, I love building up layer after layer. I stop when it looks interesting. Once dry, I can evaluate: Is it too dark or light? Does it need something? If yes, add more acrylic paint. And as long as I keep my layers reasonably thin, I can add more. I love this process of finding my way through play and exploration.

However, if I try this with watercolors, I end up with a muddy brown mess. Once a dark watercolor pigment stains the paper, there is no making it lighter. If I want bright areas, I need to plan them.

From Imagination

Trying different brush sizes and amounts of water:

River scene

For the following paintings, I used reference photos by Jane McCauley Thomas. I am grateful for her permission to draw and paint from them—and to share them with you in this newsletter.

These photos remind me of some of my favorite times in the Northwest, escaping the heat in mountain streams, hiking, and rock climbing.

Photo by Jane McCauley Thomas - A river near Staircase, in Olympic National Park

Working on simplifying the river scene and adding more colors to break up the greens:

Simplifying the scene further. And working to keep the focus on the river by reducing the vibrancy of color in other areas:

The black-necked stilt

I loved the reflections and the subtle colors:

Photo by Jane McCauley Thomas - Black-necked stilt (Photo cropped)

No. 6: Pen sketch—and a watercolor study.

Trees and water

Here, I’m thinking about design: Which trees and shapes to include, how to make them look different from each other, and where I want to add contrast.