Advancing with Watercolor : The Textures of Tuscany "The Arcade"

Week 4 - an artists perspective

Its a term I use often “Artists Perspective” I use that term because an artist uses the laws of perspective in loose ways - we approximate. Still a knowledge of some simple ideas in perspective help us a great deal. This project focuses on an arcade in Florence - the major city in Tuscany. We are overwhelmed and at the same time curious enough to try and capture this beautiful architecture. As always we start with some sketching, gradually getting closer to an understanding, then an ability to paint this scene in watercolor

Composition

Behind any great image is a well thought out composition. If you look at the first plate  the composition rests on a cross - the intersection of the major vertical and the major horizontal - the connected figures form my horizontal - as i fine tune my painting I always keeep a sort of hiarchy with this area being the area of interest.

Notan

The Notan is a VERY simplified and Stylized sketch that uses Black and white to design the shapes - forcing me to choose what is absolutely nessecary and what is supportive about the composition

The Tonal Study

The tonal study eliminates the need to replicate all the colors and allows me to organize my painting into lights and darks. These lights and darks can be modulated for effect and the simple approach helps greatly when facing this complex composition