Advancing with Watercolor - Interiors "The Gallery Wall"

Week 6 - The Gallery Wall - Composition

Watercolor Technique is an important part of our practice as watercolorists -as communicators or artists composition is another skill we muster come to grips with - a fantastic painting if built on a mediocre composition will always be mediocre , conversely a mediocre painting on a great composition will be timeless. So what entails a good composition?? For certain it requires intent and thought. I always remember Edgar Whitneys words. Plan like a tortoise and paint like a rabbit. So what should we think about when looking at our subject in preparation??? This is a great question that should be answered in some way before placing the pencil to paper. What compels me to paint this - what is essential what is subordinate.

Things to consider

Cropping

Aligning on the third

A value pattern

Hard and soft edges…

Sometimes the answers are obvious , sometimes we engage our creative muscle to bring them out

Answer these few questions and you are most defiantly composing…Your eyes will eventually see the wold in this manner - the manner of the artist and good compositions will present themselves instantly …then begins the process of bringing it to life.

Edges

As throughout this series I think a bit about my edges and how will I create some interesting edges for my subject. The edges of the brushes must be hard and calligraphic - the edges of the frames and the shadows falling down the walls will be soft and slowly shifting. Within the pictures and the window I will find the occasion to add some dry brush for variety.

Value Pattern

A value pattern is another way to compose or at least give yourself a reference as you deal with a complex scene. There is a direct connection to the value pattern and the question we pose - “Is my subject a light against a dark or a dark against a light/ The answer leads to a simple value pattern.

The value pattern is almost like a notan in its simplicity - and can help us make something out of a confusing image - note the exercise below

What will you need this week

I am creating 1 color painting for our lesson and 2 smaller tonal studies-

size 12 x 18 taped to a board for the drill - the smaller pieces played significantly in the direction of the final piece. This week we will build color using a more direct all prima method - mixing our colors directly on the paper, Practically speaking the resulting color gain strength this way…

Materials

Colors

Yellow ochre, cad yellow light, b Sienna, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue and sepia, can orange red, Prussian green, aliz crimson and  any other fun colors you want… Brushes

A large flat 2” and a 1 inch flat, a couple of sabelette rounds large and small..

Tape, spay bottle, paper towel, hair dryer

Paper 11 x 15 Saunders rough