Advancing with Watercolor: "Rain in the City" Performing the Watercolor

THE IMAGE

Th image we are working from today is from the Public Gardens in Boston and reveals a classic view of some of th iconic buildings of Boston Back Bay. What distinguishes this photo from many others is that there is a rain falling and over the city softening the edges of our primary buildings and distant garden. I thought this image would suit our theme of weather but - how would we paint this?

THE PROJECT

This rain is a favorite subject for the watercolorist - because of the opportunities to let the media work its magic and create passages that are evocative and poetic - without much assistance from us. This requires some strategy and planning and also some experimentation on our part to find a happy balance with the media and the subject

THE DRILL

In this weeks drill or practice falls at the end of our session as we finish or main painting we put it aside and prepare fro a small spring or “performance” of the subject. The value of this exercise is that we have internalized somewhat the image and explored some technique - now we try to paint the painting all in one go - “all prima” and hit our notes from the start. To help the pace we impose a 20 min time limit.

THE DRAWING / DESIGN

The design was achieved through the photo - nothing to really improve upon the shapes and placement . Our challenge is to interpret the subject through watercolor with a focus on edges - in particular - wet into wet edges.

The photo is a classic among lovers of Boston. The view is so popular that beaches have been place in a row facing this particular view. Not many people venture out in the rain for this view but if you stumble upon it - you can’t resit but to shoot a picture. As in most gardens the architect has laid out certain “views” composed the scene for us - and so many thanks to those that created this garden for generations to enjoy

THE TECHNIQUE

As we finish our drawing we begin to think about technique and how best to realize the qualities of a rainy day. I would like to create many of the buildings and trees with soft rich darks that bleed Ito one another - the building dissolving into the mist and a few well placed hard edges. The steeple - the branch the edge of the pond...So I will work wet into wet and dry into wet in small areas

THE CHALLENGES

1 - Envisioning a plan
2 - Working with some speed to achieve the wet into wet approach.

THE SKILL

Important skills are built in these studies..
1 - Thinking about your subject in terms of edges 2 - Watercolor technique - especially wet into wet 3 - Making marks with an purpose