Advancing with Watercolor: "Waves on Rocks" Using graded washes to create atmosphere
LAST WEEK
Last week we began a study of texture - we practiced a drill that gave us a means to express texture through watercolor and then applied this knowledge to a painting of the Garden of the Gods.
A second and equally important part of the exercise was the perception of texture in looking at the scene. Perhaps it is better to say recognize the texture in out subject before we started to compose. Before we start to paint - giving our mind a chance to understand what we want to say or capture in our painting
THE PROJECT
This week we look at a scene of waves crashing onto rocks. The textural elements are the water spray, the hard rock and wet sand. Also there is a feeling of humidity in the air - best expressed by the fading darks in the distance.
What do I want to say in this painting? Always a good place to start
The photo may be inspiring to you - it may not. Some things will inspire you more than others - for me the arrangement of shapes is quite interesting - staggered shapes , overlapping and moving at oblique angles...It is a back-lit image which flattens the shapes and gives a glow to the breaking water In truth the camera was challenged by the light of this scene and so the darks have been equalized throughout. This is something to know when you are using photography - especially in difficult light. When the camera is deficient in some cases such as todays image, we are required to use our memory and imagination to complete the image
THE DESIGN
I have referred to the things which I like in this image - the composition resounds with me...in thinking about texture lets look at some places we can bring that out
1 - The shapes of the rocks - big bulky shapes with a convex nature. Where the rocks meet the sand describes the slope of the beach- witching the rocks we perceive a mist or spray - we will use a graded wash to express this
2- tThe braking wave is a challenge because we want to capture its bulk and its strength but the nature of the shapes is soft - we need some thought as to how to bring this about in watercolor - sequence To make the wave turn we will also use an extension of the dreaded wash
3 - The sky and the reflective sand will be more effective if we can use a graded wash to create them
THE TECHNIQUE
This weeks drill focused on creating a graded wash - a basic technique that we use and re-use so many time in out painting. As I mentioned above we will use this graded wash to create
1- the softness of the wave
2 - the reflections in the sand
3 the feeling of mist and atmosphere in the rocks and distant land
THE CHALLENGE
I think rendering the wave will be one of the biggest challenges in this piece. There is a chaos to it - we can emulate this through brush work and surrendering to the media - but to do this we battle with our innate desire to control each mark. I aid myself by splattering paint and using an old brush that I can not be precise with...
Maybe this can work for you too :)