11/2/13

Small White Cottage

Watercolor Demo on Arches 140 cold press paper

This is a small watercolor sketch that I did for my class a couple of weeks ago.  We have been talking in my classes about WHY we paint a certain subject.  How can we paint it very simply and still show WHY we painted it.  So  -  we were concentrating on composition, value and simplicity of strokes and shapes.

I was attempting to show sunshine and contrast, and it was painted in just a few minutes with a large brush.  I painted in the flowers first  -  always lightest brightest first.  Then just swooped through with a medium green, being careful to paint around the house shape and the flowers. Next were some dark, negative shapes around the cottage, and in the trees and flowers.  The last thing was a series of squiggles of green for a little foreground interest.

I love doing small watercolors with a 10 or 14 brush  -  it moves it right along.  Instant gratification.