Category Archives: Garden and Hardware

Old brick house and window watercolor painting – 7 x 11 inches

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Old brick house and window watercolor painting

Old brick house and window watercolor painting

This is a small watercolor painting of an old brick house and a window surrounded by green plants.  The painting is approximately 7 x 11 inches and is painted on cold press watercolor paper.   A blue green wash compose of Ultramarine Blue and Windsor Green watercolor paint is applied on where the plant is going to be.  Then the leaves are painted in a darker watercolor tone.   After the layers are dry, a thin wash of Burnt Sienna watercolor  is used for the wall color behind the plant.  Left wall is being painted with several watercolor washes along side several watercolor washes for the plant.   The right side showing the thin watercolor washes in contrast with the left.   Part of the window frame and the brick window sill is also being painted in several watercolor layers using the wet in wet as well as the dry brush technique for watercolor texture.

Daily watercolor painting – Autumn leaves #2 approach – watercolor painting

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Autumn leaves watercolor painting - #2 approach

Autumn leaves watercolor painting - #2 approach

After the autumn leaves watercolor painting was finished (see last post) and looking at it for a few days, I tried to add some interest into the painting.  The watercolor painting shows the color of the leaves in autumn and yet it is too common in a sense that it does not have attact me to look at it more.  I started by taping around the inside of the painting leaving about inch and a half of space on the outside.  Then I start to remove some of the watercolor paint on the paper by wetting the paper and then blot it off with tissue.  The color start to appear lighter around the taped edges showing a lighter frame of watercolor surrounding the middle.  I carefully paint around some leaves with water so as to leave a couple of leaves extend from the middle of the painting with full color.  Once the tape is removed, I outline the leaves and the square frame using a black medium Staedtler Lumocolor pen.

Dailywatercolor painting – Autumn leaves watercolor painting

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Autumn leaves watercolor painting

Autumn leaves watercolor painting

This watercolor painting was done on a 15 x 15 inches cold press watercolor paper taken from a watercolor pad.  The watercolor paper seems to have a different texture and characteristic than what I have been used to which is the Arches watercolor paper.  It takes watercolor paint well but the paint seems to dry to a dull finish.  I used the wet in wet technique in this autumn leaves study starting from the top left corner.  The overall color is painted in and around the shapes.  Somehow I lost the drawn outline and end up with an abstract of orange and yellow color instead of a painting of autumn leaves.  Then I took the reference photo and started to outline the various shapes with a heavy felt tip black marker.  After I did that to the reference photo, the shape of the leaves reappear and I can go over the watercolor painting with darker shades to outline the leaves.  What I have learned is that I need to study the subject carefully and identify each of the subject and it’s relationship with the background before I start to paint.   I would also like to experiment a little bit with a lighter outside border to increase the impact and interest of this autumn leaves watercolor study.  Will show the final painting in a few days.

Watercolor Painting – Garden sheep sheer hand forged

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Watercolor painting - Hand forged garden sheep shears 7.5 x 10 inches

Watercolor painting - Hand forged garden sheep shears 7.5 x 10 inches

I have finished doing the watercolor painting on the hand forged garden sheep sheer.  If you have read my yesterday’s blog, you know that I have done painting most of the sheer plus a layer of very light wash on the background.  Last night I have added anther wash to various area of the background where the wood grains are and use a darker color to do the shadow outline of the wood grain.  The knots on the wood is also done by applying several washes and finally with a darker color using very fine liner brushes.  Shadow on the wood was painted with a mixture of Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson and French Ultramarine Blue in several watercolor layers.  Each one is added after the layer is completely dry until the desire darkness is achieved.  Then the highlight is lifted off the painted shadow area and also darker wood grain is added.   Picking the correct watercolor pigment is important so that it can be lifted and not too staining.  It was lots of fun doing this wood texture background in watercolor.  It is also very important to find a place for your signature so that the finished painting is well balanced.  When it is time to sign the watercolor painting,  I found that it is best to turn this watercolor painting in a vertical position and sign on the lower left near the sheer.  Although it takes a while to do the wood texture background, I think it is lots of fun and I haev learned a lot from doing it.

Watercolor Painting Daily – Garden sheep shear hand forged

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Garden Sheep Shears Hand Forged 7.5 x 10 inches watercolor painting

Garden Sheep Shears Hand Forged 7.5 x 10 inches watercolor painting

This is an unfinished painting of a used pair of hand forged garden sheep shear.  I like the texture of the shear and it’s rustic color.  I hope I can convey that through my watercolor painting.  It is 7.5 x 10 inches watercolor on 140 lb cold press watercolor paper.  The shear itself was done by layering a mixture of French Ultramarine, Burnt Umber and Alizarin Crimson and other pigments.  It was done using layers of flat wash with some lifting on the less intense spots before the paint is dry.  All the outlines are drawn in pencil before the start of the painting.  I have also paint a very light watercolor wash for the wood grain background so I can let it all become dry and hopefully I will finish it tonight with a wood grain textrure.  Should be fun and a learning experience for me doing the wood grain texture for the background.  I have try to learn by reading books on watercolor texture but each uses their own technique and are quite different.  I think I will just try out my own and hopefully will turn out nice.