30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Nine

"Paint, Paper, and Paintbrush" LWatry©2014

For Day Nine of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days I chose to paint something that is a big part of who I am - "Paint, Paper, and Paintbrush". This is especially true right now during this 30 in 30 Challenge!

The paintbrush is the same one I have used for 20 plus years. It is a number 38 round, Golden Fleece by Cheap Joes. I even used my #38 to paint the brush in this painting!

The paper in this painting are pieces of paper that I crumpled after printing a drawing and a couple paintings of mine.

The tubes of Paint in this scene are some of the colors on my palette. I use about five different brands, but Daniel Smith paint is my favorite! The colors in the painting are: Pyrrol Orange, Pthalo Blue, Aureolin Yellow, Sap Green, Permanent Rose, and Quinacridone Magenta.

"Paint, Paper, and Paintbrush" is a 6"x6" watercolor and is Not For Sale.

Watercolor of Colored Glass

Glass Menagerie by Lorraine Watry ©2013

I started this painting as a demonstration for a class I was teaching this summer on painting glass in watercolor. I don't usually paint still-lifes but the reflections and detail in the glasses were exciting. I began by setting up and rearranging all the glass pieces that I collected for the class. Then I tried setting them up with different backgrounds both inside and outside to provide different lighting. I ended up choosing this scene because I liked the contrast that the wooden bird statues played against the blue bird and all the other glass. It also felt like there was a story.
     The next step was to block out all the highlights with masking fluid. It is better to save more whites in the beginning because you can always paint some of them out later. Then I started with the upper right corner and just started painting the shapes in the white glass bowl. Having strong contrasts and looking for all the little abstract shapes when painting glass is important.
     One of the changes I made from my photograph was to paint the little glass pieces around the blue bird red instead of the blue that they are in the photograph. I did this for two reasons. The first was that the red helped the blue bird stand out more and the second reason was to spread the red around the painting a little more.
     After finishing a painting, especially a busy one like this, it is important to look at it for a while to make sure there are no areas that need adjusting. I looked at my painting from across the room and in different light, I also looked at in reverse in a mirror and saw a few areas that I wanted to adjust. After making the adjustments, I removed the masking that had saved the white of the paper and painted in the areas that needed color. The rest of the masked areas were cleaned up by painting some of the surrounding color to make them look less cut out or I scrubbed some of their edges to soften them to look like highlights on the glasses, ex. as seen on the green goblet in the upper right hand corner.
     

How to Paint Black in Watercolor

Mixing Blacks LWatry©2012

    Summer break is over and it is time to get serious about watercolor again! I will be starting a painting soon that has a lot of darks and blacks in it. So, I thought I would make this post about painting black in watercolor.
    I could just reach for a tube of black watercolor, but the blacks I can mix will have more life or color to them. These mixed blacks are called chromatic blacks. They are mixed using dark paints that look black but don't contain any black. Typically the mixes are made from red and green or blue and red. When you are painting with chromatic blacks the color can be varied so that it is cooler in part of the mix and warmer in another area giving more life to the painting. With tube blacks they can look flat because there is no variation. Blacks can be mixed with other colors, but this often leads to dull, muddy color.

Blacks Color Mixing Chart LWatry©2012

    So before I begin my painting, I decided to do a color chart for some possible black mixes. To the left is my color chart and I have included 4 black colors straight out of the tube on the lower right corner, so that you can see how dark my mixes are. It may be a little hard to see, but depending on how much of each color you add to the mix, you can make the resulting mix cooler or warmer.
    Here is a list of the colors that I mixed together:
1. Ultramarine Turquoise and Quinacridone Magenta
2. Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue  3. Phthalo Blue and Alizeran Crimson  4. Prussian Blue and Pyrrol Orange  5. Prussian Blue and Alizeran Crimson  6. Ultramarine Turquoise and Alizeran Crimson
The four tube blacks on the chart are:  1. Payne's Gray  2. Moonglow  3. Lamp Black  4. Ivory Black

Mixing Black on My Palette LWatry©2012

    When I do the mixes I pull some of each of the two colors onto the center, mixing area of my palette and then pull some of each color into the mix. In this way I can vary the mix and make it warmer or cooler as needed. When I am pulling color out to make a black, I want to use a lot of pigment. Remember, watercolor dries slightly lighter. The mixes that I made are all good possibilities for darks in my painting. I may use all of them or only a selection.

French Horn Photo LWatry©2012

    Before I begin my painting, which will be on a full sheet of watercolor paper (22x30), I will do a color study to get a better idea of the colors I will be using. Because this painting is large and I have a lot of darks, I have purchased two plastic containers with lids that I can mix a large amount of a black if needed. However, I plan on using several different blacks so that it doesn't become boring.
    To the left is my photo and the grid that I placed on top of it to draw it. I don't always use a grid, but this photo is very detailed. I have added more of the blue reflection to a couple of the french horns and I will adjust values where needed. Now that my investigation of black is done, I can get on with the painting! Even though this pre-planning can take time, in the end it can save a lot of time and headaches.