Watercolor Painting Demonstration Step-by-step Painting Techniques

Roland Lee Art Gallery

View Cart | Checkout | Login

New Releases

Original Paintings

Limited Edition Prints

Zion National Park Prints Lake Powell Prints Desert Southwest Prints International Prints LDS Church History Prints Giclee Landscape Prints Litho Fine Art Prints Poster Prints

Art Books & Cards

Art Supplies

Sketchbooks

Kent England Sketchbook Holland Sketchbook Baja Cruise Zion National Park Sketchbook Pioneer Life Sketchbook South Pacific Sketchbook Great Britain Sketchbook Europe Sketchbook Vermont Sketchbook California Sketchbook Salt Lake City Sketchbook Massachusetts Sketchbook Church History Sketchbook American History Sketchbook Capitol Reef Sketch Book

Art Instruction

Blog

Zion National Park- Watercolor Painting Techniques by Roland Lee

	Once again, Zion National Park is my subject. In late November 2008 Emmy award winning producer Phil Tuckett and a film crew from Dixie State College shot one of my outdoor watercolor classes as we worked in this spot along the North Fork of the Virgin River in Zion. The weather was gorgeous as they shot footage for a new documentary on the centennial of Zion National Park. This scene is where the river turns at the foot of the Temple of Sinawava, which is actually behind me in the picture. The Virgin River at this time of the year is very placid and peaceful and the brilliant yellows of the Cottonwoods add a dramatic touch to the scene. As you follow the painting sequence below, you can compare each step to the finished painting which appears next to it on the right. Learn more about this painting See over 40 more watercolor painting demonstrations by Roland Lee

1. I begin this painting by painting the sky using a wet-in-wet technique. Then move quickly to broad loose washes of color on the remainder of the painting.
2. The shadows on the distant cliffs are an imoortant part of this image, so I try to establish the darks and lights there first.
3. Now I move down and cut in the foliage against the shadows using negative painting on the edges, and letting the pigments mingle naturally for the leaves and branches.
4. I continue to bring the middle ground into focus being careful not to get the values too dark. The darkest darks are always in the foreground so I need to leave some room go darker when I get to the rocks and foreground foliage.
5. Here I start to rough in the darks of the foliage in the foreground mainly painting dark over light using the drybrush technique.	6. The river and the foreground received a lot of time and attention since this is where we can really see the detail in nature.
Painting this large does pose some problems for the watercolorist. I am using a sheet of 26 x 40 Arches cold press paper stretched on a laminated drawing board. Because it's so large I use a combination of methods depending on which part of the painting I'm working on. Below is my adjustable drawing board, at right is the easel I inherited from my mentor Robert Shepherd.
"Solace at Sinawava " by Roland Lee Medium: Transparent Watercolor Image: 24" x 39" Frame: 34" x 49" Click for more information on this painting See over 40 more painting demonstrations by Roland Lee