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in Kent, England - Watercolor Painting Techniques by Roland Lee
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I've taken a little artistic license with this scene, as I so often do.
I think residents of the town of Hever in Kent England would recognize
the place though. We drove past this tavern on the road from Hever Hotel
to Edenbridge often. This was also the pick up point for the Eden Valley
walking trail which I took over to Chiddingston Castle.
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I did this sketch of the King Henry VIII Inn and Tavern in the little
town of Hever, In Kent England. This sketch inspired the painting "Village
of Kent" shown below. We only spent a week in this area, but I
had no trouble filling a sketchbook with drawings.
See
all the sketchbook drawings of Kent England
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1. Using the sketchbook drawing done on location in
England, along with my digital photo, I work out the design for my painting
in a little "thumbnail' value study. A little extra time spent at
this point, working out a road map for the painting will save hours of
headache later on. The photo at left shows how I work, taping the reference
material to my board so I can refer to it as I go. this is a pretty standard
procedure for me. With all of this prep work done, and my reference material
nearby, I can confidently begin the actual painting. |
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2. My painting surface is 140lb. Arches watercolor
cold-press paper. It is soaked in the tub then stapled to a stiff backing
board. When dry, I apply masking tape around the edges to give a nice
clean framing edge on the painting. I often use 300 lb. Arches for big
paintings, but in this case I was out of the heavier paper. I like 140
lb. just as well however it doesn't hold moisture as long so I've got
to paint more quickly.
Using a 4H pencil I sketch out the painting using light lines, which
will be obliterated by the paint when it is applied. If a little pencil
shows through in light areas I will lift it off with a kneaded eraser
when the painting is complete. I spend a lot of time adjusting the drawing
and getting it right at this point. I think drawing well is my biggest
strength and there's no question in realist painting it is the very
foundation of good painting. Getting the drawing right sometimes takes
me a whole day, but it sure makes the rest of the process flow easier.
As always I begin the painting process with the lightest washes. I
don't have to be too careful at this point, so I let the pigments mingle
and flow together to create texture.The sky is done using a wet-in-wet
technique, wetting the surface first, and dropping pigments into it.
This creates the soft edges of the clouds.
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3. Now I try to catch the feeling of warm versus cool
by working in the center of interest. You can see I am establishing the
value relationship of darket darks and lightest lights at this point.
the contrast in front of this area must be greater (darker darks against
lightest lights) and the distance behind must have less contrast due to
aerial perspective. Notice how blue the cast shadow looks on the front
window. Once the darks are laid in the blue won't seem so strong (see
the finished painting). Core shadows are usually warm due to reflected
light while cast shadows are cooler, picking up the blue from the sky.
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4. Okay, now I have to move into the background
to define the darkest darks in the distant trees which will never be
as dark as the foreground. By using light glazes and wet-in-wet I create
the illusion that the trees are off in the distance. This gives depth
in the painting. With the distant trees established, I move back to
the center of interest and define the flowers and shrubs around the
front door. Now I have a pretty good feel for the value relationships
and feel confident that the painting is moving in the right direction.
I am using negative painting aorund the foreground leaves so I can
use lighter colors there. In my value study I sketched in a figure in
front of the distant building. I purposely left that area light so I
could paint the figure lighter. Now I sketch in the figure, and decide
that it will be a woman in period costume carrrying a basket of something.
I carefully place her so the light from the sun will fall on her and
the shadow from the tavern will sillhouette her nicely. Remember with
watercolor it's always "light against dark--preserve the whites!."
However, if you leave too much white it will distort your judgement
when laying in the other values. So I better get to work on the foreground
and get something laid in there too. |
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5. Bringing the painting to completion requires
a lot more work -- probably as much time as the whole painting up to
this point. All of the foreground tree leaves and flowers are painted
using back-painting or negative painting creating the lighter shapes
by painting the darks around them. I choose not to use any masking to
preserve the lights although there is nothing wrong with that process.
I just find it annoying to mess with it.
Notice that I have created an interesting pattern of lights and darks
in the street and throw in some reflections for drama. This is a relatively
complicated painting, but the hardest part was the research done on
location, planning the painting with thumbnail studies, and getting
the outline drawing right before I even picked up the brush. After all
that, the actual painting process is a cakewalk. I can turn on the music
and work on auto pilot. Of course you always hit a few roadblocks as
the painting progresses, but with careful planning up front it goes
much smoother.
So that's it! I will keep the painting on an easel in my studio for
a week or so to look for any problems. I always have my photographer,
Frank Carter, shoot some 35 mm slides and several 4 x 5 color transparencies
before I send the paintnig off to the framer. That way, once the painting
is sold, I still have the image for magazine articles, cards, prints,
and archival purposes.
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more Roland Lee Watercolor Painting Techniques and Demonstrations |
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