School Bus: Step-By-Step in Gouache

Here's a step-by-step sequence of the school bus painting that I showed you recently. The medium is watercolor and gouache.<br /><br /><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTH18_Y3GcbbsGujSIL5eprPtaEgRPBk-oBvZedEdkOcOSGFgF3bClWz7OrNDtZCW6JEALMNAljSgLby-ix2LsH_2MS8oDJSoE67QNGiPf5WFXSpFmRHckvU0O36wq7Vn3wMHfIdqSKwUv/s1600/School_Bus.StepbyStepMontage.sm.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="313" /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: start;">I used a background-to-foreground approach, starting with the sky, then the trees, then the surrounding setting, and finally the bus and its details. </span></div><br /><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2014/09/school-bus.html">Previous post about the school bus painting.</a>

School Bus: Step-By-Step in Gouache

Here's a step-by-step sequence of the school bus painting that I showed you recently. The medium is watercolor and gouache. I used a bac...

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Painting a Street Scene in Watercolor

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="253" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/c1FynskNtjI" width="450"></iframe></div>Here's a video that I made while painting a row of shopfronts in Huntington, Indiana. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1FynskNtjI&feature=youtu.be">Direct link to video</a>)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOU47MNovhKPD9Te-rqqwg1gFa5FD_6rApQxygscZ4z0UZv3rVBL5T7z7FwyV_GtllzSX_OvBVsX1xDx2o_J6RbiX_Hiz0luUoPobpTR1MWeKjdLdSMXkJKWE9Gkk9eH4Gp4RnKZlAgi5d/s1600/Shopfronts.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOU47MNovhKPD9Te-rqqwg1gFa5FD_6rApQxygscZ4z0UZv3rVBL5T7z7FwyV_GtllzSX_OvBVsX1xDx2o_J6RbiX_Hiz0luUoPobpTR1MWeKjdLdSMXkJKWE9Gkk9eH4Gp4RnKZlAgi5d/s1600/Shopfronts.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />My first step is to first measure out a reasonably accurate perspective drawing in pencil. I cover the surface with a light ghost wash.<br /><br />Then I place the watercolor tones with a flat brush. I start with the idea of doing a sepia sketch, but decide to bring in a cerulean/light red combination.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXs253Wbxax10gY_zd9Acskud78wau4nOjBZyDGMefURulzY30dlBl7mER1wzVazLfZlAA2Ha7t2DA-ssc4_SZqxwtayz_0Li7kjWKXgQ2-FJMd4UmYZFkDqqCAXEPLRfNN1BaMs1DVwK/s1600/Shopfronts.det.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXs253Wbxax10gY_zd9Acskud78wau4nOjBZyDGMefURulzY30dlBl7mER1wzVazLfZlAA2Ha7t2DA-ssc4_SZqxwtayz_0Li7kjWKXgQ2-FJMd4UmYZFkDqqCAXEPLRfNN1BaMs1DVwK/s1600/Shopfronts.det.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />As time runs out, I switch to a brown fountain pen to describe the small, fine linear accents.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since the fountain pen is water soluble, I can't add further watercolor washes without dissolving the lines. The reason for adding the penwork at the end of the process is that I was more interested in using the pen for selective small accents rather than for boundary lines.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>-----</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Materials</b>:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00479VQOE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00479VQOE&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=7FKTVCUT72CHC2AZ">Pentalic watercolor sketchbook</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00479VQOE" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HBWE60/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000HBWE60&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=4H73GIE2SD7N2ZQD">Customized pan watercolors</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000HBWE60" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FN6PT0W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00FN6PT0W&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=CIOLGOLX2BMFRYS2">Travel brush set</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00FN6PT0W" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00076RBYU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00076RBYU&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=5P6FA3MFK7DNDSUB">Nalgene 2-ounce jar</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00076RBYU" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div>Homemade sketchbook pochade easel using <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DJZE0UE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00DJZE0UE&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=7IFRW2GBDIDKUYCS">adjustable torque hinges</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00DJZE0UE" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037OOTTY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0037OOTTY&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=ZSGWKSN2OLN65L3D">Waterman Phileas fountain pen</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0037OOTTY" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J3X9XI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000J3X9XI&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=ZZVDKBG3Y53GIOYT">brown ink</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000J3X9XI" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br /><b><br /></b><b>72- Minute Instructional Video: "Watercolor in the Wild"</b><br /><a href="https://sellfy.com/p/Pvxb/">More info about the HD download at Sellfy</a> (Paypal) or <a href="https://gumroad.com/l/watercolor">Gumroad</a> (credit cards)</div>

Painting a Street Scene in Watercolor

Here's a video that I made while painting a row of shopfronts in Huntington, Indiana. ( Direct link to video ) My first step is to first...

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Arthur Guptill Renders a Window

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In 1935, Arthur Guptill demonstrated a sequential method frequently used by architectural illustrators for painting a window. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Guptill first draws the subject in pencil, giving careful attention to the perspective. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg5ITjJRoIu4miFR7yZFM1VfzcOeluJ8Jr3U2xsGL6OCrxwRm2JuwRWiiZLw0ZYrxMLKO3Gf3Rj97Vec2QK3sp8AFtTdyDQVRwWWJXut5kPaaJYHWGzgDfcfeAERkN5wHk-z1Zqll4Qr6u/s1600/Guptill_Window_Rendering.1.LG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg5ITjJRoIu4miFR7yZFM1VfzcOeluJ8Jr3U2xsGL6OCrxwRm2JuwRWiiZLw0ZYrxMLKO3Gf3Rj97Vec2QK3sp8AFtTdyDQVRwWWJXut5kPaaJYHWGzgDfcfeAERkN5wHk-z1Zqll4Qr6u/s1600/Guptill_Window_Rendering.1.LG.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>He rules the lines of the shutters very evenly. Then he lays down a warm wash in watercolor over the wall and the curtains, and sets up variegated flat colors for the stonework. He washes in the shutters in green.<br /><br />The dark interior spaces are painted over the mullions, but not the sash. The dull orange color of the interior gives a feeling of depth and transparency.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvJJxIxBvGkWEnAatFCYydxc6F6bF-tOTayAyPMgnon37o0PTOF_Jv6_MlI_76PDBCJ3YdQMaMuUraHRQpqEpL98B1tf0PGoJ8zQSplYRlWrkCbR2AHbD9VretiNSDzINa-mEhE5b-RY6/s1600/Guptill_Window_Rendering.LG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvJJxIxBvGkWEnAatFCYydxc6F6bF-tOTayAyPMgnon37o0PTOF_Jv6_MlI_76PDBCJ3YdQMaMuUraHRQpqEpL98B1tf0PGoJ8zQSplYRlWrkCbR2AHbD9VretiNSDzINa-mEhE5b-RY6/s1600/Guptill_Window_Rendering.LG.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>Next come the shadows cast on the curtains and the shade from the sunlight coming from the upper left. He then adds the darks of the mullions and the outer moldings with a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004XL1D26/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B004XL1D26&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=GXFAKATWGKATGQYD">ruling pen</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B004XL1D26" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyzBEsDZuEljFQyWCiFStwS8XVuGVHXMsYkkU1dROqqbW4glEsUMqplMuc3gAKUpk_sMy_V7a_x4IXB_p21MDB4jluh7zbBCaZPJHrG6ZlUquF8keINetIG-KP_N7dsonmBMaRzUJQ08Z/s1600/ruling_pen1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="43" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyzBEsDZuEljFQyWCiFStwS8XVuGVHXMsYkkU1dROqqbW4glEsUMqplMuc3gAKUpk_sMy_V7a_x4IXB_p21MDB4jluh7zbBCaZPJHrG6ZlUquF8keINetIG-KP_N7dsonmBMaRzUJQ08Z/s1600/ruling_pen1.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />If you're not familiar with a ruling pen, it's a tool for drawing a line of constant width, usually guided by a ruler that's raised a bit off the surface. It has two sharpened metal tips that taper together. The spacing of the gap between the tips governs the width of the line.<br /><br />That gap is controlled by an adjustable wheel on the side. Ink or watercolor, applied by an eyedropper (Edit: or a brush), sits in the gap and flows by capillary action.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8hPNBN7s1p6cKBLQW3Ud2BvyPWm9kiZWpN9MStor5nyNYgLGDl3AHwPbkYtNO-_Xug5Jz2P-Bha5XdaYXVUe67Xdp4EBqO4nf0u4KgC0QWdxMrzxguU-D3ftvDMrlMdeVd8nYFYzaKDoG/s1600/Window_Rendering3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8hPNBN7s1p6cKBLQW3Ud2BvyPWm9kiZWpN9MStor5nyNYgLGDl3AHwPbkYtNO-_Xug5Jz2P-Bha5XdaYXVUe67Xdp4EBqO4nf0u4KgC0QWdxMrzxguU-D3ftvDMrlMdeVd8nYFYzaKDoG/s1600/Window_Rendering3.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>Guptill then draws mullions with the ruling pen filled with opaque white watercolor, slightly yellowed. The consistency has to be just right. Too wet and it puddles out; too dry and it won't flow at all. When a ruling pen works well, it's a joyful feeling.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2j0jNrrrrzjUJtYCF19TocRcDwrtu4qJg3alGQn-6wOnK8NgT8UIZoK3WRJyThooGAsv9Bc5rH6Nn0uO3XRM90e1cz522DAPb_1Yfz8dSZp5RtaLcW8KeSPptrjx4cmtECZ9pLpQNcbo/s1600/Glen+Tait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2j0jNrrrrzjUJtYCF19TocRcDwrtu4qJg3alGQn-6wOnK8NgT8UIZoK3WRJyThooGAsv9Bc5rH6Nn0uO3XRM90e1cz522DAPb_1Yfz8dSZp5RtaLcW8KeSPptrjx4cmtECZ9pLpQNcbo/s1600/Glen+Tait.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Edit: After reading the post, blog reader Glenn Tait got out two of his old Kern ruling pens, ran some tests, and sent the photo, saying: "By rote, after so many years, I filled the pen by loading my brush (using M. Graham watercolors) and pulled it across the open side of the pen to fill it then, after adjusting the tip width, dragged it a bit along my left forefinger to get the flow started. The watercolour works great."<br />Thanks, Glenn. I'm going to throw one in my sketch kit, too.<br />-----<br />Arthur Guptill's classic book about rendering architecture in watercolor is called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0031U1YHY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0031U1YHY&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=D6X6UNVCSZP3HJ42">Color in Sketching and Rendering</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0031U1YHY" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />.<br />.

Arthur Guptill Renders a Window

In 1935, Arthur Guptill demonstrated a sequential method frequently used by architectural illustrators for painting a window.  Guptill first...

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Dry Touching or Dragging

A 19th century painting manual describes a technique called "dry touching" where lighter tones of oils are scumbled over a middle tone base, with a result something like pastels.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIpnzdguVxjok0KgNv7SeGWKvRJXX4sMNvQzUMoOsODDYjSrC8WwoArlWhI0VMB_cU28WUCi73EMz1kL1j-uQE7uy6rPRqjc9KQVZmLttTuVzN8SJi9NatnohME7kRtooy8lL1LdAeIfI0/s1600/Couture+head+study+of+a+girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIpnzdguVxjok0KgNv7SeGWKvRJXX4sMNvQzUMoOsODDYjSrC8WwoArlWhI0VMB_cU28WUCi73EMz1kL1j-uQE7uy6rPRqjc9KQVZmLttTuVzN8SJi9NatnohME7kRtooy8lL1LdAeIfI0/s1600/Couture+head+study+of+a+girl.jpg" width="286" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Thomas Couture (1815-1879) Oil on canvas, 46 x 34 cm.</td></tr></tbody></table><div>The manual says: "Dry-touching or Dragging,—is nothing more than going over certain parts of the picture, when it is dry, with light delicate finishing touches, in order to improve the character, and to relieve or give surface texture to objects requiring it. The tints used for this purpose may, as occasion dictates, be either lighter or darker than the parts to which they are applied; it must be dexterously done with a light free hand; in some places holding the brush loosely between the finger and thumb, so as to leave the colour contained in it, only partially adhering to the former more projecting touches."</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVmzyy2l99L85aB7qE6yEdL9WFUi9PqZz55i8osqRw6KFtL09zb42jJg7RvbV7d1vWvAu5rdGrwAa6x8s5kUNyL9n9UH0JjJKwHQC1YAW0JRHmr1d4M_7CpVcAwCbeOsio1AqODKhdYCK/s1600/Couture+Thomas+Portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVmzyy2l99L85aB7qE6yEdL9WFUi9PqZz55i8osqRw6KFtL09zb42jJg7RvbV7d1vWvAu5rdGrwAa6x8s5kUNyL9n9UH0JjJKwHQC1YAW0JRHmr1d4M_7CpVcAwCbeOsio1AqODKhdYCK/s1600/Couture+Thomas+Portrait.jpg" width="337" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Thomas Couture, (1815-1879) "Study of girl's head, oil on canvas</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>In this Couture sketch, the dry paint is used for modeling all the light tones, not just the finishing touches. </div><div><br /></div><div>For contemporary painters, the white paint coming from the tube may not be stiff or dry enough for this technique. If you squeeze out the paint on blotter paper (or newspaper or paper towels) the night before the painting session, the oil will be sucked out of the paint, making it drag nicely.<br /><br />--J.S. Templeton,<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=NKJbAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=%22than+going+over+certain+parts+of+the+picture%22&source=bl&ots=B5Hx0tVlNE&sig=_y_KWk9jhRb2gcaQ0uOJTaULFkw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BToxVIb0O4KGyATUzYLQCw&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22than%20going%20over%20certain%20parts%20of%20the%20picture%22&f=false"> </a><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=NKJbAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=%22than+going+over+certain+parts+of+the+picture%22&source=bl&ots=B5Hx0tVlNE&sig=_y_KWk9jhRb2gcaQ0uOJTaULFkw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BToxVIb0O4KGyATUzYLQCw&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22than%20going%20over%20certain%20parts%20of%20the%20picture%22&f=false">Guide to Oil Painting</a>, 1845<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/groups/1918185@N24/pool/89235234@N00/">Images from Flickr</a> and <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/348325352403164523/">Pinterest</a></div><div><br /></div>

Dry Touching or Dragging

A 19th century painting manual describes a technique called "dry touching" where lighter tones of oils are scumbled over a middle ...

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Prismatic Palette

<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFeYD5fgTwuQBYzn3Xf6O75Mwq49TaT6bWMPVvCPW4L154GzCdb5Rs3YppkEb0PakAWMHWs2XlkvHMSx7lXiNkmNmy-m3XtbkihEsFeU2b8_3v2LLIjz2oFb77Xwu4qgpRJfZ1Wh9YGMUs/s1600/91291046_039823d05c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFeYD5fgTwuQBYzn3Xf6O75Mwq49TaT6bWMPVvCPW4L154GzCdb5Rs3YppkEb0PakAWMHWs2XlkvHMSx7lXiNkmNmy-m3XtbkihEsFeU2b8_3v2LLIjz2oFb77Xwu4qgpRJfZ1Wh9YGMUs/s1600/91291046_039823d05c.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://www.frankmason.org/">Frank Mason</a> (1921-2009) was a painter and teacher at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Students_League_of_New_York">Art Students League </a>who used a shelf-like palette arrangement for his oil paints called "The Prismatic Palette." One of Mason's students, <a href="http://keithgunderson.com/works/557746/frank-mason-demonstrating">Keith Gunderson</a>, explained it to me this way:</div><div><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxN47xPgGtsNls8OzY6Ojwk3k2y4SSFzdVp1_FWFkLYTLgH4I0pPI0plDhyphenhyphenk6LhfewS9Xkb_-3xJNb0ZPbLKfO_Dpb82Dlz_fUUp3xn0Wx6k4bzTLBeLaBritcIjsuF-X_zbjrvmh_4r-x/s1600/Prismatic+Palette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxN47xPgGtsNls8OzY6Ojwk3k2y4SSFzdVp1_FWFkLYTLgH4I0pPI0plDhyphenhyphenk6LhfewS9Xkb_-3xJNb0ZPbLKfO_Dpb82Dlz_fUUp3xn0Wx6k4bzTLBeLaBritcIjsuF-X_zbjrvmh_4r-x/s1600/Prismatic+Palette.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prismatic Palette by Leslie Watkins</td></tr></tbody></table><div>"The value scale was the essence of the shelf arrangements, with emphasis on “Orange Value” as the unifying tone of the lights. The shelves were arrayed with a string of greens made from “Parent Green”; premixed value strings of Blue, Violet, and Grey to calibrate atmospheric perspective; a shelf for pre-mixed tints for the sky; and a “Control String” of pure colors squeezed from the tube, arranged by value from light to dark." </div><div><br /></div><div>"Modulating a color with it’s complement was often substituted by mixing grey or brown into that color... perhaps an influence of Frank’s teacher  [Frank Vincent] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_DuMond">Dumond </a>(1865-1951) and Dumond’s teacher, [Jules Joseph] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Joseph_Lefebvre">Lefebvre</a> (1836–1911)."</div><div><br /></div><div>I have also heard "parent green" referred to as "vegetable green," the color of transmitted light through backlit young leaves.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvzdKhgPWd2DhGmeiRdiY47dzpznBpdho_odpq215H9P9GQZ47l2ayFKiwYl8NMhIBjMEueadoBx8wRzssv7bgfBCKuviFIN0hZc9AAydH7hGJ6FSU3U2nR66cN0JEPzqec3ApDZuq014/s1600/17am113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvzdKhgPWd2DhGmeiRdiY47dzpznBpdho_odpq215H9P9GQZ47l2ayFKiwYl8NMhIBjMEueadoBx8wRzssv7bgfBCKuviFIN0hZc9AAydH7hGJ6FSU3U2nR66cN0JEPzqec3ApDZuq014/s1600/17am113.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Landscape by Frank Vincent Dumond</td></tr></tbody></table>Here are a couple of paintings by League instructor and link to the French tradition, Frank Vincent Dumond, showing his very sensitive approach to color.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikBv5qBSt1hhwF0LCYtMh1C9X-zc6GBuuatroZtVOnkGfDgaskcLF22KU3G40KXUW3E4d5UxTfXIMLG4qxZR5nBn7W4auecg0jlOuXJ4dt163ISALTvDffKV-ifD_AdtHJUJRsOm2IMCUi/s1600/DuMond,+Frank+Christ+and+the+Fishermen+1891.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikBv5qBSt1hhwF0LCYtMh1C9X-zc6GBuuatroZtVOnkGfDgaskcLF22KU3G40KXUW3E4d5UxTfXIMLG4qxZR5nBn7W4auecg0jlOuXJ4dt163ISALTvDffKV-ifD_AdtHJUJRsOm2IMCUi/s1600/DuMond,+Frank+Christ+and+the+Fishermen+1891.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dumond, Christ and the Fishermen, 1891</td></tr></tbody></table><div>Leslie Watkins, another Mason student, describes the prismatic palette this way:</div><div><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDBXQgfB2ZmhZf-RPzHNioq4LRMQkKsAMcAQBZT9aB7UWcgtDBqw8HxUTYxUKLleUyUb8EFDSG4co_ey70NLo-Y__d_fqcSYzAKajxY4SIfB6C0k7EQE6l5gp4KerOH-uAX_6Mn4GSetHP/s1600/1c58d0200008de31d3452d3ee876e336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDBXQgfB2ZmhZf-RPzHNioq4LRMQkKsAMcAQBZT9aB7UWcgtDBqw8HxUTYxUKLleUyUb8EFDSG4co_ey70NLo-Y__d_fqcSYzAKajxY4SIfB6C0k7EQE6l5gp4KerOH-uAX_6Mn4GSetHP/s1600/1c58d0200008de31d3452d3ee876e336.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Pinterest via <a href="http://www.outdoorpainter.com/tips/pre-mixed-prismatic-palette-667.html">Outdoor Painter</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div>"It clarifies several strings of colors into even steps, with the lightest or highest values descending to the lowest or darkest tones." </div><div><br /></div><div>"The steps are based on pure colors from cadmium lemon yellow to alizarin crimson. The different strings of colors consist of grays, violets, blues and greens."</div><div><br /></div><div>Another Art Students League teacher (and another Frank), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_J._Reilly">Frank Reilly</a> (1906-1965), also taught a value-based system of premixing palette colors, but it was different from Mason's. Reilly's lineage connects him to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-L%C3%A9on_G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me">Gérôme</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Delaroche">Delaroche</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Boulanger">Boulanger</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Both systems are descendants of a common practice among painters before the 20th century to premix colors in sequences of stepped values, analogous to the keys and manuals of a pipe organ.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm obviously no expert on the League instructors' systems, so I welcome further insights and discussion in the comments.</div><br />Previously on GJ <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/03/premixing-color.html">Premixing Color</a><br /><a href="http://www.arttimesjournal.com/art/Art_Essays/May_Jun_12_Leslie_Watkins/The_Prismatic_Palette.html">More on the Prismatic Palette by Leslie Watkins at the Art Times Journal</a><br />------<br /><i>Edit: After reading the post and the comments, Mason student Keith Gunderson adds this:</i><br />"<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;">Thanks for an excellent post on the Mason prismatic palette."</span><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;">   </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;">"I might add though that although most artists that studied with Frank had these shelf boxes at the ready when they painted both plein-air and in the studio, this palette functioned more as a landscape palette, especially with a great gob of “orange value” violet as a harmony- orange value being the lowest form of light. This violet was often brushed over a dried venetian red ground and would infiltrate all the subsequent colors that were applied on top. Unfortunately this would sometime result in an overly chalky appearance in the coloration."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;">"The palette would be organized along a string of nine values (sometimes more)—the four upper values representing values in light, Yellow Ochre value at value 5 in the middle of the string or “the turning plane,” and the lowest four values representing shadow values. In this case, Cad Orange was the lowest value of light and Cad Red was the lightest value of shadow."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;">"Often times artists would arrange their color strings on the shelves to mimic the progression of horizontal landscape bands, for example the control string would occupy the lowest shelf with the grey above this shelf, violet above this, blue above this, and finally the light pinks occupying the top shelf (or shelves)."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;">"Greens would be modulated by inserting a bit of the blue, violet or grey dollop of paint (or a combination of the three) from the value string that was  the equivalent value in the vertical position above or beneath that green value on the string. As I said before, this meant that there was an abundance of white being mixed into the paint, since white was mixed into the violet, ivory black, and ultramarine blue base from which these strings were mixed."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;">"Parent or “vegetable “green pure ( Cadmium Yellow Lemon with a touch of Phthalo green at the value of Cad yellow medium) was scaled up two values with White and  then scaled down to Ochre Value through the addition of Cobalt Blue and finally scaled down to the darkest values with the mixture of an Ultramarine Blue-Alizarin violet. Modulating these already-mixed greens with the blue, grey, and violet tint mixtures was an issue as all this modulation tended to muddy the greens."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;">"Often,  F.V. Dumond and Mason, in an effort to keep the green’s chroma intact would use the green string unmodulated which sometimes resulted in “garish greens”. Personally, I was always amazed at how Dumond’s earlier paintings done in Paris where more subdued when compared to the “electric greens” of his more Old Lyme influence period paintings."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;">"Finally, the notion that greens could be modulated with their complements (reds) was never really broached, since this system sort of replaced a more truly prismatic approach as evidenced in the teaching of Gruppe and Hawthorne."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;">"Well, I could go on and on but I think you get the gist of all this. Having studied with Frank for many years, I was able to glean much from this approach to color, although I find it now to be limited in certain respects. Frank’s teaching was very intuitive and sometimes I think he himself was always trying new theories . I think that ultimately this approach was devised, whether in the studios of Paris or in Old Lyme, as a way to think about color and that it was less about matching the correct color and more about the emotional equivalence that color evokes in the mind of the viewer."</div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"><i>Thanks, Keith, for sharing all that valuable information. <a href="http://keithgunderson.blogspot.com/">Check out Keith's Blog, "Classic Realism."</a></i></div>

Prismatic Palette

Frank Mason  (1921-2009) was a painter and teacher at the Art Students League who used a shelf-like palette arrangement for his oil paints c...

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Sepia Wash Drawing

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you're experimenting with watercolor for the first time, a good way to get some practice is to do a study in sepia. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Here's a sketchbook page I did while waiting for a train in Italy about 20 years ago.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAK5d7dVHKzIZtwHkkNnwvum1QBmL71ogSgtQxfIQOQSLZDPirJo35YcDFj_NqxTEttav6UHXE3XhgEc92HXIRRdfy83wjjO3MbfXky643Q63RVkTTCym1Q9722QcBOoEM7QkVlyNI2P9d/s1600/Bologna+Lioness.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAK5d7dVHKzIZtwHkkNnwvum1QBmL71ogSgtQxfIQOQSLZDPirJo35YcDFj_NqxTEttav6UHXE3XhgEc92HXIRRdfy83wjjO3MbfXky643Q63RVkTTCym1Q9722QcBOoEM7QkVlyNI2P9d/s1600/Bologna+Lioness.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parco della Montagnola, Bologna, Italy. Sculpture by Diego Sarti</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-pin-do="buttonBookmark" href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><!-- Please call pinit.js only once per page --></div><div style="text-align: center;"><script async="" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>By painting monochromatically, you remove the variables of chroma and hue. That lets you concentrate on the basics of the dampness of the paper, the amount of pigment on the brush, and the wetness of the brush. That's enough to think about.<br /><br />Most subjects will call out for a variety of handling, including:<br />1. Large flat areas, such as the background of this painting. (I did that to simplify, or I would have missed my train)<br />2. Wet into wet blends, such as the shadow in the lower right,<br />3. Drybrush, such as along the cat's shoulder and the rock platform.<br />(I missed my train anyway.)<br /><br />Here are three tips:<br />1. Do a fairly careful graphite pencil drawing first. It's especially hard in watercolor to correct mistakes in the initial drawing.<br />2. If you need to erase, test the effect of the eraser on the paper on another page by rubbing the eraser on a patch and running a flat wash over that area. Some erasers leave behind a little oil or grease that can affect a wash. You can erase after the painting is fully dry and avoid this problem.<br />3. When you're ready to paint, make sure you have both a big brush and a little brush, and make sure your watercolor set has a mixing well in case you need to mix a large amount of wash. You don't want to have to stop in the middle of a big wash to mix more.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4zVS4J7JRXnktD7fR3cxRLoJXvlJqha18j0IXVdaVLX7t1d6D2LH6SL2Ls3mRBGFV1EA-fnA0H2-l8Foz1Pzyywo9uTHlNmci2z_joqlWWIL4cyQ7-oXGE19ao7lvRerBeX2gNkhuqDrQ/s1600/Guptill_Wash_Drawing.smdet2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4zVS4J7JRXnktD7fR3cxRLoJXvlJqha18j0IXVdaVLX7t1d6D2LH6SL2Ls3mRBGFV1EA-fnA0H2-l8Foz1Pzyywo9uTHlNmci2z_joqlWWIL4cyQ7-oXGE19ao7lvRerBeX2gNkhuqDrQ/s1600/Guptill_Wash_Drawing.smdet2.jpg" width="380" /></a></div> In Arthur Guptill's classic 1935 book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PRHJ70/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000PRHJ70&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=QW3K6QVJRBIEQ75W">Color in Sketching and Rendering</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000PRHJ70" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, he demonstrates a few examples of commonplace objects painted in a monochrome watercolor wash. He recommends choosing an object that's white or relatively colorless, like this wooden basket. Painting it in actual sunlight, he noticed the darkness and sharpness of the shadow edge from C to B, the absolute dark accent at A, and the closeness of value at the plane change at (e) inside the basket.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-vadCEKapjJKARQmr_t9nOZJk7phdpbcq-trMUDZORzirGDJb8zT09QRFKWv8BXM697EiZYjP9ME-SVs4Db3K7mvUWGg3sBebeNJrj6awmNwzdLERbWSozOxGjJJxne94FspIN-4QE-nZ/s1600/Guptill_Wash_Drawing.smdet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-vadCEKapjJKARQmr_t9nOZJk7phdpbcq-trMUDZORzirGDJb8zT09QRFKWv8BXM697EiZYjP9ME-SVs4Db3K7mvUWGg3sBebeNJrj6awmNwzdLERbWSozOxGjJJxne94FspIN-4QE-nZ/s1600/Guptill_Wash_Drawing.smdet.jpg" width="353" /></a></div>This white china cup is an ideal subject because its faceted sides make the stepwise transitions from light to shadow abundantly clear. All these steps can be carefully modulated with the washes, and the process is immensely faster than charcoal. Plus the tones are smoother and purer. But it takes practice to do such an accomplished study, since you have to lay down the tone and leave it: you can't scrub on it or tweak it forever.<br /><br />People through history seem to be conflicted about whether to call such a study a drawing or a painting, so they're often referred to as a "wash drawing." I love the fact that it's on the boundary line between drawing and painting.<br /><br />Instead of sepia, you can use lampblack, ivory black, burnt umber, or Payne's grey, each of which has a slightly different character.<br /><br /><a href="https://sellfy.com/p/Pvxb/">Watercolor in the Wild</a> <a class="sellfy-buy-button" href="https://sellfy.com/p/Pvxb/" id="Pvxb">buy</a><script src="https://sellfy.com/js/api_buttons.js" type="text/javascript"></script><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PRHJ70/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000PRHJ70&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=QW3K6QVJRBIEQ75W">Color in Sketching and Rendering</a> by Arthur Guptill (1935) Highly recommended, and it hasn't been reprinted.

Sepia Wash Drawing

If you're experimenting with watercolor for the first time, a good way to get some practice is to do a study in sepia.  Here's a ske...

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Chopped Straw

Some painters of the nineteenth century had a way of building up tones with crosshatched strokes, which they referred to as "chopped straw."<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6AXmddY5QfvcdWb-nme7DOMTrnCYYOYjw86IVDE1ssu2FZVYWSd87JMEdhBb4KLFXz5gzI8A5VOnNElLXW3kXBJe7VY1VTZ4h2ocTOqrnngHegVNw246e8_2f05gU3UjcMPulPgvHMEU/s1600/John+Henry+Hill.plums.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6AXmddY5QfvcdWb-nme7DOMTrnCYYOYjw86IVDE1ssu2FZVYWSd87JMEdhBb4KLFXz5gzI8A5VOnNElLXW3kXBJe7VY1VTZ4h2ocTOqrnngHegVNw246e8_2f05gU3UjcMPulPgvHMEU/s1600/John+Henry+Hill.plums.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Henry Hill, "Plums," Watercolor</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The technique gives a fuzzy effect reminiscent of engravings of the period. The term was coined by British art critic John Ruskin, an artist himself, whose advocacy of the patient study of nature inspired artists in both England and the USA. Ruskin wrote:</div><blockquote class="tr_bq">"If a colour is to be darkened by superimposed portions of another, it is, in many cases, better to lay the uppermost colour in rather vigorous small touches, like finely chopped straw, over the under one, than to lay it on as a tint, for two reasons : the first, that the play of the two colours together is pleasant to the eye ; the second, that much expression of form may be got by wise administration of the upper dark touches."<br />—<i>The Elements of Drawing,</i> page 157</blockquote><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJKpMHVbiLHl07a2ax6Vf-TNYm3sO4UIGi5vGwpfedtX2FnM30Tt45ZUQQiYLSfgEdDTWUkh7ud4G2T-u9mA-TeLOtikalqN4Mxw6yoGHFCIeLe6tcrCb3wYPf2QdKXOTArzGst1QRZk_u/s1600/henry-roderick-newman-wild-flowers+1890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJKpMHVbiLHl07a2ax6Vf-TNYm3sO4UIGi5vGwpfedtX2FnM30Tt45ZUQQiYLSfgEdDTWUkh7ud4G2T-u9mA-TeLOtikalqN4Mxw6yoGHFCIeLe6tcrCb3wYPf2QdKXOTArzGst1QRZk_u/s1600/henry-roderick-newman-wild-flowers+1890.jpg" width="444" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Henry Roderick Newman, "Wild Flowers," 1890, Watercolor, 15x10 inches.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Henry Roderick Newman (American, 1843-1917) admired Ruskin's writings and visited him in England. Newman liked to paint close-up views of flowers and plants in their natural setting. In this one, the textures gradate up to a delicate stippled tone at the top. The effect is quite different from what you would get with overlaid wet washes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOm8YmP7uwQWxprGCP_7MSD-FsSmBR1PUTs3otIOP59pbTawnhY5xei7mWc2WNBtI4-mTY2OQ57fvP0eshEl37G3TDtdX4rEBqdr4TVZnHrrNe-hQLyApWEcTSM7AkNeXJRa71RmEEt3M/s1600/trost-richards-graycliff.sm.comp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOm8YmP7uwQWxprGCP_7MSD-FsSmBR1PUTs3otIOP59pbTawnhY5xei7mWc2WNBtI4-mTY2OQ57fvP0eshEl37G3TDtdX4rEBqdr4TVZnHrrNe-hQLyApWEcTSM7AkNeXJRa71RmEEt3M/s1600/trost-richards-graycliff.sm.comp.jpg" width="387" /></a></div><div>Painters used small overlaid strokes not only for grass-like textures, but for other textures as well. One of the strategies is to vary the color from one set of strokes to another. In this detail from a watercolor by William Trost Richards, the small strokes vary a bit from warm to cool, giving the surfaces some chromatic vibrancy.<br /><br />Ruskin said, "The use of acquiring this habit of execution is that you may be able, when you begin to colour, to let one hue be seen in minute portions, gleaming between the touches of another." He advised his students to work slowly and delicately, using the point of the pencil or brush “as if you were drawing the down on a butterfly’s wing.”</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPoiOzSedZgh9G1aUOOalPexPgtJV8c1cavcH9XqBYnnOzVWbSyo96ayKMK-G1UmOtCtbHv1brMUejB0-qHGAhn-6EEKLuvvPT3yBt7WUSdjsW4-7UdKNo0nxWRLRbo9cPKVFPE1QNAQJN/s1600/gehakseld_koozaadstro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPoiOzSedZgh9G1aUOOalPexPgtJV8c1cavcH9XqBYnnOzVWbSyo96ayKMK-G1UmOtCtbHv1brMUejB0-qHGAhn-6EEKLuvvPT3yBt7WUSdjsW4-7UdKNo0nxWRLRbo9cPKVFPE1QNAQJN/s1600/gehakseld_koozaadstro.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />Here's some real chopped straw as a point of reference. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMgKdtYq0GPTzrRPzrqWgQRapknDxw05QZq2-zRbKh7V8et65U7Y1H59MRK2P8IsUM5JYtn7_0o-wQYXEbhEc80k-F7hEoZpWptsYRw03ITJunVs8yMXf94ECKyZmbgeGe2oP4c2gQjtas/s1600/Shatuck+Detail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMgKdtYq0GPTzrRPzrqWgQRapknDxw05QZq2-zRbKh7V8et65U7Y1H59MRK2P8IsUM5JYtn7_0o-wQYXEbhEc80k-F7hEoZpWptsYRw03ITJunVs8yMXf94ECKyZmbgeGe2oP4c2gQjtas/s1600/Shatuck+Detail.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>The look wasn't restricted to watercolor painters. Andrew Wyeth used a similar approach in some of his egg temperas. Aaron Draper Shattuck laid down a scrubby earth-toned underpainting in this detail of an oil painting, and then placed green strokes over it.<br />------<br />I learned about this term from the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805207805/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0805207805&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=LLDCRUJOKGIB3MLX">The New Path: Ruskin and the American Pre-Raphaelites</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0805207805" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br /><div>Related post: <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/07/small-touches.html">"Small Touches"</a></div>

Chopped Straw

Some painters of the nineteenth century had a way of building up tones with crosshatched strokes, which they referred to as "chopped st...

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Pruett Carter's Preliminaries

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.illustration-house.com/bios/carter_bio.html">Pruett Carter </a>(1891-1955) was an American illustrator who lived in Los Angeles and freelanced for the women's magazines in New York. In the days before email, faxes and FedEx, he often had to ship sketches back and forth to the art directors by special air couriers. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tlNAB13KGUYGoHQ7i1l_vsCu9fPZrQLbHTYh9DG22gpc4A0U6_myWq24V1DqLxt-bXPMZzywFrJUwDWpgB8_HA5q9D9x1zI-lULuQi9Erqb8KReZodTbBZ1l_Ea1eFeOjQmMRC4UyLUI/s1600/Pruett+Carter+Summer+Lands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tlNAB13KGUYGoHQ7i1l_vsCu9fPZrQLbHTYh9DG22gpc4A0U6_myWq24V1DqLxt-bXPMZzywFrJUwDWpgB8_HA5q9D9x1zI-lULuQi9Erqb8KReZodTbBZ1l_Ea1eFeOjQmMRC4UyLUI/s1600/Pruett+Carter+Summer+Lands.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's a finished illustration, a double page magazine illustration for a story called "Summer Land."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>In Carter's day, sometimes the art director would suggest a rough layout. Back then, most art directors could draw well. Carter himself was an art director for a while.<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-BZ4gIdjc_Oe7gV43jFhq71T2-gua2Rzq2wqllEhF11-ggMgVIQ5XAQljgVv_WwNpv-N2tzVZk6VjZAI1VvEmdstt8acwcfnXvSAUvgCesJdWmTsi-vvpfTJxwdISSwpElmPsVxkUmirj/s1600/Carter+rough.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-BZ4gIdjc_Oe7gV43jFhq71T2-gua2Rzq2wqllEhF11-ggMgVIQ5XAQljgVv_WwNpv-N2tzVZk6VjZAI1VvEmdstt8acwcfnXvSAUvgCesJdWmTsi-vvpfTJxwdISSwpElmPsVxkUmirj/s1600/Carter+rough.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But Carter himself planned this composition. After reading the manuscript he did several thumbnail roughs. This one includes a box for the copy and the title block, and a strong triangular shape awareness for the girl. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIWs-iDJJKMjJ7U7qruyMyJyK61UUb8Nm0dt3Gs2B6kkxoyV2idmt1gx7OvLxf69CCtvlhR0E2aZA7Topavd3J25G_SwXFfUFx0c67aii6sU5dhod1Y_qBS-VDRjxmX9BX35DOIvLkfpN/s1600/Carter+layout.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIWs-iDJJKMjJ7U7qruyMyJyK61UUb8Nm0dt3Gs2B6kkxoyV2idmt1gx7OvLxf69CCtvlhR0E2aZA7Topavd3J25G_SwXFfUFx0c67aii6sU5dhod1Y_qBS-VDRjxmX9BX35DOIvLkfpN/s1600/Carter+layout.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In his early days, Carter drew and painted from live models, but he later shot photo reference. This is the pencil underlay for the color sketch, made with the benefit of models. The original is 17 x 22 inches.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVRIOap5qFzAd0SfJR9UefiL5s5BUFI4sYy2TgiTVMRR_YX9OVn_Bec_iuZBUnRJTFWul8zT0r43ndQcOq3Gk9hahN4I7OBkaZIvRgwIJ23rRqCI7unY9nYSL8OGYl_A4PMgF1uOefs7ws/s1600/Carter+comp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVRIOap5qFzAd0SfJR9UefiL5s5BUFI4sYy2TgiTVMRR_YX9OVn_Bec_iuZBUnRJTFWul8zT0r43ndQcOq3Gk9hahN4I7OBkaZIvRgwIJ23rRqCI7unY9nYSL8OGYl_A4PMgF1uOefs7ws/s1600/Carter+comp.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>He had an unusual method for color comps (above). He would transfer the drawing to transparent acetate sheets (like animation cels) and then paint the color in oil on the acetate, trying out different color combinations on overlaid layers. "The spots which look like dirt on the girl's legs and jacket and the boy's trousers are actually shadows created by air bubbles between the layers of acetate."<br /><br />Ernest Watson writes that the acetate comp method "allows the greatest possible flexibility. If dissatisfied with any part, the painting can be wiped off and a new trial made. Usually, however, another sheet of acetate is laid down right on top of the first painting. This adheres to the wet painting and affords a fresh surface upon which the new trial for that particular area is to be made. The new transparent sheet may cover the entire picture or, as is usual, it may be a small piece designed only to cover the area to be corrected. There might be as many as fifteen or sixteen such overlays on a completed painting, a patch here, a fragment there....The advantage of this method of painting on overlays is obvious. The original drawing is not lost in the painting process; it is always under the acetate to be used as a guide."<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvNU-b413Y4frH5eVYi067EMNExkLpVtkGOScQGjbyXjMTQyJkZb_9gUL2uIDoiKD6nxOWXT9f-_Q3_zCfqv01xzBbC_wyXqWEbhAATwehJLL8jQlpiTUzOcpCdi_YeMl41Uy6_ERNJScD/s1600/Pruett+Carter+Illustration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvNU-b413Y4frH5eVYi067EMNExkLpVtkGOScQGjbyXjMTQyJkZb_9gUL2uIDoiKD6nxOWXT9f-_Q3_zCfqv01xzBbC_wyXqWEbhAATwehJLL8jQlpiTUzOcpCdi_YeMl41Uy6_ERNJScD/s1600/Pruett+Carter+Illustration.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">Illustration by Pruett Carter<br />-----</td></tr></tbody></table>Note for researchers: There's a chapter about Pruett Carter in Fred Taraba's excellent book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0982004141/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0982004141&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=PAT5GZVWXMF32LXO">Masters of American Illustration: 41 Illustrators and How They Worked</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0982004141" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />However, there is no Wikipedia page for Pruett Carter. Would someone like to create one?  He had an interesting career, but <a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=91862782">he had a sad end.</a> The material in this post is adapted from <i>American Artist,</i> March, 1950. These old American Artist magazines aren't online or digitized anywhere to my knowledge, so if you like I'll keep bringing you nuggets like this.<br /><br />

Pruett Carter's Preliminaries

Pruett Carter (1891-1955) was an American illustrator who lived in Los Angeles and freelanced for the women's magazines in New York. In ...

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Painting a Triumph Spitfire

Yesterday the parking lot at the shopping mall was turned into a race track, and—you guessed it—I brought along my watercolor book.<br /><div></div><div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="253" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Th8a78Mi31U" width="450"></iframe><br /><div>....and my video camera. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th8a78Mi31U">video link)</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQx-Eezabdd1Gw77kg7E05fcP1JzpRbKEI75jHbmIcX_OhJj-uOQXV5XgdXupyN-tpkm9lY286wcaCjr3fad2oAJeEDnGQaZiEQbeQM_d-vSP_kGTLSfA8ZvhvGtbwNC3LB5y1_N0X5ZJ/s1600/Painting+Triumph.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQx-Eezabdd1Gw77kg7E05fcP1JzpRbKEI75jHbmIcX_OhJj-uOQXV5XgdXupyN-tpkm9lY286wcaCjr3fad2oAJeEDnGQaZiEQbeQM_d-vSP_kGTLSfA8ZvhvGtbwNC3LB5y1_N0X5ZJ/s1600/Painting+Triumph.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div>Jeanette and I set up our sketching chairs next to the modified Triumph, owned by Mark Vandecarr of M&M Automotive, who has been fixing our old cars for 30 years. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mark said "Put a helmet on, and I'll take you for a ride." <span style="text-align: center;">It was a thrilling experience--I've never been in a car that maneuvered so fast. Despite lugging around my dead weight, he set a lap record. </span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB-ku3BEFSwxRwr1X-lW8D7vrs5Qqvo4TJIccZBvCuYTNgikwjJKjYTLKE8u4FMKnevjy874Kr2Z5KFThmHx3ZxHzn0GX3p4Qp3-jYPz6K2Y2dsXv6WL7J9AB2XyMdsd1jKtkMJs1fuGmE/s1600/Triumph+Spitfire.4steps.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB-ku3BEFSwxRwr1X-lW8D7vrs5Qqvo4TJIccZBvCuYTNgikwjJKjYTLKE8u4FMKnevjy874Kr2Z5KFThmHx3ZxHzn0GX3p4Qp3-jYPz6K2Y2dsXv6WL7J9AB2XyMdsd1jKtkMJs1fuGmE/s1600/Triumph+Spitfire.4steps.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;"><i>Triumph Spitfire,</i> by James Gurney, watercolor and gouache, 5 x 8 inches.</td></tr></tbody></table>Here's the sequence, which applies to any subject, really:</div><div>1. Line drawing in water-soluble colored pencils, carefully measuring units of distance.</div><div>2. Large general areas painted with transparent watercolor using a half inch flat brush.</div><div>3. Gouache for the details of the roll bars and decals.</div><div>4. In all, the painting took about an hour and a half. The drivers had just left for lunch when I started, so I had a feeling the car would only stay parked for that long.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9TLjJl6sy93NbG3BICopiNGfTbF11_b927BLP-pzM_0O0ZuzHMjQTYKDuKxI4M3nliNhPsNR8h3VSDjqMK_D-qe1lKV1mXNXgGnEs3S1srtEi3LRAWjeWyIurYfzHawXvqo9_PmxcDSu/s1600/Triumph+Spitfire.fin.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9TLjJl6sy93NbG3BICopiNGfTbF11_b927BLP-pzM_0O0ZuzHMjQTYKDuKxI4M3nliNhPsNR8h3VSDjqMK_D-qe1lKV1mXNXgGnEs3S1srtEi3LRAWjeWyIurYfzHawXvqo9_PmxcDSu/s1600/Triumph+Spitfire.fin.sm.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div>Using a brown pencil on its side gives a quick ground texture. This technique is well suited to a subject like this because it's quite forgiving, and well suited to small detail work.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqZaCWgKFdSBLrEuakTykBWm7r0FxEBDLMnHUYG-ehH-sGCJQ149Ng4fUWuzaoxMVt4c_hLZL2FpdugD31hDr27gkjz6X-_LB27VRGOWnV0GkTnVO2ieQ2qg8GM9PsX_NB3GGWZ0SbeKh/s1600/Art+Supplies.WT.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqZaCWgKFdSBLrEuakTykBWm7r0FxEBDLMnHUYG-ehH-sGCJQ149Ng4fUWuzaoxMVt4c_hLZL2FpdugD31hDr27gkjz6X-_LB27VRGOWnV0GkTnVO2ieQ2qg8GM9PsX_NB3GGWZ0SbeKh/s1600/Art+Supplies.WT.sm.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8883705629/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8883705629&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">Watercolor sketchbook</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00134QBQO/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00134QBQO&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">Watercolor pencils</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HBWE60/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000HBWE60&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">Watercolors </a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NB2IDS/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000NB2IDS&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">Gouache</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00409J2T2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00409J2T2&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=DRNNKIRGGTQAFYQP">Round and flat brushes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00409J2T2" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007X63MLI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B007X63MLI&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=J2267FR6QLGKL2X4">Waterman fountain pen</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B007X63MLI" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br /><br /></div></div>

Painting a Triumph Spitfire

Yesterday the parking lot at the shopping mall was turned into a race track, and—you guessed it—I brought along my watercolor book. ....and ...

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Rooftops in Watercolor and Gouache

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4eCqJpvp378pot97aL4mB_8RSXEobQQseXr5IWvi8tnXximnQoIa6qBHr0ciyrQ7sYpRuUehXvJndKgMN3HdLi_hfxH3J2U9kFBFPVAv5PXJJtgBDtzf1SefcPq7NpS5H4tmdGX3lg9X/s1600/Roof+Work.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4eCqJpvp378pot97aL4mB_8RSXEobQQseXr5IWvi8tnXximnQoIa6qBHr0ciyrQ7sYpRuUehXvJndKgMN3HdLi_hfxH3J2U9kFBFPVAv5PXJJtgBDtzf1SefcPq7NpS5H4tmdGX3lg9X/s1600/Roof+Work.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's a step-by-step sequence as I paint a rooftop scene on location using watercolor and gouache. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfiE4IyvqPcCnHcfk-nON-GVVlXykDkQwJsk8fjV1yNPGc_p0I_f5THa33xzMMJHLvtehSMPy_elCBOegCNh8VtJN-mII9v4pKYrYkbdL4xkb7jPI0daRu9ktt6NU1OYgEU3WO9PIrLZaT/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.sm.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfiE4IyvqPcCnHcfk-nON-GVVlXykDkQwJsk8fjV1yNPGc_p0I_f5THa33xzMMJHLvtehSMPy_elCBOegCNh8VtJN-mII9v4pKYrYkbdL4xkb7jPI0daRu9ktt6NU1OYgEU3WO9PIrLZaT/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.sm.1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I start by laying the main lines with a water-soluble colored pencil. I start the scene completely above eye level.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAkH8JzHGZ1wBxP_QdsHiLYqhpCDDDxZcmf6FdOjlpleEzWPRQMyCy86LbdSCw3NwQNWd-_nHQy_XTNprUZCrFOWAq6ZMemcL3kViTVOvqNqlWfsnlA3ITTGkYfRVsW1gAfY0eTstag12/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.sm.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAkH8JzHGZ1wBxP_QdsHiLYqhpCDDDxZcmf6FdOjlpleEzWPRQMyCy86LbdSCw3NwQNWd-_nHQy_XTNprUZCrFOWAq6ZMemcL3kViTVOvqNqlWfsnlA3ITTGkYfRVsW1gAfY0eTstag12/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.sm.2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The ghost wash halfway done. I shift from cool to warm, keeping it all wet and blending, and dodging around those brightly lit roof areas. I hold the sketchbook at a 30 degree slope to let the bead of juicy color form along the bottom.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqFNkbj4LI1GL1H7CF7UhRCwC8ohzp_TO7zcg8yZDIw0Yz35qXcj_LaSU9mM7TG_G-cKHRqOqkb-ifLBqwsqSq63H4VHGGvAp6kuhQQgcVRPHxP_K-ItFwcaRlgSv1Bhvo5IXb-JRz4x7U/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.sm.3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqFNkbj4LI1GL1H7CF7UhRCwC8ohzp_TO7zcg8yZDIw0Yz35qXcj_LaSU9mM7TG_G-cKHRqOqkb-ifLBqwsqSq63H4VHGGvAp6kuhQQgcVRPHxP_K-ItFwcaRlgSv1Bhvo5IXb-JRz4x7U/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.sm.3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I drop in bright yellow where there will be backlit spring leaves. Note the warm to cool shift in the dormer. It's warm because the eaves are picking up bounced ground light and cool because the shadow planes are getting light from the sky. I don't like that uneven sky.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQS-byILkZVAv7Y4U6YODeWF7K3veqt1PMo7cgwwf3LqZrAk3JPRlHCKmzr4eguD4VxQtSZxk8oc7RFz0wd-YqlLrw4e-QiJYU42GluYGhqj5rRPXY2_KOOePZD2COsUOyTNdmko8O3uE2/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.sm.4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQS-byILkZVAv7Y4U6YODeWF7K3veqt1PMo7cgwwf3LqZrAk3JPRlHCKmzr4eguD4VxQtSZxk8oc7RFz0wd-YqlLrw4e-QiJYU42GluYGhqj5rRPXY2_KOOePZD2COsUOyTNdmko8O3uE2/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.sm.4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So to get a flatter sky tone, I mix blue with white gouache. A dry brush delivers the textures of the shingles. I drop in darks for the deeper shadows on the side of the building. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKyRnbgUABhXMCTVYZ8R7UMg_L5RchE3LRumo3p73tkh5Bq7POUsMxVPY-JeSqqY4oF1bQYxLRYav6H0W1fFcLuVpWkz9YqZY3z64f2LwTVm_8UJi88BTTNzrYm9tc1Jk39yBoAmNqfBMk/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.sm.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKyRnbgUABhXMCTVYZ8R7UMg_L5RchE3LRumo3p73tkh5Bq7POUsMxVPY-JeSqqY4oF1bQYxLRYav6H0W1fFcLuVpWkz9YqZY3z64f2LwTVm_8UJi88BTTNzrYm9tc1Jk39yBoAmNqfBMk/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.sm.5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now I can get into the smaller details of the dormer windows and the tree at left using a medium sized round watercolor brush. I splatter paint from a loaded #10 sable round to suggest some of the leaves in the upper left. "Look out," I said to Jeanette. "I'm getting bold and free."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4IKMDb-4IgyOeSh-QtHdThfr5seBpEODan5gAqhOU3dafJKzxuFWbWKreRjrtHvxUTLN_uO5_unM9-V7UYARYMf48LD5vjJ2uV6hDyUozmZ_KSkvVYqEqy2p5R5uRr2KJHZCfigAAzznJ/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.sm.7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4IKMDb-4IgyOeSh-QtHdThfr5seBpEODan5gAqhOU3dafJKzxuFWbWKreRjrtHvxUTLN_uO5_unM9-V7UYARYMf48LD5vjJ2uV6hDyUozmZ_KSkvVYqEqy2p5R5uRr2KJHZCfigAAzznJ/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.sm.7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Next I work in the orange building at left, the wires, and the skylights. Two workmen appear and begin removing shingles.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iX2hltJX5X1d2nagx9beI3gowagyQI5pYzm0ukyvYRAd2MtiBzvDPbk-BqGPAqLKOlNCf2KpWBA7W6QG6PCFIYoUbsvc9xhJshJgOn6lr4E3lMhhcj0zG7wMI64FFJfVDMxWRE_98-fo/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.Det.fin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iX2hltJX5X1d2nagx9beI3gowagyQI5pYzm0ukyvYRAd2MtiBzvDPbk-BqGPAqLKOlNCf2KpWBA7W6QG6PCFIYoUbsvc9xhJshJgOn6lr4E3lMhhcj0zG7wMI64FFJfVDMxWRE_98-fo/s1600/Roof_Work.SBS.Det.fin.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A car parked in front of the scene, so I dropped it in. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I shot a detail to show that many passages are a mix of transparent and opaque. For example, the yellow backlit leaves are a combination of: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• yellow base colors that I painted around</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• opaque yellow gouache added later, and</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• light yellow colored pencil.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgw7QolXayYxcRXMyLe0N6e1B_3EihtVffUBUieZFZrYr9rLvMa0LD7H4F4UYtPw_TZiYtNj9Si2G5X66FlNddnI6IFlXS7EhL-hdq5VFkp8UAdsUKLaXW5E8c1DGJdb75nFMe9PuQlrcp/s1600/Roof_Work.palette.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgw7QolXayYxcRXMyLe0N6e1B_3EihtVffUBUieZFZrYr9rLvMa0LD7H4F4UYtPw_TZiYtNj9Si2G5X66FlNddnI6IFlXS7EhL-hdq5VFkp8UAdsUKLaXW5E8c1DGJdb75nFMe9PuQlrcp/s1600/Roof_Work.palette.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's a shot of the watercolor palette, an old pan set that I've refilled with tube colors: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Top row: sepia, burnt sienna, burnt umber, Payne's gray (2), ultramarine blue (2), cerulean</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bottom row: permanent alizarin, cadmium red medium, raw sienna, cadmium orange (top half) and cadmium yellow (bottom half), scarlet lake, lemon yellow, permanent green, and viridian.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Plus I had tubes of white, yellow, and blue gouache.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">----</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Check out <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/James-Gurney/121255121263267">my public Facebook page</a>, where you can click through the step-by-step and see the changes more easily.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">-----</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The two wells at top have some cool and warm colors that I mixed in bulk for the ghost wash.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Art Supplies</b></div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8883705629/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8883705629&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">Watercolor sketchbook</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00134QBQO/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00134QBQO&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">Watercolor pencils</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HBWE60/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000HBWE60&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">Watercolors </a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NB2IDS/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000NB2IDS&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">Gouache</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00409J2T2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00409J2T2&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=DRNNKIRGGTQAFYQP">Round and flat brushes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00409J2T2" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006FHONAU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B006FHONAU&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=XSLOBUZSFTXXET5M">You can also get an empty metal watercolor box.</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B006FHONAU" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>

Rooftops in Watercolor and Gouache

Here's a step-by-step sequence as I paint a rooftop scene on location using watercolor and gouache.  I start by laying the main lines wi...

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