Kicking off World Watercolor Month 2019

Having been reminded that July is world watercolor month the week before, I painted a landscape Sunday evening. I was going from memory of what the intracoastal waterway looks at 5:45 AM as I drive over it . My choice of colors were viridian, alizarin crimson, and towards the end I would use a touch of chinese white for additional opacity.

I start with applying painters tape and then wetting the upper portion of the paper where the sky will be. The water appeared to have a bluish tinge, indicating that the brush I used still had some pigment from before or it came from the tape. Needless to say, I will be more diligent about cleaning my brushes as well as looking into an alternative to my blue tape.

The color of the sky is nearly grey, with bits of muted hue seeping into the landscape. I laid down the mixture of viridian and alizarin, then used bits of tissue to create some clouds. After softening the horizon, an application of a similar wash gives me the basis for the water. Then I allowed the sky to dry then laid down a stronger mix of my two colors for where the marshreeds would be. Just at the horizon I use a mix containing more viridian to give the suggestion of trees and foliage in the distance. Moving in sections, making sure to soften edges and left things dry between stages, slowly working towards the final piece.

Here it is, later I will post this without the tape. Any comments or questions, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail at jamesyoder_artist@yahoo.com Remember that this is World Watercolor Month so use the hashtag to share your art online. Have fun, I am looking forward to seeing what you folks produce!