THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF WATERCOLOR

[Laughter] [Music] welcome to the wonderful world of watercolor the masters art course takes great pleasure in presenting one of America's outstanding artists Lois JK I like to make many small sketches on the spot and then take these and work them up into larger paintings in my studio where the conditions and the environment gives me a greater ease and freedom to paint I like to do my sketching with an HB pencil these small sketches are very very helpful to me and I I make many of the same subject when sketching these out in larger sizes I like to just suggest the outline and drawing in the composition rather than to get into any great deal of detail I do my sketching sitting down and work from various sketches and when I feel that I have the composition and the arrangement that I desire I'm ready to paint now this is about as far as I like to carry the drawing on the watercolor paper this painting measured about 16 by 20 and some of the detail here that I wanted greater information on I find very very helpful like the boy on the sand pan and the small boats and I can refer to this from time to time as I go along I have no objection to things around from my original sketches this many times makes for a better composition when I have felt that I have completed the the pencil sketch to my satisfaction I arranged my colors using the warmer colors on the top that's the Reds and the yellows and the Browns and the colder colors the blues and Payne's gray at the bottom of the palette I use an ordinary butcher's tray I find this an excellent palette for mixing colors and getting the proper area for mixing I also like very much to have a white sheet of paper alongside of my board where I can try out the values as I go along I find that the having the proper value is more important to me than the right color the painting has started with the sky using a darker value at the top and as it comes forward I use more water which lightens the the value and gives for a nice feel and this forms a sort of a backdrop for the painting generally I use a large brush in putting this area in a number 12 and the colors I used here with Payne's grey and a little touch of the alder marine blue and touch a very yellow ochre when the sky has been completed I let that dry and while that's drying I put in the Buried light area of the water this again I use a very large brush and as the water comes forward I use a little darker value there this gives form and then also I try to use a horizontal strokes in painting the water area you see how very nicely the center of the palette I can use for dragging the colors of across one another and it makes for very very excellent mixing the next step would be to put in the distant Hills this again is put in with the large size brush I use a ver number here with a little touch of all the marine blue as it comes forward down towards the water line I add more blue because this gives me the distance and a little darker value that I want in that particular area the water itself little sort of run and mix and work the colors together which really helps to give the form and interest in shape and that's the beauty of working in transparent watercolor is that the water actually does a great deal of the work for you now we want to I want put in here the very very darkest value in the painting and that's the open and the dis san-pan it's really a very very dark area and almost looked black but it is not black I don't use black at any time I can almost achieve black by Prussian blue and Van Dyck Brown and yet it has color and it has life to it as I come forward here I put a little burnt umber in there it gives it a little more warmth I want a little more warmth in that area then I have in the open end now a stroke of yellow ocher gives that warmth and then I want to soften that edge a bit and I use a little clear water with that to just get that hard edge off of there the brush is kept clean at all times every time I change to a color I make very sure that my brush is clean and I can go into that next color with a clean brush using plenty of water of course at all times and plenty of pigment here again it's being mixed a dark value and I try it out along the side there so that I'm very sure that the value is right then and only then do I apply it to the paper this area is the dark canvas that covers the one end of the sand pan using here just a trifle smaller brush it's number 10 it's still a good size brush for this area I try to let the size of the brush determine the area that I'm going to cover here it's a large area I want a good big side brush if it's smaller well then of course I have to go to a little smaller brush however if I were to chose one brush I would certainly pick the number 12 because this I find a very very practical brush and for many years this was the only brush I ever used because a good number 12 you can get to a very fine edge and point this area now we want to want to put some folds in there some wrinkles and and then there's these they're softened up with clear water to give it form give it a little life and not any great amount of detail but rather suggested I left some of the the areas and in the sand pan there that you can see white because and paint at the dark value around it the reason for this was simply that I could judge my values a little better than had I put the light values in first my brushes are 12 10 eight and seven and six I probably used that twelve and the ten more than any of the others but at least it's nice to have them handy if they're available if I need them now I want to put in some of the suggest some of the buildings in the background they're done very simple no detail really to speak of rather just suggested spots of color there's no attempt to to put in windows or doors or anything it's it's just really to keep them in the distance and suggested of a little brighter color on the warm side I'd use here the the burr numbers and the burnt sienna is a touchy yellow ocher and along the shadow side or maybe a little a little more blue little colder color in there and just suggested this way they should they hold their place on the side of the hillside and for composition sakes here I raise the roof a little over the hill to break that line that might otherwise be a little monotonous this is again for better composition Here I am mixing the Vermillion with the cerulean blue this gives me a a very very fine combination for the light area of the canopy that will cover this sand pan and I use horizontal strokes here as you can see because this is more or less the the way these this particular canvas is stretched over this area of the sand pan and as it comes down I add a little more blue a little darker color again to give it the form and shape and I let this area dry and while that is being dried why I go into some of the smaller boats in the background and put the boat alongside of the sand pan it done very very simply with simple strokes again using Prussian blue and Van Dyck Brown for this very very dark area you'll notice that I use a little lighter values first than the boats in the background I'll go into those later on with a little darker color and pick up some of the detail there the the shadows in in this area will add greatly to bring out the form and the punch and the shape that I want to get into this particular painting this is one of the things really that attracted me was the the contrast between the lights and the darks and even a stroke such as this here gives shape to this area that I feel other otherwise may have been rather on the flat side again these dark accents help to give the picture form especially this area the sand pan they liven it up the site of this san-pan again is a very very dark area and I don't want it to look just like a flat dark mass I'd like to get the feeling here that that things are going on that ropes are hanging from the side and possibly pots and pans but in no detail whatsoever here again I left the light areas of white and I will go into those later and pick out and choose the proper color and the value and that's why that's being done that way a little accent on some of the boats in the distance will again give this form and help to give it the effort in the shape that I want to get in this particular area the light areas that are on the side of this sand pan are now being put in with yellow ochre a little touch of civilian blue a little burnt sienna and it's really drawing with the brush there's no attempt here to just fill in the spots but rather to sketch with the brush again always keeping the brush clean it's vitally important and here with clear water to soften these edges so that they will become part of the side and that sand pan and these small sketches have become very very helpful in the various areas such as this here and an accent here and there in the distant boats and figures are very very helpful the ropes and posts that extend from the sand pan holding up the various canopies and poster I just suggested as well as a little boy here now very simply no attempt at detail here a little lizard crimson with just a little touch of ultramarine blue to give his costume a little life and color the light areas of the costume are just kind of picked out with the clear water then we go in and put in an accent here and there very simply no no attempt to put any great amount of detail again the brush always has to be kept clean and some of these edges of the shadow who it can now be softened up the most effort thing part of this whole picture I believe to me is the painting in the the water area really the shadow of this sand pan this was really one of the things that attracted me to this subject was the the interesting shape and this reflection of this sand pan in the water and the of course the the strokes are horizontal strokes because I wanted to simulate the feel of the water although there were no great amount of waves or action yet we want the water to look like it's there's movement there and again Prussian blue was used and Van Dyck Brown I did use a little stronger brown and put in some of the accents as it was closer to the sand pan because this gave me the reflection in the water that I wanted a warm feel you can see from some of the detail that the action of the water is there just the movement I wanted to just get the feel at the there was a movement of that water the wash on the line had a little more color and a a picture that otherwise really didn't have a great deal of color and one of the final steps is to take a razor blade and with its edge cut in or pick in some of the highlights in this very very dark side of the sand pan because no white was used in the painting is strictly transparent watercolor this is the way I achieve my accents in the light or in place of white just pick right through to the paper yeah it adds a great deal of interest to an otherwise very very dark area I think the real test of looking at a painting that you feel is about complete is to put on a mat and give it a good look and I like to do this and then possibly with the mat on go in and and put in an accent here and there touch it up a little bit but the main attraction of this subject to me was here was a watercolor that had so many things sky Hill landscape houses figures boats reflections just about everything that a good subject needs [Music]