Only one more class session to go – then I’m completely on my own!

Last session I started working the background and that has been the most difficult part so far. The original picture is taken in macro and is focused on those beautiful tomatoes. Although this gives me great detail on the tomatoes, the background is out of focus and that’s making me crazy. I guess my problem is that I’m not really sure how I’m going to give the background that out of focused look. I’ve started by lightly washing in those browns, reds and oranges that are peaking through. The next step would be washing in a very, very light version of the dominant background color – that seemingly black color. It’s not black, of course, but varying shades of a very dark brown-violet. I’ll start with a light wash of a deep violet and see how it goes. Hopefully the finished product won’t look flat. *fingers crossed*

I’ve also started adding layers of deeper color. This is the exciting part because the painting really starts to come together at this point. But it’s also scary because this is when you’ll see if you’ve added the right undercolors and if you’ve added enough of them. It can also be very frustrating because the colors will start to play off of each other, enhancing and/or detracting, and you’ll either think, “Wow, that looks great!” or “Wow, that’s not right at all!”. But so far, so good.

But that darned background! It could make the painting, or completely ruin it. I just have to take a deep breath, not be scared, and just go with it – put that color in!

It’s got great recipes for the localvore in you and even better photos. I especially love the heirloom tomatoes featured on the cover. Luckily for me, there’s an even larger scale photo of those same tomatoes inside the book. So that’s what I’m painting for my final project. Heirloom tomatoes. Maybe it’ll hang in my kitchen one day – when it’s finished.

So far, this is all I have. I apologize for the poor picture quality. All I have right now is my iPhone camera. Great for snapping quick pictures, but not so great for details – and no flash!

Watercolor is kind of funny. I’ve always thought of watercolor as being very light, flowing, whimsical, quick. A little color here, a little water there, swish swish, wash wash, done! Ha! Quick it is not. Because watercolor can be incredibly transparent (well, because of the water), you have to create multiple layers of colors. Layers and layers and layers. The more the better. All those layers will show through in the final product and create a more realistic end composition.

When we look at things in life, we tend to write them off as being one flat color. Leaves are green. True. But if you look closely, you’ll start to see subtle layers of color under that green. Different shades of green. Browns. Reds. Oranges. And that’s what the underpainting and layering does in watercolor. It captures all those subtle layers of colors and detail and lets one shine through the other.

So you start off with a light wash, a very light wash. Paint with the primary colors first. Paint the lightest color you see first, that very bottom color that’s peaking through all the other colors. Then you build – lightly. And you build, layer after layer, very lightly at first, then heavier, until you finally get something that can only be created through the sum of it’s parts. A green leaf with shades of yellow, brown and specks of red.