Watercolor Painting | Memories + Nostalgia

Design Problem: Create a watercolor painting based on a childhood memory such as a landscape, room, object, food, portrait, toy, etc. 

You may bring in or email an old photo, take a new one, or change a published photo 80% showing a unique and successful composition with an off center focal point, color balance, unity, variety, and a personalized story.

References: Wayne Thiebaud - Painting Desserts! Watercolor Beginner Tips: Leaf Painting   How to Set up a Palette Project Examples
 
Sea + Sky Painting    Flower Painting    Pepper Painting    Candy Painting     Landscape + House Painting     Animal (Watercolor Pencil) Painting     Thiebaud: Bio    Project Handout: Planning + Process

Studio Process:

A. Create a LIGHT UNDERDRAWING overlapping the shapes in a successful composition. Remember this is a painting, not a photograph.

B. PAINT ONE SIDE AND PROCEED TO THE OTHER. This is a lot easier than painting all the individual shapes. Notice how I made transitions from one shape to the other. I modified and changed colors as the shapes were connected. If this is a new way of painting for you, try connecting two of the shapes and then slowly add more negative-valued shapes, challenging yourself each time. Do not be concerned if some of the colors intermingle. This is what watercolor is all about.

C. Next, ADD DARKER COLORS on form to show CORE SHADOWS and three-dimensionality. It is not necessary to draw everything you see. Let the previous layer DRY before adding another for separate values. For blended or bleeding colors, layer WET ON WET.

D. MIX VERY WATERY COLORS FOR MID-TONES (using the objects base color plus some mixing) Squinting is very important at this stage. Begin by painting a light wash of color on your forms, leaving some GAPS OF WHITE FOR HIGHLIGHTS.

E. Indicate that the subject is sitting on a surface, incorporating some of the colors from the subject into CAST SHADOWS beneath the forms. Perhaps this surface is the shadow falling on a piece of fabric, or on a small flat surface. Remember: less is best.

F. Paint the BACKGROUND using colors from the subject to help unify the painting. Mix the colors ahead of time in cups and not on the palette so you do not run out of paint in the middle of a wash and create a hard edge. It’s a good idea to practice a sample background several times on a scrap piece of watercolor paper.

For a smooth wash, the consistency of the paint should be such that a bead of water forms along the brush line but not so much that the bead runs down the paper. With each overlapping stroke, your brush should go through the middle of the bead, thereby carrying it to the end of the background area.