Forest Fire Photo

Artist's Gallery

Original Scene

Did you think this is my painting? No—I’m not that good—it’s my reference photograph. It makes it clear really how little detail the watercolor has; that’s why artists often use pen and ink on top of watercolor. You can see how I made the green and blue in the painting less intense and buffered the orange. I think the vibrant colors make a more peaceful and interesting scene than the photo. I guess that’s what they call the artist’s liberty!

Forest Fire 3

Artist's Gallery

Final Detail

Now that everything’s dry, it’s time to finish up the tree leaves and pond ripples. I put even sharper detail on the fence posts since they’re in the foreground. After removing the rubber cement, I nestled in some nice barns and houses below the trees. The way to harmonize two contrasting colors in a picture like this is to buffer the intensity of one of the colors.By adding some of the complementary color, in this case blue to the orange, the red-orange does not clash with the intense blue and green. It sounds complicated, but really makes a nice painting!

New! You can now purchase this painting as a greeting card here at my Countrygirl Art shop on Etsy.com!

Forest Fire 2

Artist's Gallery

Darker Colors

Next layers give depth to the light washes—paint a little, let dry, add a darker color, let dry, and let dry! The tree is just beginning to get some good body in the leaves. In contrast to the bright orange, the background trees are shades of brown and blue. There was a trick I used on the background buildings to keep them nice and white: apply rubber cement with a toothpick to those areas, let it dry, paint over it, and then peel up the rubber cement. Much easier than trying to avoid the little houses with that wet paint!!

Forest Fire 1

Artist's Gallery

Pastel Washes

Here’s another watercolor painting—this time a landscape. I’m going to be working each part of the picture in layers. First are the pastel washes. They establish the color relationships and undertone, create the mood, and lay out the division of space in the painting. And, if you don’t put too much paint on top, they’ll even show through in the final painting as highlights. This is an important stage!