Watercolour Painting

Lesson 4: TRANQUILLITY

LET'S SEE RED

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Red has always been a colour to signify danger. It is a colour of vibrancy, and dominates the colour wheel. In this painting we see the telltale signs of a bush fire; to make the scene come alive, the Red hues were made predominant.

1. 1. Using a medium-grain paper we paint the entire sheet with Red pigment. Allow to dry and then mark out your subject.
2. 2. Cerulean Blue and White are mixed and painted into the sky area.
3. 3. Sap Green is a good tone to paint in for the trees. Add a wash of Cerulean Blue and then paint Violet into this colour; taking these colours up to the edge of the tree trunks.
4. 4. Yellow Green is painted in for the lighter tones of the trees.
5. 5. Sap Green is washed over the foreground. Introduce some Cerulean Blue and White. Brown is painted into the shadows of the Green.
6. 6. Cadmium Orange and White are used to paint the flames; with touches of Violet.
7. 7. Burnt Umber is painted into the trunks and branches of the trees. Highlight with a wash of Violet; allow to dry, and then paint the highlights with Crimson Lake and White. Add a tiny touch of Naples Yellow, here and there for extra highlight.

This can be a dramatic painting, and the technique used wherever you want a red glow to be the focal hue.

Within all our sections we covered different techniques: Water is a challenge! Did you accept the challenge? Using opaque can be interesting, how did you enjoy the application of rich hues? Last but not least; the trick of tinting your paper to achieve sensation with your painting, did you find that helpful? I hope you discovered tranquility with this last session:)

All the techniques covered in these lessons can become part of your Pleasure of Painting Water Colours. You may choose to concentrate on one or two only but remember that you can include a mix and match to produce unique paintings that become your signature!

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