Basking in Your Reflections

I'd love it if you were right here in my studio so we could try out some of the techniques that I use to create the transparent and luminous reflections that I want to have in my paintings. There are many more than I'm including here, of course, but perhaps this will whet your appetite to do more exploration on your own.

And I'm here whenever you need me!

                            "Twilight Reflections"

                

Capturing the broken edge of these reflections led me to a new idea.

You can see that small shapes of the blue  water extend into the violet reflection of the mountain, and the violet mountain color is extended out into the water in similar small shapes.

By planning these interlocking shapes, i was able to "knit" the two reflected shapes together.

"October Music"     The water was so calm that the reflections were very distinct. I lightly sketched the shapes of the reflected trees. After mixing the various colors that I saw, each shape was painted one after another, letting the colors meet in a soft, merged edge. The key to this is having the same ratio of pigment and water in each mixture, and always observing the amount of water that is in your brush, and on the paper. Remember: it's ALWAYS the ratio of pigment and waterthat makes the difference.     Please Forward to a Friend   "My Island Home" These reflections were almost a mirror image; the shapes were sketched in very lightly and I began at the left hand side, painting each shape and changing the color and/or value as I moved from one shape to another. The white reflection is white paper.   As in the previous example, the amount of water in each mixture is crucial. Note that the water is not just "green". Many reflected colors from the dark woods behind the buildings were painted wet in wet on the water shape.    For a detailed description of how to paint reflections, read more here:  Basking In Your Reflection  If you have a comment or a question, please visit me at http://bit.ly/EvelynArt and leave your note. I'll be sure to respond.

Try This Exercise

Evelyn Dunphy Studio & Gallery I want to invite you to join me in a New Year of watercolor painting; seeing your skills getting better and better, trying new things, and throwing caution to the winds! Stretch your imagination; I truly believe that if you have the passion to paint a subject, you will find out how to do it.  So let's begin!     Before this photograph is retired, I wanted to use it today because it is a perfect illustration of the principle of keeping the values of shapes in the sunlight within the value range of those light shapes AND Keeping the values within the dark shapes true to the overall dark shape. And if this sounds confusing, please stay with me!

Look at the changes of value in the soft yellows and creams of the rock wall. And then there are the shadowed edges of the cracks and mortar of the wall. Try to focus on those and not the darker shadows. When that light shape is painted, it will be painted with these variations; perhaps naples yellow and a little yellow ochre. You may see other colors; we all see things differently. Then perhaps a neutral "mauve" mixed from cerulean blue and a tiny touch of cadmium red for the shadowed crevices. You could also mix cobalt blue with the red. The important thing to remember is that nothing in this light area can be darker as the lightest part of the dark shape.          Here's a segment of the darker portion of the photograph. Using the same observational skills as we used with the light shape, see the different values within the shape. I'm sure you understand now that when this darker shape is painted with its changes of color and value, no part of it will be as light as the light shape. Why not try this exercise, and then choose a subject of your own and try it? The key in painting the entire photograph is to do a value study in black, gray and white that shows the overall value of the entire subject so that you have a firm idea in your mind what you will be trying to accomplish once you add color.

A Teaching Exercise - Still Life on the Road to Eyeries, Beara, Ireland

Still Life Discovered on the Road to Eyeries, Beara, Ireland Here are questions intended to alert you to sharp observation of the edges in your reference material. Look at how each shape meets the adjacent one and ask yourself what the value difference is, how the color changes, does the edge disappear or remain crisp, is one color on an edge warmer or cooler than the adjoining edge?  Look for all of the similarities and differences. If you do this, you will see several varieties of edges in one photograph (or in the landscape elements if you are painting out of doors).   Ask yourself: "what do I know how to do that will make it possible for me to paint this kind of edge convincingly"?

There are many kinds of edges, but not very many different techniques required - what is necessary is that you can identify what you are intending, and be clear in your mind how you can do it. If you just can't figure it out, take a few minutes and imagine: putting a dark brush stroke on a light background. Result: a sharp (hard, crisp) edge. Mixing two juicy (not watery) puddles of paint of different colors and try to have both mixtures about the same ratio of water and pigment. Paint a shape of each mixture beside each other, letting the edges touch. Result: a "soft" edge (lost, merged) Mix a dark green puddle, an ochre-brown puddle and paint them next to each other, but not touching. Leave about ½" of white paper between them. Then mix a mid-value red-violet with less water than the first two mixtures. While they are still damp, paint the narrow strip between the green and violet. If the ratio of water and pigment is satisfactory, you will have created a "color bridge" between the green and violet which will make two beautiful edges. The red-violet is a complement of the other two mixtures and helps "knit" those two very different planes together without a hard line between them. This, in turn, creates a sense of distance and recession. If you were to paint the dark green shape onto a dry ochre shape with a hard line, it would be a very different effect. Both are necessary at different times. It all depends on what you are trying to describe.

EXERCISE   Make a sketch of the photograph. Paint the sunlit part of the wall. Only the values are important for this exercise. I would use Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre in varying values for the stone, and mix a mix-valued neutral "mauve" for shadowy areas. I like cerulean blue and a tiny bit of cadmium red to create that neutral mauve. You can also use cobalt blue and red. Mix a rich dark for the two pots, and a warm dark value for the wall that is in shadow. For the pots, I used ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, quinacridone burnt orange, and yellow ochre. I let these pigments mix on the paper and then at the right hand edge, I charged in a brush stroke of Holbein's Verditer Blue. This is an opaque pigment and I added just a tiny bit of water so that the blue stayed where I put it, creating a soft, lighter area in the shadowed wall. Opaque pigments do not "travel" as extensively as the transparent pigments.    Now paint the side of the large pot that is in the shadow, and continue into the shadowed wall, letting those two edges merge into a "lost" edge. Since these two shapes are very close in value, you do not need to stop at the edge, merely adjust the color to the next shape. The small pot can be painted in the same way, with just one edge meeting the dark shadow.     NEXT WEEK I'LL TALK ABOUT SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW AS IT APPEARS IN THIS PHOTOGRAPH. IT'S THE PERFECT ILLUSTRATION OF A VERY IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE. SEE YOU THEN! HAPPY PAINTING, Evelyn www.evelyndunphy.com artist@evelyndunphy.com

Still Life Discovered on the Road to Eyeries, Beara, Ireland

This panoramic painting is the banner on my new blog   AND, there are many interesting edges to be found here.

Is there anything more filled with promise than the first day of the New Year! I am excited about being back in the studio creating new work - stretching myself to get better at expressing what is in my mind and heart; and as you know, that is the on-going challenge for us all. This is the first of a weekly "conversation" that will be arriving in your inbox with a nugget of information that I hope will prove to be valuable to you. I'll do my best to make them informative and if you have ideas for subjects that would be helpful to you, please do send me an email at artist@evelyndunphy.com and let me know. And if anything isn't clear to you, tell me. Chances are that someone else feels the same way. If you would like to pass these studies on to other artist friends, please do so. So here we go!

Still Life Discovered on the Road to Eyeries, Beara, Ireland Just look at the texture of the old stone wall, the battered iron bars and the pots. There are several important lessons in this one photograph, but for this conversation we shall focus on edges. Just for fun, before you scroll down, make a list of the different edges that you can see, identify them as "hard", "lost", two similar values melted together, whatever you see.       What Do You See When You Look at the Place Where Two Planes Meet?     When I first started painting, a well-known artist from Santa Fe told me that "edges separate the professionals from the amateurs". Then and there I decided to make it a priority to learn everything I could about edges!   Look at the large pot that is mostly in shadow on it's right side. Squint so that you see the bigger shapes and don't get caught up in the details.   Here are the questions I would like you to ask: What value change do you see between the edge of the large pot on its shadowed side and the wall? Which is darker? (don't count the light patch on the wall, it's just a variation within the darker value).  Does the edge between them disappear in places? Is there a change of color between the pot and the wall? Now look at the bottom left hand corner where the edge of the pot and leg meet the background. A very different edge with a high-lighted rim and a high-light on the leg.      Painting the dark edge of the big pot against the dark mottled background. I've just painted the area where the pot meets the background as one wet in wet wash to show you the "lost" edge. Now I could add some darker value marks on the edge of the pot to separate it from the background if I wished. Notice how the shapes join together to unite the two pots to the background. We paint "shapes", not "things".  Now observe the smaller pot hanging against the right hand side of the wall. It's in the sunlight and there is only a small piece of the bottom that meets the wall.. How would you describe the edges all around the pot with the exception of this small piece? That small piece gives you an opportunity to join the dark shapes together (again, if you squint, you will see this more clearly). Do you see a value change here at the edge of the small pot, and also a color change? Is it the same, lighter or darker than the value change between the large pot and the wall? What's the difference in value range between this pot and the wall that's in shadow? The sunlit background has not been completed in this demonstration.

Lip, Berm, Brink, Perimeter, EDGE!!

Greetings everyone:

Is there anything more filled with promise than the first day of the New Year! I am excited about being back in the studio creating new work - stretching myself to get better at expressing what is in my mind and heart; and as you know, that is the on-going challenge for us all.

This is the first of a weekly "conversation" that will be arriving in your inbox with a nugget of information that I hope will prove to be valuable to you. I'll do my best to make them informative and if you have ideas for subjects that would be helpful to you, please do send me an email at artist@evelyndunphy.com and let me know. And if anything isn't clear to you, tell me. Chances are that someone else feels the same way.

Iif you would like to pass these studies on to other artist friends, please do so.  

Still Life Discovered on the Road to Eyeries, Beara, Ireland

Just look at the texture of the old stone wall, the battered iron bars and the pots. There are several important lessons in this one photograph, but for this conversation we shall focus on edges.

Just for fun, before you scroll down to my discussion, make a list of the different edges that you can see, identify them as "hard", "lost", two similar values melted together, whatever you see.

      What Do You See When You Look at the Place Where Two Planes Meet? 

When I first started painting, a well-known artist from Santa Fe told me that "edges separate the professionals from the amateurs". Then and there I decided to make it a priority to learn everything I could about edges!

 

Look at the large pot that is mostly in shadow on its right side. Squint so that you see the bigger shapes and don't get caught up in the details.  

Here are the questions I would like you to ask:

• What value change do you see between the edge of the large pot on its shadowed side and the wall? Which is darker? (don't count the light patch on the wall, it's just a variation within the darker value). 
•  
• Does the edge between them disappear in places? Is there a change of color between the pot and the wall? 
•  
• Now look at the bottom left hand corner where the edge of the pot and leg meet the background. A very different edge with a high-lighted rim and a high-light on the leg. 
•  
•  Painting the dark edge of the big pot against the dark mottled background.
  
  I've just painted the area where the pot meets the background as one wet in wet wash to show you the "lost" edge. Now I could add some darker value marks on the edge of the pot to separate it from the background if I wished.  
  Notice how the shapes join together to unite the two pots to the background. We paint "shapes", not "things".
  
  
  
  
  Now observe the smaller pot hanging against the right hand side of the wall. It's in the sunlight and there is only a small piece of the bottom that meets the wall..
  
  
  • How would you describe the edges all around the pot with the exception of this small piece?
  •  
  • That small piece gives you an opportunity to join the dark shapes together (again, if you squint, you will see this more clearly).
  •  
  • Do you see a value change here at the edge of the small pot, and also a color change? Is it the same, lighter or darker than the value change between the large pot and the wall?
  •  
  • What's the difference in value range between this pot and the wall that's in shadow? The sunlit background has not been completed in this demonstration. 
  •  
  • These questions are intended to alert you to sharp observation of the edges in your reference material. Look at how each shape meets the adjacent one and ask yourself what the value difference is, how the color changes, does the edge disappear or remain crisp, is one color on an edge warmer or cooler than the adjoining edge?  Look for all of the similarities and differences.
    
    
    If you do this, you will see several varieties of edges in one photograph (or in the landscape elements if you are painting out of doors).  
    
    
    Ask yourself: "what do I know how to do that will make it possible for me to paint this kind of edge convincingly"?
     
  
  
  There are many kinds of edges, but not very many different techniques required - what is necessary is that you can identify what you are intending, and be clear in your mind how you can do it. If you just can't figure it out, take a few minutes and imagine:

• putting a dark brush stroke on a light background. Result: a sharp (hard, crisp) edge. 
•  
• Mixing two juicy (not watery) puddles of paint of different colors and try to have both mixtures about the same ratio of water and pigment. Paint a shape of each mixture beside each other, letting the edges touch. Result: a "soft" edge (lost, merged)
•  
• Mix a dark green puddle, an ochre-brown puddle and paint them next to each other, but not touching. Leave about ½" of white paper between them. Then mix a mid-value red-violet with less water than the first two mixtures. While they are still damp, paint the narrow strip between the green and violet.
•  
• If the ratio of water and pigment is satisfactory, you will have created a "color bridge" between the green and violet which will make two beautiful edges. The red-violet is a complement of the other two mixtures and helps "knit" those two very different planes together without a hard line between them. This, in turn, creates a sense of distance and recession.
•  
• If you were to paint the dark green shape onto a dry ochre shape with a hard line, it would be a very different effect. Both are necessary at different times. It all depends on what you are trying to describe.
•  
• 
  

  EXERCISE

   
  Make a sketch of the photograph.
  
  Paint the sunlit part of the wall. Only the values are important for this exercise. I would use Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre in varying values for the stone, and mix a mix-valued neutral "mauve" for shadowy areas. I like cerulean blue and a tiny bit of cadmium red to create that neutral mauve. You can also use cobalt blue and red.
  
  Mix a rich dark for the two pots, and a warm dark value for the wall that is in shadow.
  
  For the pots, I used ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, quinacridone burnt orange, and yellow ochre. I let these pigments mix on the paper and then at the right hand edge, I charged in a brush stroke of Holbein's Verditer Blue. This is an opaque pigment and I added just a tiny bit of water so that the blue stayed where I put it, creating a soft, lighter area in the shadowed wall. Opaque pigments do not "travel" as extensively as the transparent pigments. 
   
  
  Now paint the side of the large pot that is in the shadow, and continue into the shadowed wall, letting those two edges merge into a "lost" edge. Since these two shapes are very close in value, you do not need to stop at the edge, merely adjust the color to the next shape.
  

  The small pot can be painted in the same way, with just one edge meeting the dark shadow.  
   
  
  
  NEXT WEEK I'LL TALK ABOUT SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW AS IT APPEARS IN THIS PHOTOGRAPH. IT'S THE PERFECT ILLUSTRATION OF A VERY IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE. SEE YOU THEN!
  HAPPY PAINTING,
  Evelyn
  www.evelyndunphy.com
  artist@evelyndunphy.com 

A Little Something for You to Start the New Year

Sending Love and Best Wishes To You
in the New Year

May your New Year be filled with juicy pigments, glowing washes, masterful strokes and hours spent in pure enjoyment! I've written a new "Conversation with My Students" email and will send it to you tomorrow to get your painting off to a good start in 2014. It's all about edges; (in 8 weekly classes we discovered an amazing variety, and also observed how few are actually seen and created)   I hope that you'll find helpful suggestions in this little gift that will open your eyes to new possibilities for adding elegance to your paintings.

I've decided that the words to Auld Lang Syne satisfy my longing to come up with a New Year's wish for you. I don't know about you , but I have never known all of the words. They get sweeter as they roll on to the end of the song.

Auld Lang Syne (With Lyrics and English Translation)