CTC Watercolor Tutorial Unit 12

Day Two

I love using masking tape to do its job, that is mask the surface of a painting. 

Here is day 2 & 3's supplies. I happen to have some sliver paint so I got to use that in stead of grey. I did not have purple so I had to create that. 

 After you have taped down your paper, decide how big you want you moon to be. I decided I wanted it to be about 3 tape width wide. If you want a VERY large Moon you can tape an area down use a glass, trace around it then use a Exacto  knife to cut away the excess. Since I was in a bit of a time crunch I cut mine out. 

 Snip, Snip, I tried my best to make it round. 

 All cut out I placed it where my fancy decided. 

 Rub the edge down firmly so you get a good seal but not so hard you can't get it off later. 

 Aizarin Crimson and the dark blue Just a smidgen of blue to start. 

 After i mixed in 2 smidgens of dark blue it was heading to far toward brown,
so I added a tiny bit of black to it, to make the color more rich. 

To be sure I liked it, I tested it on scrap paper. 

Now I whetted the paper, can you see my reminder arrow, I always forget to switch paints!  

 Once its nice n' wet blot. 

Again I'm using the rag as I'm to cheap to buy paper towels.  

Paint in the sky line purple.  

 1/3 from the bottom paint in the blue. Don't forget to overlap your colors. 

Needs a bit more blue then I can let it dry. Set it aside in a safe place to dry,
 and clean up your brushes and pallet. 

Day Three

 Carefully peel the tape up if it rips don't stress to much. Mine did a tiny bit and you can't tell. 

 Lovely white patch where our moon will go. 

 Notice how I left a white ring around the moon. 

I really want my moon to feel like a sphere so I shaded the outside slightly darker than the inside.   

 For trees further away I made them smaller. This one reminds me of a thorn tree. 

 I started another one middling. 

I'm getting better at using the tooth pick to make fine lines.
A bit of a twisting motion seems to work best for me. 

 I decided to start another tree that will break the edge of the painting.
It's good to break the edge to give the observer a feeling that your looking at a larger venue. 

 Now take a look at your painting, 

 Add in as many twigs as you can stand. 

 Now think about the light, how will the moon shine on the tree... See how the tooth pick is pointing? 

 Where it is pointing is how the light will fall on the tree trunk and branches. 

 The moon light shines on the sides and tops of these branches. 

 Himm it will catch the tips of these boughs. 

 As well as these branches. 

 For the tree on the edge of the paper I picture it shining almost horizontally. 

 I took this photo after the paint dried, it is easier to see how the light is falling. 

 Little Miss Sunshine working hard. 

 Sweet Potato decided not to mix up her own paint and just used the leftovers. then she had a mishap with a tree trunk. with a bit of creative thinking we turned the square tree into a house with smoke coming out of the chimney. She was sad she messed it up. She also didn't cut out a circle for the moon, but it doesn't look awful as she claims since she did put a round moon in the white space.  It is "ART" I suppose She could have square trees if she wanted to be "modern" I'm just not sure I'm ready for that. 

 Little Miss Sunshine's completed painting.
I love how she is learning to break boundaries and she has such sleekness of lines. 

My finished art work. I love stark trees against the sky, its one of my favorite things to paint. 

I hope you enjoy painting this as much as I did!