WATERCOLOR PAINTING IN PRACTICE

painting skies and clouds

dark or light, outlines the luminous white of Fig. 366— In this high moun-
the clouds and acts as a background. We tain landscape. have painted
I

a classical sky with clouds on a

should notice that often the gray colors of the luminous day where the gray
shadows in the clouds are lighter than the blue shadows of the clouds are
brighter than the blue of the
sky of the background, and we must con-
sky. The intensification of lights
stantly compare the values of these grays and and shadows, without sliding
see the blue, pink, and golden tendencies of into the latter, is very import-
ant
these shadow grays, so that the clouds will
finally become real.

3. Technique. Finally, we should be aware

of
the watercolor techniques required in each
instance, previously reserving whites, out-
lining illuminated parts, with the sky as the
background, attaining the forms of the model,
modeling with tones acheived with the brush
and absorbent paper, daubing here, adding
there, working and painting with real drive—and
with real urgency, because the clouds literally
fly away!— without losing sight of the model,

without losing the white highlights which define

the basic characteristics of clouds.

"The sky comes first," said Sisley, and all

professional watercolor artists begin with the

sky when painting landscapes. And they do it

absolutely without worry, joyfully and with

guile, as though making a bet with themselves:
"I'll bet I can! I can paint this cloudy sky with a

few brushstrokes and a few dabs of absorbent

paper.'" And they do it! They succeed! It is a
daily game: to start with the sky without think-
ing,without bother, without the fearful con-
ciousness of an amateur. "And, if it doesn't 36
come out, I remarked to one of my students,
leave it and start again."
Agreed?

Fig 367-Federico Lloveras Pa- Fig. 368 1- Cefenno Olive.

lacio Real (Madrid), private Arenales (Riudoms). private

collection. Here, an overcast collection Cefenno Olive paint-
sky is painted wet-in-wet with ed this dramatic landscape
applications of grays, perfectly with a range of warm colors,
controled by the artist which working with coarse brushes
allow the sky to have a very in long and broad strokes,
important role, conditioning the blending, absorbing, always
color of the urban landscape "straight off", giving it everyth-
which he has resolved with a ing, staking everything
36
range of pale color.

150
 WATERCOLOR PAINTING IN PRACTICE

Sky and clouds with a

special range of color

Fig. 369- Having finished the

sketch, I lay in a uniform wash
of ochre made to look dirty with
just a whisper of blue and dark
sienna, reserving white areas
for the houses of the town, to
be painted later.

Fig. 370-Once the back- Fig. 372— I finish the sky

ground is dry, I paint over with a last wet application
it using the same color, in the bottom areas of the
made darker with more clouds. finish the sky and
I

sienna, blending to bring complete the plots of land

out parts of the clouds. and roads of the town
With different Siennas I

paint the houses and some Fig. 373- For the finishing
areas of the ground. touches use a fine ball
I

point pen with which draw I

Fig. 371-Now I paint the a number of the lines of

color of the sky using ultra- the houses, the roofs, some
marine, carmine and och- furrows in the ground
re, brightening the color on some figures, etc.

373 reaching the horizon. con- I

tinue with the houses, the

shadows, and the roofs.

151
WATERCOLOR PAINTING IN PRACTICE

painting trees

The first thing to remember when painting

trees is have a structure, a skeleton;
that they
they are trunks and branches with a covering,
a clothing made of leaves. The skeleton is

important. If you draw or sketch trees without

leaves, in the winter, with only the scaffolding
of the bare branches, not only will you have a
great time, but you will also rapidly learn to
paint trees. And if you afterwards dedicate a
good deal of time to drawing trees, bushes,
and thickets, as Van Gogh did continuously,
you will learn to paint trees placed far in the
distance, or set up close in the foreground.

There are no tricks or secrets, only careful

observation and understanding: branch groups
extend from the trunk, leaves form clusters
which determine the effects of light and shad-
ow on the colors and forms of the tree. The
combinations of trunks, branches, and leaves
are sometimes broken up, leaving spaces
through which we see the light of the sky,
illuminating their dark silhouettes. And we
must paint them as they really are: with blues,
yellows, and ochres (trees have a lot of green-
ochre color) in the top part, and with more
green than yellow, more blue than ochre in
the lower part, which is in shade and reflect
the color and light of the earth. Tree trunks
have the forms of small spheres or cylinders
which are illuminated from above. When they
appear alone or grouped together in the
distance, they are always darker than the
meadows and fields around them.
The next time you are in the country, look at
them... and paint them.

Figs. 374, 375- Making good

sketches and drawings of trees
without leaves is good exercise
for drawing them with greater
familiarity

Fig. 376- Here are several

trees seen in the middle dis-
tance; thus their shapes and col-
ors have been resolved using
synthesis

Fig 377-A step-by-step de-

monstration of painting a tree
seen in the middle distance,
using only a few strokes to sug-
\
377 gest form and color

152