http://watercolorweb.org All about watercolor Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:24:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Sometimes I want to create sketches at a small scale before do start a watercolor on a large sheet of paper, and I want the proportion of the sketch to match the proportion for the large sheet. Here's a simple calculator that will figure out the dimensions you should ... http://watercolorweb.org/2008/01/14/page-proportion-calculator/ I very often hear admonitions about the importance of value in painting. What I hear less frequently, except for advice that preliminary value sketches are helpful, is practical advice on how to go about choosing values. Although I don't have a specific formula for ... http://watercolorweb.org/2008/01/14/strategies-for-managing-value-in-watercolor/ I had noticed for several months ago that the light and shadow on an object can change very suddenly and dramatically. This phenomenon was especially noticeable around 1:30 in the afternoon. I figured that the sun must shift from the east side of the sky to the ... http://watercolorweb.org/2008/01/14/using-altitude-and-azimuth-tables-to-understand-light-shifts/ Some days the paintings work, and some days they don't. Yesterday's was a real stinker, and I'm trying to figure out why. (Maybe I'll post a picture of it later.) The scene was a group of backlit trees and a tombstone painted late in the afternoon. ... http://watercolorweb.org/2008/01/14/post-mortem-on-a-failed-painting/ I was very happy with the latest lion that I painted last Thursday. The ninety-plus degree heat and a code red smog alert made the working conditions less than pleasant. The actual sky was light and hazy; I darkened it considerably after I got ... http://watercolorweb.org/2008/01/14/lion-4/ I did another watercolor outside this morning. Although I wasn't entirely happy with the results, I did manage to take pictures after each wash. Here's what I did: Step 1: Working out a Battle Plan The subject was a white statue in shadow. The challenge was to get the statue ... http://watercolorweb.org/2008/01/14/demonstration-white-surfaces-in-shadow/ I did this watercolor early in the morning about a week ago at Oakland Cemetery. Finding a shady spot in which to work was a challenge and forced me to work from a radical viewpoint, which made for some dramatic foreshortening. Overall, I was pleased with the result. Materials and ... http://watercolorweb.org/2008/01/14/recent-painting-lion-of-atlanta-in-oakland-cemetery/ Value does all the work; color takes all the credit. I saw this quote on a bulletin board a while back, and it has become one of my favorites. There are so many times people have looked at my work and said: "Oh, the colors are so great." The truth is ... http://watercolorweb.org/2008/01/14/its-all-about-the-values/ * Learn to draw the head before you worry about portraits. Get a skull -- a plastic one from a medical supply house -- and study the bones. Find a good anatomy reference. Also, get a copy of one Bridgman books. * When you're drawing the head, worry about getting ... http://watercolorweb.org/2008/01/14/general-tips-on-painting-the-figure/ I just did an experiment. First, I took two pieces of construction paper, orange and green, and held them between my light source and a white sheet of paper. (I had to put a piece of cardboard behind the construction paper to prevent the light from shining through the paper.) The ... http://watercolorweb.org/2008/01/14/observations-on-reflected-light/