Painting water, can, quite frankly be a bitch. Oh those darned sparkles and reflections are a nightmare, and the opacity issues... heavens and then there is the issue of the sun in the sky and where it would cast a reflection ...... Eeeek eeeeek and more eeeeek.
I love water actually. I love painting it and I love watching it. But it wasn't always like that, more of a bit of a struggle really, so as is my way I confronted the issue head on setting about photographing as much water as possible. The non- flash photograph on the left is actually my loo flushing! I later used this photo in an advertising campaign by taking the wine glass shape, Tinting it pink after defining it a bit in photoshop and voila! My client was delighted, though never had a clue how I achieved it!
If you want to paint water you have to study it. Now look carefully at the photograph. Pick out the sparkles, the droplets, note where the water appears opaque and which bits appear almost translucent. Pick out the shadowy areas and pick out the light play. Now if you are really bored, you can get your watercolours out and copy it - without masking fluid - this is where paint bleed can be your very good friend. Don't spend ages, fifteen minutes top, just sketch with your paints dropping in the lights and darks, letting the bleed be your transparentish areas. Other good practice subjects are a glass tumbler with water, a glass vase with water but no flowers. Puddles - with all of this rain we are having puddles are everywhere, make the most of the opportunity! A window with rain running down the outside, a running tap, a puddle of water on a worktop - these are all good subjects for exercising your water muscles.
If you can master water then you can apply it to any painting, whether it be present in the flesh so to speak or not. Puddles can make a garden scene come alive, spills of tea make an afternoon tea scene look human, and rain on a window gives instant atmosphere.
I love water actually. I love painting it and I love watching it. But it wasn't always like that, more of a bit of a struggle really, so as is my way I confronted the issue head on setting about photographing as much water as possible. The non- flash photograph on the left is actually my loo flushing! I later used this photo in an advertising campaign by taking the wine glass shape, Tinting it pink after defining it a bit in photoshop and voila! My client was delighted, though never had a clue how I achieved it!
If you want to paint water you have to study it. Now look carefully at the photograph. Pick out the sparkles, the droplets, note where the water appears opaque and which bits appear almost translucent. Pick out the shadowy areas and pick out the light play. Now if you are really bored, you can get your watercolours out and copy it - without masking fluid - this is where paint bleed can be your very good friend. Don't spend ages, fifteen minutes top, just sketch with your paints dropping in the lights and darks, letting the bleed be your transparentish areas. Other good practice subjects are a glass tumbler with water, a glass vase with water but no flowers. Puddles - with all of this rain we are having puddles are everywhere, make the most of the opportunity! A window with rain running down the outside, a running tap, a puddle of water on a worktop - these are all good subjects for exercising your water muscles.
If you can master water then you can apply it to any painting, whether it be present in the flesh so to speak or not. Puddles can make a garden scene come alive, spills of tea make an afternoon tea scene look human, and rain on a window gives instant atmosphere.
River and ocean water follow the same rules. Look at the piccy on the right. This was taken at Chichester Canal on a dry day. The water has lights, darks, greys, solid opaque areas and near the banks a little translucency. However, there is only one flat truly reflective area which is to the right of the barge and is reflecting part of a tree. The rest of the reflection is almost opaqued out. Now an inexperienced painter may go for a complete reflection and wonder why it didn't look quite right. Water is fluid, it is mostly moving. When it moves, it is like it has a skin on it - look at the ripples in the foreground to see what I mean. It is extremely rare to get flat still water, and rarely looks right in a painting. Reflections that are painted as a flat reflection of what is above the water line look artificial and flat, a few perhaps a minimal amount of water lines will breathe life into your waterscape. Pay particular attention to the colours too. The red livesaver on the rear of the barge is reflected on almost every ripple coming toward the bank. Few painters would indicate those repetitive reflections, yet such detail can make the difference between a good painting and an outstanding painting. The water itself varies from a light grey to a deep deep olive. Do not let your eye convince you of the presence of blacks or whites, it's fibbing ......... Trust me, I know about these things! The brain can be very lazy with your internal colour chart if you don't keep it toned up. Study wet things, perhaps take two identical cups, place on on the drainer dry, and one you have just rinsed under the tap next to it. Compare the two. We know when things are wet simply by looking at them. To paint wet objects you need to study those subtle differences that tell your brain that your eye is looking at a wet object and incorporate your knowledge into your paintings.
When I painted 'Dancing In The Rain', to get the water right, I stood in the shower with several mirrors watching the way water ran off my body - now that's dedication for you - I also photographed people walking through puddles to get the splish splash of movement as good as I could. I didn't see any point on painting the original sketch if I wasn't going to then follow through and practice on what I found to be the challenging areas. If you are embarking on a complex water project, thorough research is the key to the success of the project, yet so many painters sit down at their workstation and try to paint water from memory. Unless you are painting water on a daily basis, to paint straight from memory and get it absolutely spot on is nigh on impossible! Make sure you always have at least one good reference point, or that you make a habit of studying water when you get the opportunity. Painting practice is a darn good practice and we all know that proper practice promotes perfect paint habits, and we don't then, rejoice, for it is never to early to learn!
xx As Always Written And Offered In The Spirit Of Love xx
xx As Always Written And Offered In The Spirit Of Love xx
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