WATERCOLOR PAINTING IN PRACTICE

painting a snowy landscape in watercolors

I painted this same subject in watercolor in
January of this year, and I will now paint it
again, but this time in the studio, and explain
the process in detail, not just showing the
various stages of development in the painting
of the work, but also the different processes
and techniques.

This is the last of the step-by-step demon-

strations presented in this book: a painting
designed to be a final project, which I will
paint for you myself using many of the
concepts, theories, and techniques that a
Fig. 429- (Top) Photograph of
professional uses when painting. I hope the snow-covered landscape
that this will be a complete lesson, summa- which be used as a subject
will

for thewatercolor of this last

rizing the things I have tried to teach you in
demonstration. The landscape
the pages of this book. of the photograph corresponds
to this scheme of composition
429
430
To start with, look at 429 and 430 which
figs.

show the painting I did on the scene and a

photo of the subject, and notice how useful it
is to take the camera along when you go out to

paint. With a photograph of the subject, you

can compare the finished painting to the real
image, and even rectify or finish some details
later on, when the original scene in life is
quite changed. Now then, starting with the
photo and the painting I did, notice first that
the scene offers a compositional scheme which
I tried to accent, as you can see in the adjoin-

ing figures. Notice the differences between

the painting and the actual scene; these are
changes I made during the process of interpret- Fig. 430- (Left) A watercolor
ing: (1) suppressing those long trees beside painting made a year ago. of
the landscape shown in the
the fence that surrounds the town, on the previous photograph (429).
left-hand side, because they interfere with a The interpretation of the sub-
ject using this scheme height-
view of the town; (2) interpreting the roofs as
ens the geometrical shape and
covered with snow, even though they actually improves the composition of
were not; (3) suppressing three of the trees the painting

which appear in the ditch running diagonally color painting, step by step. But first, allow me
across the landscape, and distributing them a brief commentary on the materials and tools
differently so that they will not interfere with used, and on my work habits.
our view of the town; (4) changing the diagonal When I paint outdoors, whether in the city or
ditch into a slight ridge, which lends variety to the country, I paint with a typical tripod of
the composition, and allows the addition of the box-case-tripod type. I have no objection
the blue band of shadow thrown by the ridge, to artists who paint with their paper almost
which aids the composition; (5) heightening vertical— a tablet or mounted on a board, as
the shadows of the trees on the ridge, adding many artists do— but I am more comfortable
variety to the scene; and (6) reducing the with the tablet or board an angle
tilted at
height of the gray band of the village and of 35 or 40 degrees, as are many
other artists.
darkening the ochre color in the railing in the This preference means that in the studio,
foreground, in order to better emphasize the I always work with a tabletop easel in the
geometric zig-zag form which determines the form of a lectern, and an adjustable seat wich
composition of the painting. can be raised somewhat higher than normal. I
Now let us look at the resolution of this water- connect the table or sheet of paper with clips;

177
WATERCOLOR PAINTING IN PRACTICE

painting a snowy landscape in watercolors

that way I never have to wet and dry the paper
with it already mounted with tape (see fig.
431). I find it more practical to paint with
the paper on the tablet, or with a sheet of
paper thick enough that it can be adequately
mounted with clips. I use tube paints and
damp tablets of paint interchangeably.While
paint recently squeezed from a tube facilitates
rapid execution—you don't have to rub with a
brush to pick up the color— by the time it has
been on the palette for two or three days, it has
just about the same texture as damp tablets
do. So in the long run, both types are fine.
I use pads of paper made by Fabriano, or

Arches or Canson, of medium or coarse grain,

and brushes of sable hair in nos. 6, 8, 12, and
14, and occasionally a no. 18 ox-hair brush and
a Japanese stag-hair brush with flat bristles,
the latter two for washes, and wide gray areas,
as well as for dampening large areas with
water. I also use a natural sponge for dampen- 431

example, before beginning a painting—

ing, for Fig. 431 — Painting in waterco-
and on occasion, to wash, wipe, reduce,
also, lors.whether in the open air or
in the studio. feel better work
draw, and lighten. I use H pencils, which
I

mg with the board inclined at

smear the least, and an ordinary white plastic an angle of some 30° to 45°
eraser(I don't like kneaded erasers, which feel In the studio this requires a
tabletop easel in the form of a
likemodeling clay). lectern (fig. 98) and an adjust-
I use only one container of water, which I able seat which can be raised

change every once in a great while— since somewhat higher than normal

I kind of like dirty water for painting. When I Fig. 432— A detail of no impor-
paint in the studio, I put the container of water tance but which believe I is use-
fulunder the water bottle place
on top of a cloth rag, folded into four layers. : I

a piece of absorbent cloth,

This protects the table from water, and also folded several times, which
serves as a means of removing water or paint apart from protecting the table
against drops and wetness,
from the brush. All I do is "paint" the rag with enables me to remove excess
the brush a little bit before I touch the paper. 432 water from the brush by simply

And as regards to emptying the brush, I have pressing, as if I were painting

on the cloth.
waited until the end to mention the use of ways available in my
hand, to clean the
left

absorbent paper of the paper towel type sold
in rolls for kitchen use. As you know, these
towels are made of a spongy paper, which
dries rapidly and easily absorbs the water and
dampness of the watercolors. I use them con-
stantly, having a folded or crumpled towel al-
brush, reduce, absorb, blend or break down
color, pressing, more or less, on a recently
painted area. Sometimes I even use it to draw,
as sometimas happens with a uniform back-
ground of sky, when simply pressing with the
paper towel can "open up" a white spot which,

178
 ;

WATERCOLOR PAINTING IN PRACTICE

if properly treated afterwards, can become a Fig. 433-Working, painting

with the brush the right hand;
magnificent bank of cumulus clouds. And now
in

under the left hand is a piece of

let us return to the watercolor painting of a blotting paper folded twice or

snowy landscape. more, always ready to allow

you to remove any excess
paint from the brush, to blot
First stage: drawing and reserving whites the color in a specific area, and

to"draw" by opening up white

(Fig. 434)
areas in a form or a color which
We begin, as always, with a precise, well de- has been applied. The tissue
fined line drawing, particularly in the area of paper or blotting paper, which
mops up like paper towels used
the village houses, where the buildings and in the kitchen, is essential for

roofs must correspond to reality; the same is watercolor painting

true of the ditch in the middleground and the 433

trees appearing there. But the trunks and deli-
cate branches of the trees in the foreground
may, on the other hand, be drawn with more
liberty, representing, for the time being, the
largest trunks.
Afterwards, apply masking fluid with a no. 4
I

synthetic brush, covering the areas where I

wish to preserve the white, these being: the
roofs of the houses and the walls which sur-
-
—4
round the village, the small snowy areas of
the mountains and their upper profiles, and
the broadest trunks of the slender trees in the
foreground. I also paint a little fluid in the right
foreground to create some snowdrifts. It is
very important to use masking fluid in the
right quantity and not to overdo it; avoid
reserving whites when normal watercolor tech-
niques can be used.
Next I reserve a patch of white— using white
wax— in the thin promontory on the left side of
the village (indicated as A in the figure adjoin- «

ing this first and in the band of terrain

stage)
in the center (B). In zone A, I reinforce this
reserve of white created with white wax by
applying masking fluid, scrubbing and graduat-
ing it from the top down (as you know, mask-
ing fluid is cream or light blue in color, which
makes it easy to locate later on).

Second stage: painting the sky, the mountains,

and the houses (Fig. 440)
village
Before beginning to paint, let me mention that 434

Fig. 434— Here is the finished

drawing, with the masking fluid

applied to reserve certain areas,
visible by its bluish color.

Fig. 435— Application of mask-

ing fluid to reserve certain
areas with a synthetic no. 4
brush. The fluid which remains
on the brush is wa-
diluted with
ter to wash it before it has dried
but some fluid always remains
which has to be eliminated by
squeezing the brush and
pulling it through your fingers
and nails. 435

179