To paint still water is to create an illusion.In a landscape, water is often suggested by reflections, a patch of light in the middle of , a dark landscape, a dark flat stripe at the base of a mountain range, or a touch of blue in the middle of a green field might suggest a river.
The essential characteristic is that it reflects. Either the sky or the landscape upside down. But if you paint it perfectly, it doesn't indicate the movement that we expect to see in water.
With the principal reflection being that of the sky, it is essential when depicting calme water to master your gradated washes.Use a large soft brush, larger pans for mixing color as plenty of water is key. Lighter weight papers buckle allowing paint to puddle, and some paints granulate and trap in the texture of the paper, so practise is important.
Practise the following wash 2-3 times on draft paper, then choose one on which to do the mountain range reflection.
Then do a final draft wash on WC paper, draw in the sketch without the reflections, and paint step by step. Light to dark, big to small, moving around the surface to work in dry areas, glazing layers of color over dry paint.
* I used sgraffito to scratch in white tree trunks into wet paint.
Rubric: Painting Still Water
Criteria: On time, followed directions, care for materials, clean up, on task
Skills: clean evenly gradated background wash.
worked in areas of dry paint (no wet to wet or blooms)
contrast: of warm colors in light areas and cool colors in shadows
values and intensity: lessen to indicate depth in middle and back ground
Brushwork: brush size appropriate to amount of detail.
The essential characteristic is that it reflects. Either the sky or the landscape upside down. But if you paint it perfectly, it doesn't indicate the movement that we expect to see in water.
With the principal reflection being that of the sky, it is essential when depicting calme water to master your gradated washes.Use a large soft brush, larger pans for mixing color as plenty of water is key. Lighter weight papers buckle allowing paint to puddle, and some paints granulate and trap in the texture of the paper, so practise is important.
Practise the following wash 2-3 times on draft paper, then choose one on which to do the mountain range reflection.
Then do a final draft wash on WC paper, draw in the sketch without the reflections, and paint step by step. Light to dark, big to small, moving around the surface to work in dry areas, glazing layers of color over dry paint.
* I used sgraffito to scratch in white tree trunks into wet paint.
Rubric: Painting Still Water
Criteria: On time, followed directions, care for materials, clean up, on task
Skills: clean evenly gradated background wash.
worked in areas of dry paint (no wet to wet or blooms)
contrast: of warm colors in light areas and cool colors in shadows
values and intensity: lessen to indicate depth in middle and back ground
Brushwork: brush size appropriate to amount of detail.
grading_rubric__for_still_water.docx |