I have more landscape practice to share with you today.
Happy Thursday, friends! 💚
Mini landscapes are a great way to play and learn.
I used a pencil and ruler to divide my 7 x 10 inch watercolor page into four sections. This mini size is just perfect for playing with different colors and ideas.
Using the lower right landscape above as inspiration, I worked on a larger painting of countryside pines. I did switch a few things up in this larger piece and that’s ok. I think it worked out well.
Watercolor tip: The pines (or objects) that are further away should have less detail and be a lighter color. This helps create distance and depth.
This landscape was inspired by a picture from my daily calendar. I wanted to try something different with a pretty green countryside. I love the distant hills and am happy with the calm soothing feeling.
I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love.
Until next time, share a smile and stay excellent!
I had fun playing and painting watercolor landscape squares this week.
I was inspired by the beautiful work and creativity of fellow blogger and friend Jill Kuhn. I love her November Square-A-Day landscapes and decided to try a few squares.
I started by taping off a few sections in my watercolor sketchbook.
My plan was to keep it simple and limit each square to a just a few colors.
Daniel Smith watercolors used: Sap Green, Pthalo Blue, and Carbazole Violet
Brush used: Round #12
This was a fun way to play and work on ideas for future paintings. Although a large part of this exercise was about trying different color combinations, I was reminded how important it is to leave some unpainted areas. Leaving a little white of the paper adds interest and also a little sparkle.
I hope you are inspired to create art and have fun.
Until next time, share a smile and stay excellent! 😊
As I started working on this painting I quickly realized that things weren’t going as planned. When I dropped color on my damp watercolor paper I could see that my timing was off. My plan was to create distant trees but that was not what was happening. I was disappointed at first but continued on and did not fight it.
Lesson learned: Go with the flow and allow the painting to guide you.
Chilly Cityscape 9 x 12 inch watercolor
I continued dropping in color and resisted the urge to fix things.
Stepping back I could see an unexpected cityscape with buildings and trees. What a happy surprise. Things didn’t go as initially planned but that’s ok. I learned a lot from this exercise and in the end I love the cityscape painting that resulted.
Lesson learned: Watercolor sometimes delivers a happy surprise.
I plan on keeping this painting near my desk as a reminder of these important lessons. 🙂
I hope you are inspired to create art and do what you love. Thank you for stopping by and following along. Until next time, share a smile and have a great week.
A little landscape practice with an exercise from Zoltan Szabo’s book, 70 Favorite Watercolor Techniques.
Happy Sunday! 🙂
Beyond the Meadow – 9 x 12 inch Bee watercolor paper
The flowering tree in this landscape caught my eye. It looked like a good exercise to practice painting trees using the wet on wet technique so I decided to give it a try.
While painting the distant trees I reminded myself to leave enough white space for the flowering tree in the foreground. I was pleasantly surprised with the depth that I was able to achieve with this landscape and how quickly it all came together.
It feels calm and peaceful, I love that. 🙂
I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to create art and do what you love. Thank you for stopping by and following along. Until next time, share a smile and have a great week.
I’ve been working on a few simple landscape paintings. I used similar color combinations for my distant trees in each painting and have 3 very different results to share with you today. Oh, and lots of blue. 🙂
My first step on any landscape painting is thinking about where I want the horizon to be. Once I decide how much space I want to reserve for the sky, I lightly draw a line for the horizon using a pencil and ruler. With the horizon line in place, it is easier for me to visualize the big shapes in the painting.
Using the wet on wet technique, I tried to indicate some distant trees. When the wet paint hits the damp paper, it creates color blooms on the paper. It is so much fun to watch this happen!
I tried to keep things simple and not overwork my landscape paintings. I had to remind myself before starting each one, no fussing allowed. Hopefully that will get easier with more practice.
Distant trees Landscape
Indigo worked well in this painting. I am very pleased with the addition of the foreground here, it seemed to balance things out. Although I like the other paintings below, this one is probably my favorite because I’m pulled in and feel something.
Simple Landscape
I really like the varied tree shapes in this one. The bits of white paper beneath the trees in the center area worked well. I need to remember that for future landscape paintings.
Abstract Landscape
This abstract landscape is very different from my usual style of painting. I love the blooms of color in this painting. ❤ The granulating effect of the French Ultramarine Blue is quite interesting.
I hope you enjoyed this simple landscape series.
Thank you for stopping by and following along. Until next time, create some art and do something you love. Hope your week is awesome. 🙂
I really enjoy painting landscapes. A few weeks ago I was inspired by a very talented artist that posted this quick video on Instagram, pinkandsalt . There is so much to learn by watching another artist paint and demo their work. It is interesting to see what techniques they use, what brush they choose, how they hold their brush, and how they approach the subject they are painting.
All of these landscapes were painted a few weeks ago in my 8×10 inch Pentalic Watercolor sketchbook. I tried to mix things up with different tree shapes and color palettes. In all of these paintings, the trees and water share the spotlight. I suppose I could refer to them as landscapes and/or waterscapes.
Landscape 1 Reflection
I tried to punch up the color in the sky a bit and I added a little Daniel Smith Green Gold in the trees and water. I’m a big fan of DS green gold! #colorcrush 🙂
Landscape 2 Reflection
In my second landscape, I mixed up some darker greens and dropped in some Daniel Smith Pyrrol Scarlet and Pyrrol Red for some bold fall color in the trees and water.
Landscape 3 Reflection
The water is a bit brighter in this one and I used light orange for a bit of fall color. I really like the trees and reflection in this painting.
Watercolor Tips:
Mix up enough color before you start. It is better to have extra than to run out of color while you are painting. I’ve done that before…
You don’t need to always cover every inch of your paper with paint. When I first started painting, I always tried to completely cover the sky or the entire background area with paint. Over time, I’ve discovered that it is not necessary and I am usually happier with the result when I leave some unpainted areas.
I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to keep painting, creating, and having fun. If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, simply click the follow button on the right. I would love to have you follow me on this creative journey.
A big thank you to all for reading, commenting, and cheering me on. All of your love and support means the world to me!
You can see more of my work on Instagram and my website, PattyAnneArt. Until next time, enjoy yourself and do something creative!
