This came out much better than I thought it did at first. I was trying to capture the patterns of light and shadow from the reference photo. I finally gave up because, at a certain point, if you keep reworking gouache, the water lifts the layer below and colors can easily get muddy. But then I posted it and people really reacted positively. Some I can take full responsibility for, but some comments were based on "happy accidents" that I didn't realize were happening at the time. But I definitely started with a plan this time.
I should get out to capture scenes En Plein Air, outdoors looking at real life instead of photographs. I've read many painters say that it is the best way to improve. But, there's a pandemic going on I'm trying to limit all travel. Sure, there's not much danger catching a whiff of Covid 19 in the middle of the woods unless Bigfoot sneezes in your direction but it's summer and most of California is enduring a heat wave along with the largest fires in recorded history (That's up north. We'll get our chance to burn when the Santa Ana winds kick up in the Fall). I'm not even going to set up in the backyard when it's over 102˚!
I got the idea to watch some 4K YouTube videos of people taking hikes in a variety of locales. It wasn't perfect because I couldn't pick the composition. Maybe I'll look for virtual reality posts so I can adjust the view a bit. Actually, this image might be from a relaxation video featuring mountain streams. No matter, I liked the relatively simple shapes and strong light direction.
That's an improvement over my early tries. I'm not just looking around and thinking, "I guess I can paint that." I was more thoughtful. This photo has nice perspective cues in its shapes, values and color. The rocks overlap on both edges. Even the water has shapes that show depth, like the big hump of water between the front rocks, which then dips and surges up in another ridge and splash. The colors are warm in the front and cool in the back. I also liked the bands of shadow and light across the water. These things gave me goals within the painting.
When I started my gouache adventure almost a year ago, the idea of tackling a mountain stream wouldn't have occurred to me. But I did a nice job of capturing translucent water in a Koi painting from my Lena Rivo class. But what brought it into the realm of possibility was a black and white study of an Edgar Payne wave painting (two posts back). It seemed like I could do this one with a limited palette. I believe it was Yellow Ochre, Pthalo Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Venetian Red, Titanium White and either Lemon Yellow or Cadmium Yellow.
It may be silly to to a preliminary sketch for a sketchbook but I did. I held a scrap piece of paper and played with the colors. I was almost too pleased with it. I feared the "final" would suffer in comparison.
For me, painting is often a psychological battle. If I worry about my performance, I freeze up. The causal act of just painting on a scrap of paper in my hand removed pressure. In turn, having it come out well got me part way up the mental mountain of the sketchbook painting.
I tried to capture the colors and shapes of the photo but gave myself permission to worry only about the painting and not the likeness. I wasn't trying to be a camera but I still dug into the photo for specifics.
The Happy Accidents
I was complimented on the translucence of the water. There's probably more in the water of the painting than there is in the photo. A large part of that was intentional. I wanted the viewer to see below the surface at the base of the various rocks. But there's some awesome distortion of the left, bottom edge of that front, right rock that just... happened. I don't think I was conscious of it as I laid down the strokes. But there's patches of color in the front pool and the light water at the base of the back rocks that suggest you're glimpsing rocks on the stream bed. It still counts whether I was trying for that or not, right?
The final "accident" that I was definitely aware of but decided not to change is, again, on that front rock on the right. You'll see that it's covered with moss in the photo. In my painting, it looks like a reflection from the pool of water. I'm not sure it makes sense with the light direction but I'll happily take it.
Next up: I paint the last page by returning to the beginning! --Tad
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