watercolor tutorial

"The Garden"

step 1:

In this case the painting was a comission

with very specific elements that the person

wanted included. That's why the drawing is

this detailed. Just a light sketch with a regular

#2 pencil. The paper is 140 lb. cold pressed.

step 2:

Since I'm putting lots of flowers in the

scene I'll do them first so they'll stand

out better.

step 3:

Now comes the laborious chore of 'negative'

painting the background in and sparing out

the flowers, although you don't need to be

super careful. Don't use a small brush!

step 4:

I also block in basic colors for the

foreground, the palm tree and the background

hills.

step 5:

Now I've added the hill in the middle distance

and the vineyard. It's the Napa Valley...you've

got to have a vineyard!

step 6:

beginning to add darker values and you

can see the child emerging and I've also

finished the palm tree and blocked in the

basic color for the tree on the left.

step 7:

added the darker value to tree on the left

as well as some branch detail and just

some refining of some of the plants. Don't

feel like you have to make every square inch

detailed though. I know some of you are

saying, "Too late for you to take your own

advice Dave?"

step 8:

Just fill in the child and the hot air baloons

and we're finished. I even topped this one off

with a few opaque spatters in the garden to

suggest more flowers.