I'm not too happy with the way this turned out --- there were strips of white edges in the clouds that were lost in the wet-on-wet washes even as I tried to be careful. Also, the blues weren't quite what I wanted. I think I'll try it again sometime using masque to keep the whites.
When I was 11, I was at scout camp and had a morning guard at time of sunrise. It was fascinating - and the most fascinating was the thing, that I wanted to write down to my diary all the changes I was looking at, but everything was changing so quickly, that I was not able to write down everything. The first bird started singing.... Then the sky started changing colors, changing shapes of clouds etc... How you can draw it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was doing my sunset, I was going to the fields for about four - five days to finish my sketch. It's fun. One day I wanted to sketch a lilly in front of our house - but it was closing its petals so quickly, that I had to change the lines in my sketchbook...
How do you do your sunrises, Vicky?
My answer may disappoint you: after studying the shape and color of the clouds, thinking about how I would paint it, I take photos and work from those.
ReplyDeleteTo paint the skies, I wet the area with water, then add colors with a large brush. More moody skies, I use a very thin wash of raw sienna type color instead of pure water to wet the paper, then add colors. Darker cloud forms can be added later after wash is dry.
Why :) I also take photos, but I love to start sketching outside - sometimes I finish it, sometimes not, then the photos can help... But I always have such a feeling, that if I do it outside, there is something more in it, what I am not able to do from the photos. Thank you for sharing your steps, I don't use large brush, it may be useful. I have still a lot to learn!
ReplyDeleteWish you a nice time at the seaside!
Some people think it isn't "real" unless it's done from life only or finished on site. I think artists should be free to use any tool or method that gets the result they are after; no rules!
ReplyDeleteA large flat brush or a floppy squirrel brush is wonderful for wetting paper for large wet-on-wet washes!
Hmm, I love your sketches because I consider them just real! I think, if you tried to sketch it many times, and you have experiences, you can do it even "by heart"... That's not my case :-)
ReplyDeleteIt has taken me many years to get over 'niggling the details", trying to exactly reproduce what I see. That exactness is especially impossible when painting wet-on-wet skies. I am learning to let go of control and just see what happens.
ReplyDelete