WIP=Work In Progress
Background's First Layer of Color
With Watercolor one has to work from light to dark because the paint is translucent and will lift up when the wet paint is applied. The first layers are the light colors that will show where the sun hits the leaves. I will now apply paint for the shadows and defining the tree's leaf patterns.
I worked on the fence to see how I would apply the paint and colors to carry the patterns of what is behind the fence and the shadows of the lattice pattern. I am happy with how it turned out and will continue the pattern. I've never done a lattice fence, and I usually work on the areas I don't know exactly what to do and work out a system. That is the fun part for me, figuring out a system I can use to keep consistency throughout the painting, and it speeds up the painting process.
If I put off the hard parts of the painting many times I won't finish the painting. This is part of an artist getting to know their weak areas and dealing with them correctly so they won't get in the way. My Buddhist teacher's called this their little tricks on how to work through long meditation retreats. You develop little tricks to work with yourself, part of getting to know who you are and how you work. That is why painting is a lot like meditation.
22 x 30 inch cold press, 300lb cotton watercolor paper
I had to enhance the drawing with some filters on my iPad so you can see the lines. The lines in normal light hardly show up, and the paper is an off-white. The filter not only enhanced my pencil lines but they also caught the texture of my cold press watercolor paper.