Bayou Painting - Days 4 & 5

Even though quite a bit of time has been spent on continuing to cut and piece a quilt, some painting was done on the Bayou painting, also.  Here's Bayou painting day 4 that I took to today's class:

I wasn't thrilled with the painting because I knew that some of the things I didn't like were not fixable.  For example, I was losing the light (in watercolor painting light is created by either leaving the paper bare of paint or using very, very pale colors).  It's almost impossible to remove the paint without making a hole in the paper.  That (the bit about the light) is also a part of my second complaint.  The painting is overworked - meaning that not only is the light vanishing, but also that too many places have painted over and over and over again which is one reason the light is gone.  These things really can't be undone.

But, even though I knew in my heart that I needed to start over, I did as my teacher suggested - continued to learn on this version before turning to a new version.  That's why she gets the "big bucks".  Grin, grin.

So I did as she suggested, and here is the result.

While I know it isn't particularly easy to see the differences between the two, you might be able to see some changes in the middle distance which is where I concentrated my efforts.  Look on the right side beyond the first tree - the large one on the right.  Also on the left behind the big tree there.

What I am trying to learn is differentiating among the necessary colors, values, and details that make close, middle, and distant discernable.  At least those are some of the things I need to work on!

During the rest of the class, I practiced various techniques that can be used to sketch what I want to paint without using anything that would have to be erased (lead pencil), peeled (masking fluid - sort of like rubber cement), brushed off and/or lifted like charcoal or chalk, or left in place (ink).  So what does that leave?  

Watercolor paint!  One can use very, very pale paint using colors that could underlie the final coat of paint without showing through.  Or,  in a similar way, one make the paper wet and apply the pale paint.  

It only took me the rest of the class to discover that the last one is what I will use when I start the new painting.