Time to get back to watercolor for a while. I went back to the Shari Blaukopf tree course and did the Autumn Maple tutorial. I used her color mixes, but I didn’t get the base orange quite right. Ended up glazing over it in an effort to fix, and it robbed the painting of a fair amount of freshness. I will likely do this one again at some point, It’s important to me that I show myself that I can master my shortcomings.
I mastered the concept of flowing the new color from the wet edge but I just don’t like the way the second layer of the foliage turned out. I think a little more attention to saturation at the bottom would help too.
I will also try some smaller tree studies using a different orange base. Pyrrol orange with new gamboge seemed to work well for me on a swatch. I did this on some Strathmore 100% cotton paper that behaved very differently from the Arches CP I used on the first tree. The Arches dries up faster, so I was tense about keeping moving with the wet edge on the first wash. The strathmore paper stayed wet longer so I did all of the second layer wet into the wet first layer. The pure Mayan and Pyrrol oranges are a bit too lurid, so I will try them again working to tone them down with a dash of blue. I wonder if quin coral and quin gold might be an interesting combo at work.
I am a bit intimidated looking at the live oaks that are up next but they are a really dynamic tree visually, so it should be fun. Be prepare to look at a lot of watercolor tree work if you visit here regularly. Thanks for reading!
Siena Blue 
I enjoyed this video by Shari, especially her comment that the “favorite tree” painting looked ghastly halfway through painting it! You did a good job here. Like you, I found the colors intimidating and challenging but liked the results in the end. Her color management is excellent, and I find I have to remember to use water, water, water, and color, color, color while it is still (drum roll!) wet, wet, wet. That is one of the hardest lessons to learn, I think, to keeping things fresh.
LikeLike
Thanks N. The Arches cp I was using dries really fast, so I was working quicker than I could manage most of the time. My other challenge was mixing up enough deep rich color, but that has been my downfall since I started watercolors.
LikeLiked by 1 person
One suggestion for the Arches CP is to wet it on the reverse side – that will keep it moist longer. Then place it onto a piece of coroplast or other waterproof, flat surface. Then moisten the other side and let it settle. Brienne Brown, Marc Taro and other watercolorists discuss paint consistency and its impact on color intensity. Here is a link to a video by Brienne Brown, who I think is a superb painter: https://youtu.be/NyUQE9fcF8s?si=gTSIa9h1dRKJEkNk
One of my art teachers says “think like a millionaire” when it comes to paint and paper – and I agree. I find that being consistent in paper brands is like having a good friend you know inside and out – familiarity! I like to explore lots of different brands of paper, but Arches is my main one as it is easiest for me to purchase.
LikeLike