Illo Friday “Clear” – Wild Stream
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“Wild Stream”
7.5″ x 11″ Watercolor on 140# paper
Clean, clear, water – what a precious resource. Can anything match it for clarity and freshness?
I did this painting today just for fun for some water practice, using a very limited palette of two blues, a red and a yellow. That’s about it. Oh, and a little gouache white for some ripples here and there. The Angeles Crest forest above La Canada is just full of places like this.
I don’t think there’s any way to paint wild water in a quiet, contemplative way. For me, it’s necessary to be a little bit excited about the subject matter and to paint quickly and almost impulsively, even though that usually means making a lot of mistakes. The vitality of the water flow is communicated by the energy of the brushstrokes.
(My watermark and blogaddress is not in the painting – only in the scan.)
Oooo! Just wonderful! I love the little back-splashes against the rocks in the middle of the stream! Ahhhhhh
wow, this is a winner
water is moving!!!
This is excellent, Karen! My DH looked over my shoulder when I popped this open, and said, “Wow, is that a painting, I thought it was a photograph. She really captured the rushing water!”.
BEAUTIFUL!
Oh, I just love this one!!! It has so much movement and wonderful color.
This looks so cool. It is full of energy too. I wish I knew how to paint moving water
Thanks, all . Carolyn – I’d suggest looking at the watercolors of Sargent, among others. You can just see how the brushstrokes are made in the direction of the flow, leaving white for the glint and darker colors for the shadowed area. The trick seems to be to paint very quickly, emulating in a way, the rapid flow of the water.