This was my second attempt to paint autumn leaves. I had a beautiful photo from which I worked, I just had to simplify the image.
I really enjoy mixing most colors I use from the primaries of yellow, rose and blue. There are several triads from which to pick. For this piece, I chose Cobalt Blue, Quinadridone Rose, and New Gamboge or Permanent Yellow Deep (both yellows are so similar, I don't know which one I used)
I also added sap green to the pigments for the leaves. I mixed and mixed and layered and layered until I had the effect I wanted. I wanted the lavenders and yellows to produce a wonderful glow. I also wanted the subtle greens to buffer the complementary colors.
The background was painted with mixtures of Winsor Blue, red shade, Sap Green, Permanent Yellow, Quinacridone Rose. I mixed up puddles of all the hues I wanted to use. I wet the background, waited a bit (for the paper to begin to dry) and painted in the colors with leaf shapes. I lifted out some shapes with a clean, almost dry brush to show light coming through.
After the background dried, I rewet some areas and dropped in more color, tilting the paper to let the colors run together.
I wanted the corner colors to be dark and dull.
FOR MORE PAINTINGS OF LEAVES, visit my website. Just GOOGLE pacific northwest watercolors.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Autumn Leaves
I have been collecting fall leaf photos for a long time knowing that some day I would paint a series of autumn leaves. This was the first attempt for red maples leaves. I wanted the leaves to be very vibrant so I used Winsor Red for the brightest colors. Then I wanted to vary the colors from bright red to gold, to mixtures of red, gold and blue.
I chose Winsor Blue, Red shade for the blue and Winsor Yellow for the yellow/gold tones. I painted all the red leaves first varying them with lighter shades, and mixtures of red and blue, or red and yellow. Then I decided which leaves should be brighter and layered over them 2 or three times with the Winsor red. Some of the bottom leaves where painted with varying mixtures of red and yellow after wetting the leave shapes. The colors ran together a bit, which I liked.
The background was painted in without masking. First I painted the top and middle shapes, then the bottom. I painted over some of the leaves on the bottom and the top.
This was my first try with leaves and I was pleased that it became more of an abstract painting than a realist one.
I chose Winsor Blue, Red shade for the blue and Winsor Yellow for the yellow/gold tones. I painted all the red leaves first varying them with lighter shades, and mixtures of red and blue, or red and yellow. Then I decided which leaves should be brighter and layered over them 2 or three times with the Winsor red. Some of the bottom leaves where painted with varying mixtures of red and yellow after wetting the leave shapes. The colors ran together a bit, which I liked.
The background was painted in without masking. First I painted the top and middle shapes, then the bottom. I painted over some of the leaves on the bottom and the top.
This was my first try with leaves and I was pleased that it became more of an abstract painting than a realist one.
This watercolor completed in late 2011 for new greeting card. I used three primary transparent watercolor pigments for the blossoms, cobalt blue, Quinacridone Rose (Daniel Smith) and Aureolin Yellow. To get the darker shades, I layered over dry paint as many as 4 or 5 times. In the shadowed part of the blossoms, I sometimes dotted in blue, and rose paint and let it mix on the paper.
For the leaves I underpainted with Aureolin Yellow, then mixed Sap Green with Yellow, or Cobalt Blue. For darker greens, I used the sap with rose or with a rose and blue mixture (lavender). The background was painted wet into wet with cobalt blue, yellow and sap green. The background pigments were brushed in with thick and juicy paint. I painted arount the leaves (did not mask them).
To view the inside of the note card just Google Pacific Northwest Watercolors and click on "greeting cards".
For the leaves I underpainted with Aureolin Yellow, then mixed Sap Green with Yellow, or Cobalt Blue. For darker greens, I used the sap with rose or with a rose and blue mixture (lavender). The background was painted wet into wet with cobalt blue, yellow and sap green. The background pigments were brushed in with thick and juicy paint. I painted arount the leaves (did not mask them).
To view the inside of the note card just Google Pacific Northwest Watercolors and click on "greeting cards".
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