A Path in the Woods - Painting Trees Without Sponging
The main points of this landscape are working
- back (light)
- to the middle section (medium)
- to the front section (dark).
- You want to leave some holes for the birds to fly through, too. You'll see this in the extra page showing each step, as well as in the video.
The demo shows these trees painted using salt or spattering for texture, a dabbing technique, and an introduction to the hit or miss method of placing random water on your paper and painting into it.
Your painting doesn't have to look exactly like mine - that's the beauty of watercolor. Each painting will be unique. Feel free to use sponging, add branches, add extra tree trunks or even a figure walking on the path.
Backlighting works especially well for watercolor, as each layer goes on top of the ones before, building up color and texture for a nice sense of realism.
Your Instructor
Hi, I'm Deb Watson - a self taught artist and long time watercolor teacher
My story is simple.
I loved drawing from childhood, but was discouraged from art as a waste of time. So, I became a nurse, worked at a lot of hospitals and raised a family. But I kept painting.
Over time, I became better at the realism I loved, and just kept working toward improving through painting and self-study. I've always enjoyed painting scenes from my life and small town community (which I call my Small Town America series).
My paintings are not usually famous or majestic subjects, often they're just everyday stuff I see around. But I see so much beauty there, and show it to the rest of the world by painting it.
Now, my watercolors have been in exhibits and won awards across the nation. Yet, it's when my art connects me to other people that it's really done what I wanted, and teaching certainly does that!
Happy Painting.