Watercolor Home Portrait ~ A Gift

Recently, I painted this sweet home in New York. It was a gift request for their Mom. This is a type of order I receive often. People want a painting of the home they grew up in. Many times, the parents are now moving away or downsizing. I always love to oblige that request!!!

Final Painting.....

This is the photograph I was sent.  

Below, I will walk you through the progression of the painting process.

After lightly drawing the house and surrounding area, I applied one light glaze to 

the trees and sky that frame the house.

 I laid a light wash to define the color of the house and continued adding the surroundings, 

around and in front of the house.

 Added the roof color, the large foreground tree, and continued adding foliage 

and color to the landscaping.

Added driveway, sidewalk, window boxes and more color and flowers.

Beginning the details, such as shutters and window panes.

 Glazed several washes for the grass, more details in the trees and landscaping 

and added suggestion of shadows.

Finished the front door and continued to darken and add layers in the 

dominate areas to complete the painting!

Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for stopping by today!

Carole

See more of my Home Portraits in my Etsy Shop:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/carolepoolegallery

Saving the Whites!

Saving whites is one of the most unique aspects of watercolor painting.  You REALLY have to plan ahead!  Last week I painted a large magnolia blossom. Since the white areas in this painting are VERY large and completely dominate it, I felt it was a good candidate to introduce how to save whites.

I took many photos of a perfect magnolia blossom and used my favorite one to create my painting.  Using a drawing pencil, I sketched in the outline of the flower with as little detailing as possible.

The first painting step was to indicate value. Using a full brush, I added clear water to the areas of the petals that were the darkest in the photograph. It needs to be really wet, 

then take a minute or two for it to soak into the paper.  

You will notice the sheen leaving...that means it's time to drop in some darks.

I use the word "dark" very loosely here!  The paint should be very pale. Don't over do it yet. This will take several layers and is time consuming.  Start out with very little color in your brush. But, at the same time, remember that this will dry much lighter.

Continue to add the shaded areas on and around the petals.  And...most important...leave plenty of white. We're saving whites, remember.  Don't cover the entire petal with shading.  You want your whites to be the focal point of the painting. Refer to your photo often.  Nature is very good at this.

I continued to add shaded areas to my petals to shape and mold them.  The colors used were 

fr. ultramarine blue, cerulean blue,  burnt sienna and hooker's green med.

Using a heavier wash and the same colors listed above, I began to fill in the background.  This gave my petals more definition. Still not worrying about the details. 

From here, just continue using the same steps over and over. Creating layer after layer, waiting for each layer to dry. Don't rush it and enjoy the process. Details on the center stamens of the blossom and the tree branches were added with burnt sienna, aliz. crimson and burnt umber.

I continued adding darks to the background and details to the blossom. 

The final painting!