| Author | Message | ||
  dirtybird |
Here is a trick I learned for reflections of just about all types. The problem I had with reflections was that I was imagining that I saw more than was there and ended up over-painting and dulling out the reflections. The trick was to take a picture or photograph with a lot of reflections and as you do your painting cover the whole painting and the photograph except a one or two inch square and duplicate the color you see in the squares. Keep moving the squares until you have finished. I use overlapping 8 x 10 inch sheets of paper to frame out squares. With a little patience you can get some great results. | ||
Robert |
A quick and loose method: I suggest you go about painting the trees as a mass of foliage and dampening the water area with clear water. Then while paper is still wet flood in the tree colors. Once these are in flood in the sky colors beyond the trees' edge. Then with a damp but completely wrung-out brush, create ripples by passing the brush over the still wet painted water surface, lifting out paint for the ripples. They will get wider apart and thicker as they apporach the foreground. Not too many in the distance, and just a few in the foreground. If you want flecks of bright sunlight, you can ignore the above and use a brush lying flat on its side pulled across the paper for a broken effect. In areas of reflced shore trees immediately go in with the colors of the trees while the broken wash is still wet --just wet the area with clear war and paint int he reflections colors, leaving the dry brush in areas you want to shpw flecks of sunlight. The key ios wield the brush with confidence and don't go back over anything. A halting, half-assed committed, timid brush is worse than errors in thios particular endeavor. | ||
karini |
thanks everyone for the input. So glad to find this forum! Robert, to answer you, the reflections are from a lake shore with lots of trees (autumn). George, I hardly ever scratch but I think there is just too much color soaked in already. I will definitely get one of the books suggested but for now I have to finish soon and I'll try it again without overworking. maybe I am not soaking with water enough first because the color dries so quick? I am a better acrylic painter because I am not rushed but I love watercolor. | ||
jdaneman |
The out of print John O'Hara book http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/082305666X/knitsnbytes has one of the best explanations of reflections in still water or ruffled water and how to execute them properly. I didn't know about the "sided-ness" of wavelets, or about the proper angle for reflections of objects at a distance from the water's edge and a lot of that was in this excellent book. | ||
Robert |
Definately start over. There's nothing that works less well that over worked water reflections. Are you talking about reflected objects on shore or reflected light? There are several methods, each very different. I use a combination of wet in wet and dry brush and do everything in one wash, as I do the sky. It's all fresh that way. A whole lot of books have sections on reflections. Browse Borders or Barnes and Noble,s watercolor section and you should find amble instruction. | ||
George |
Try scratching! You should have done the green and blue wet on wet, but now that the paint is down the best way to save it is to scratch.. | ||
karini |
who can tell me the way to get reflections on calm water? I have a painting of autumn trees/leaves. I put the blue water down first, wet, and lifted some of the paint where I wanted to put the color reflections. they look muddy. the green shades worked best like I thought. is there some trick? I spent hours on this for a present that is due and tempted to start all over! any help? thanks karini |
