This is in the "be gone rules based monster" category. A very watery yellow ochre does fairly well next to a thicker consistency blue. I have had success using it in skies where I want to imply sunlight. Probably because the yellow ochre has some opacity. And the thicker paint mix will not run into the thinner one very much.
Hey, what did Lynne quote? If it's sold in the art supply store, I'm gonna use it. Love that. In my case, it might not even be sold in the art supply store... anyone else?
For the tops of the yellow trees, a light yellow ochre would be realistically how the light would appear, providing a buffer to use stronger yellow etc. further into the trees and away from the sky.
For yellow Aspen's example....how would be if I do wet on wet both yellow and blue sky ? Yes 1st layer would look everything softer edges...then after both sections dry...I could go in detail with some hard edges with yellow? I didn't try...I'm imagining. Hmmm.... I think I should try and see not assume😁
Oh, Lynn - thank you sooo much for this particular post. I'm new to watercolor, struggling, and often discouraged to the point of quitting over this very problem. Flaming fall colors just shout to be reproduced, but invariably turn into amateurish messes on my paper.
My mother used to say "there's more than one way to skin a cat." That works wonderfully well in almost all other situations except in this most creative medium, where suddenly a wretched rules-based little monster steps to the forefront and decrees "Watercolor! ONLY WATERCOLOR! Anything else is CHEATING!" No gouache, no crayons, only pure watercolor. But really - what's most important - the media, the process, or the finished result? The answer is pretty obvious even to me. Thank you for slaying that miserable monster so I can have fun again!
I relate so much with feeling discouraged because for whatever reason I was following this stupid rule about watercolor only.. and feeling disappointed with the results. So liberating to ignore the voice and use whatever one feels like..!
You are not alone! I believed that rule for a long time, too .And I hear rules about what you can and can't do in watercolor all the time from students and other watercolor painters. Time for an entire post on when it's okay to break the rules and the special situations where you might choose to stick with a rule because it gives you some benefit.
I say, "Give the painting whatever it needs." I also like what Bob Burridge has to say about this: "If they sell it in the art supply store, I'm gonna paint with it." And guess what? The painting doesn't explode. There are no noxious fumes. No puppies whimpering. Begone, rule-based monster! 😜
This is in the "be gone rules based monster" category. A very watery yellow ochre does fairly well next to a thicker consistency blue. I have had success using it in skies where I want to imply sunlight. Probably because the yellow ochre has some opacity. And the thicker paint mix will not run into the thinner one very much.
Hey, what did Lynne quote? If it's sold in the art supply store, I'm gonna use it. Love that. In my case, it might not even be sold in the art supply store... anyone else?
For the tops of the yellow trees, a light yellow ochre would be realistically how the light would appear, providing a buffer to use stronger yellow etc. further into the trees and away from the sky.
For yellow Aspen's example....how would be if I do wet on wet both yellow and blue sky ? Yes 1st layer would look everything softer edges...then after both sections dry...I could go in detail with some hard edges with yellow? I didn't try...I'm imagining. Hmmm.... I think I should try and see not assume😁
That sounds like a great possibility! Please share what you discover when you try it, so we can all learn from your experiments. 😃
Thanks a lot🙏
Oh, Lynn - thank you sooo much for this particular post. I'm new to watercolor, struggling, and often discouraged to the point of quitting over this very problem. Flaming fall colors just shout to be reproduced, but invariably turn into amateurish messes on my paper.
My mother used to say "there's more than one way to skin a cat." That works wonderfully well in almost all other situations except in this most creative medium, where suddenly a wretched rules-based little monster steps to the forefront and decrees "Watercolor! ONLY WATERCOLOR! Anything else is CHEATING!" No gouache, no crayons, only pure watercolor. But really - what's most important - the media, the process, or the finished result? The answer is pretty obvious even to me. Thank you for slaying that miserable monster so I can have fun again!
I relate so much with feeling discouraged because for whatever reason I was following this stupid rule about watercolor only.. and feeling disappointed with the results. So liberating to ignore the voice and use whatever one feels like..!
You are not alone! I believed that rule for a long time, too .And I hear rules about what you can and can't do in watercolor all the time from students and other watercolor painters. Time for an entire post on when it's okay to break the rules and the special situations where you might choose to stick with a rule because it gives you some benefit.
I say, "Give the painting whatever it needs." I also like what Bob Burridge has to say about this: "If they sell it in the art supply store, I'm gonna paint with it." And guess what? The painting doesn't explode. There are no noxious fumes. No puppies whimpering. Begone, rule-based monster! 😜