Day 19: Approaching Shadows
Well, what I have to say today is that I just keep getting schooled in watercolor, there is so much to learn. I am the kind of learner that learns by doing, and not just once or twice, but over and over and over again.
I thought that I had learned how to approach this type subject differently, but I forgot that I was going to do that, to approach it differently. Instead I took my same approach and of course got the same (or similar) results!
What I learned is that when painting objects like this in watercolor, I need to remember to wet certain areas before I just barge in and paint them, otherwise they have hard lines in the transitions from light to dark and don’t give the seamless look of the form turning. Namely the shadows on the white objects where they gradually move into shadow, then deep dark shadow and back towards the light again are where I needed to wet the area first and work more carefully. These are delicate transitions and I approached them with somewhat of a heavy hand, maybe like any oil painter wielding a brush would.
There are moments to be strong and moments to be cautious and tread lightly. Most importantly the thing to learn is what situations need which approach.
White Jug and Cup
Watercolor on Paper
7 x 9″
I also learned something that may seem contrary to what I just said, but is not. That is no futzing around, no being wishy washy, but being bold and decisive and painting in what you decide (and trust your – or my- judgement). I say that this is not contrary, because even when it is time to be gentle or make soft shadows to move the eye from light to dark, that is still a clear decision with a clear plan of how to go about doing it.
Watercolor is brutal in that it does not let you pause with your brush or hesitate for even a second, those pauses stand out on the paper as incongruent passages that don’t belong inside the world of the painting.
These of course could be life lessons, but we will just stick to painting lessons for today and now, after the 3rd time I have done a painting like this and said that I learned this lesson, I think today it really sank in.
The next paintings will be the real test of what I have learned!