Watercolor Squash on a Table

Goal

Inspiration

A step-by-step watercolor tutorial from a watercolor demo at an art supply store.  First, follow the tutorial and make a small painting that will become a card as part of a set that will be given as a gift.  Practice using masking tape for the second time.

Materials

• Some probably hot-press watercolor paper I cut into approximately 3.5" • 5" rectangles.
• Various color papers cut into slightly larger rectangles for 'faux' matting.
• A pack of white 5.25" • 7" blank white scored cards and envelopes.
• Some quality watercolor brushes my aunt gave me upon her trip from England.
• A 24 pan set of Yarka St. Petersburg Artists' Watercolors she also gave me.
• A roll of 1" 3M Scotch Masking Tape.
• A hard back vinyl-cover binder to tape the paper to.
• A jar for water, and lots of rinses and refills.

 

Step 1:  Tape and sketch.

Tip:  Stick the tape to clothing before applying to the paper.  This is the first time I've tried it, but I read online that this will keep it from tearing the paper. 

 

Step 2:  Prepare your color scheme.

Start with a triangle of three primary colors.  Mix the indicated secondary colors and then mix complementary colors for the browns.  I learned this trick from a local artist who was doing a watercolor demo at a local art store.

I started with Naples Yellow (opaque), Indigo (Semi-transparent), and Ruby (transparent).

I chose Indigo because it was my most intense blue and it looked closest to the Ultramarine Blue suggested by the tutorial.

I chose Naples Yellow because to my eye, it best matched the New Gamboge yellow used in the tutorial, however as shown below, I have an 'inner circle' of sorts where I chose Hansa Yellow (transparent), because it makes better greens with the Indigo.

I chose Ruby because it was closest in intensity to the tutorial's indicated Windsor Red.  The two paler reds are tested outside of the Red circle.

I mixed Ruby and Hansa Yellow for an orange, then mixed that with varying amounts of Indigo to create Light Brown and Dark Brown (triangles in the center of the diagram).  I mixed Hansa Yellow with different amounts of Indigo to achieve the Yellow-Green and Blue-Green Mixes.

I tested a wash of dilute Hansa Yellow with a touch of each of Indigo and Ruby for the Squash Under-painting.  The Background Mix is Hansa Yellow with a touch of Light Brown.  The dabs next to that square are where I tested subsequent mixes because I didn't mix enough volume the first time.

I forgot to test the Indigo and dilute Indigo I used for under-painting the shadows with the final mixed colors layered over them in the bottom-right corner of the page.

Label your hues, diagram your mixes, and label final key colors.  Mix up large enough amounts.  This doesn't take as much pigment as I'd feared.  If you don't mix up large enough amounts, be sure to leave room on your color scheme page to test new batches.

This is my palette at the end.  I washed it after I made the Color Scheme because I had some muddy mixes there.  Next time I might use a separate palette for that.  Counter-clockwise from the top:

The yellow turned into Orange; there was the Underpainting and then the Background Mixes, which were mixed with Ruby for Orange, then diluted for a Yellow-Orange wash.

The Indigo was used up by the end; various dilutions were made in this section.

Yellow-Green and Blue-Green were made side-by-side in the same section.

Dark Brown.

Light Brown.  

Step 3: Apply the under-painting for the wall and the squash.  

Using the Squash Under-painting mix, wash the squash and stem areas.  Pre-wet the paper in the Squash highlight area with clear water.   Dilute the same hue and wash the wall.

 

Step 4: Let the washes dry; continue to the next (non-overlapping) step.

Rinse your brush(es) and change the water.

Step 5:  Apply the shadow under-painting and textures.

Using dilute Indigo, apply a wash to the shadow of the squash and the edge of the table.  Using a less-dilute Indigo, apply a darker shadow to the apron of the table, using long strokes and a long, thin brush to indicate the grain of the wood.  When the shadow wash is dry, using short strokes and a fine brush, add wood grain texture in the squash shadow and on the edge of the table.

Under-paint the stem of the squash, and using a small, short, blunt-cut tip brush, apply the shadow layer of the squash texture.  Dilute the Indigo in steps to apply lighter shadows.  It doesn't need to be identical to the example.  Use more dilute Indigo or a different blue.

Step 6: Let the paint dry a bit.

Rinse your brush(es) and change the water.

 

Step 7: Paint the squash pattern on the light side, then the shadow side.

Use the Hansa Yellow, the Orange mix, and some Ruby for the darkest parts, mixing and diluting them as you go to get fainter colors.

Rinse your brush(es) and change the water.

Use the Blue-Green mix for the darkest parts, diluting it as you go to get fainter greens.  Use a long thin brush on the stem.

Using a tiny, almost-dry brush, sketch faint Blue-Green and Yellow-Green outlines around the Orange parts.

Step 8: Let the paint dry a bit.

Rinse your brush(es) and change the water.

Step 9: Paint the table.

Using the Dark Brown Mix, apply a wash to the apron of the table, using long strokes for wood grain.  Using Dark Brown Mix with short strokes and a long, thin brush to indicate the grain of the wood on the table edge.  Use the Light Brown Mix and short strokes with the same brush, apply wood grain to the table top, making sure the lighter side is, well, lighter. 

Step 10: Let the paint dry a bit.

Rinse your brush(es) and change the water.

Step 11: Paint the wall.

Using the Background Mix, apply a heavy wash to the top of the wall; the wall can be painted unevenly for a little texture.  Keep the wall wet, using a small brush for tight corners and edges, and a large brush for larger spaces.  Continue a light wash over the table top.

Step 12: Let the paint dry a bit.

Rinse your brush(es) and change the water.

Step 13:  Soften the squash with glazes.

Use a dilute Yellow-Green Mix to wash the shadow side and the stem.  Use a dilute Orange Mix to wash the light side.  Scrub a bit of pigment off of the highlight with a clean, wet brush, and pick up the excess with a paper towel to add the highlight.  Use one of the Greens to touch up the shadows and lines of the squash, where necessary.

Step 14: Let the paint dry.

Rinse your brush(es) and change the water.

Step 15:  Add texture; make any other corrections.

Use more brown washes or wood-grain texter to adjust the table.  Add a layer to the wall if it's too light.  When the paint is completely dry, carefully use an Xacto knife to create fine scratches in the table and the stem for texture.

Step 16:  Remove the masking tape.

Do this carefully, slowly, peeling back almost on top of itself, but at an angle.

Results

The masking tape tore the edge -- I need different tape.

I need more paints; my tube paints are dried out, and my pan set has some near-empties, plus 24 hues is too limiting.

I need some different brushes.  A large pointed-tip one for washes.  One for wood-grain type strokes.  A blunter one for squash pattern.

 Overall, perfectly acceptable practice for sunflowers, but I don't care for squashes.

Also, this is greeting-card size, so it will do double duty as part of
a set of greeting cards I'll give as a Christmas gift.