In this video you’ll enjoy an expressive watercolor landscape demo. It’s not a tutorial but if you have been around watercolors for a while you will appreciate the blend of traditional and unconventional painting techniques.
What was used to paint this landscape
Materials used in this watercolor demo are as follows:
- Holbein paints; Cadmium red light, alizarin crimson, Cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow lemon, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, neutral tint
- Brushes – Princeton Neptune pointed round #12, #6, Rigger #3/4″, Silver brush black velvet jumbo (medium)
- Paper; Fabriano Artistico, bright white, 140 lb. cold press 11″ x 14″
The inspiration image
The scene is inspired from one of my favorite US States to vacation; Maine. The coastal scenery is stunning and loaded with inspiration and working fishing harbors.
Watercolor techniques
- No drawing; I decided to do away with a preliminary drawing. This set the tone for achieving happy accidents and more abstract qualities. Of course I had a vision of what I wanted but allowed the scene to reveal itself as I painted it.
- No copying; I didn’t want to copy every single detail in the photo reference. Instead, pull bits and pieces of it that made sense once the washes were applied. Basically I tried to go with what the washes were giving me as opposed to forcing all the homes, bushes, etc. into the art.
- Unconventional brushes; Much of the painting is created with a Dagger. This is a very versatile brush and really does an amazing job of loose brushstrokes.
- Random painting; I didn’t start with the sky and work my way to the foreground. That’s the typical method most artist’s use. Instead I bounced around the scene and painted wherever I felt needed attention. So, more of a random placement of washes.
The finished art
Here’s a look at the finished painting. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for having a look.
