Impressionist Watercolor Class (Part 5)

We moved from painting a warm-colored object in a warm light to painting a cool-colored object in a warm light. This was a challenge, because painting impressionistically involves painting the light and the effect of the light. I was painting a blue vase in a yellow light, so the light had to be put down first and the blue put on top of it.

My first try went too green and purple:

Blue Vase (#1), watercolor, 5″ x 7″

My second attempt was better, but my blue still turned green. Was I making the wrong color choices?

Blue Vase (#2), watercolor, 12″ x 9″

I realized that I needed to finish the time-intensive assignment that we’d been given at the beginning of class – making a color chart. There is a row and a column for each color. The color listed on the left-hand side of the chart was put down first and the color listed across the top was put on afterwards, while the first color was still wet. This is a good reference for color combinations, and there are several combinations in which the end result is different depending on which color was laid down first.

Color chart (in progress), watercolor, 22″ x 30″. Because the squares are so close together, I had to paint every other square and let those dry before painting the squares in between.

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