This web page and the following description and pictures show different stages of progress of a watercolor painting that I am currently working on. The inspiration for this particular painting is a ten-year-old photograph that I took of my daughter at the beach in Bethany, MD. She is now grown up, 22 years old, and out of the nest living and working in New York city. I miss her a lot, so much of my motivation for painting this picture is nostalgic. The painting is 15.5" x 22" on Arches 140 lbs. cold press watercolor paper.
This first picture shows the sketch I did from the photograph. I frequently use a projection method to capture the realistic proportions, shapes, and details of a photograph for the initial sketch. This way in the drawing, I can also add, change, or eliminate parts of the photograph that help or hinder the composition. You'll note that I've painted an initial swatch of color in the lower left as I try to match the color of sand. For this I used some left-over beige latex house paint mixed with Lemon Yellow watercolor paint. Generally for my paintings, I use Sakura (Japanese) Koi tube watercolor paint and frequently use and mix them with Prang Professional tray watercolor paint. Note also that I use blue painters tape to hold the picture stationary as I draw or paint. Painters tape is useful because it doesn't tear the paper when removed and can be reused when I rotate the paper on the table.
This second step of the painting shows my selection of the sand color. The irregular shadows and modeling of the sand is done with Ultramarine Blue watercolor mixed with or painted on top of the latex. I did the background first because I know that when I paint the arms and face, the flat and graded washes of the skin must be painted quickly. And since the latex paint has the characteristic of drying somewhat water repellant (so watercolor paint will take longer to soak in and dry; like the effect achieved using Yupo paper), the edge of the latex paint will help to contain the edges of Jessica's arms and face when I paint them. If I accidentally paint beyond the edges of the face and arms, the latex paint allows me to quickly correct it, blotting up the mistake with a paper towel.
I've painted in Jessica's chest and arms in this next picture. I decided that a critical part of the painting will be capturing the tanned and sunburned skin on Jessica's face and body. If I get that wrong, there's no point in continuing. I usually do the most difficult and important parts of a painting first, or very early in the process... especially with a realistic picture. So if I screw it up (and it happens occasionally), I haven't wasted a lot of time on the painting. Note that the modeling and mottling of the brown (mix of Prang brown, Koi Yellow Ochre, and Prang blue for shadows) skin was done using the wash characteristic of watercolor for shadows and highlights. I like the irregularity of the wash, using it to show the variety of skin tones and underlying muscles. I've also added the shadow of the chin with a very cool blue as a contrast to the warmth of the sunlit pink and brown skin.
Next, I've painted most of Jessica's face. This is clearly the most critical and difficult part of the picture. I've left the highlighted areas white (unpainted paper) while using blue again for the shadows. The colors in the face are some of the same brown used in the body, while adding Prang yellow orange and washed red (pink) in some areas. My main goal at this point was to capture the highlights (on the forehead, cheeks, above the eyebrows, and on the tips of the nose and chin) and the shadows (eyes, under the nose and cheeks, and around the mouth). At this point, the eyes are not dark or deep enough, all the shadows require clearer definition, and I've given her a swollen fat lip along the lower right chin.
Before I do anything else, I have to fix Jessica's face. I came very close to losing the painting at this point. I'm still not satisfied here with the fat lip, but I've fixed the shadows in the squinty eyes and under the cheeks and nose. The hair has been added and makes the face standout nicely. I've also added the dark sun glasses which produce nice shadows and highlights in the hair.
In this next picture I've largely fixed the problems in Jessica's face. The fat lip is gone. I've added details around the eyes (eyebrow, wrinkles, etc.) and added more warm orange and yellow to the pink face. I will touch-up portions of the face in subsequent steps, but I'm confident at this point that I've captured the face and I won't lose it.
All I did new in this next step was add the green color in the sun glasses. In the original photo, the glass in the sun glasses was entirely black except for the white spot reflections of the sun. I thought that would be too much black in the painting, making a dark contrast that attracted too much attention to the glasses. So I decided to paint the glass green as a color contrast to the red umbrella (yet to be done). And, as I painted them green, I made a graded wash up to the top of each lens to suggest the reflectivity of the glass. To make the glass seem transparent, I painted streaks of hair seen through the green glass.
I painted the pattern on Jessica's swimsuit in this next step in the painting. The swimsuit was her swim team suit for the AppleRidge Gators. She was a promising breast stroker swimming first for her age group on her team. The camouflage-like pattern was easy to paint. I simply had to make sure that where the shapes curled around the sides of her body they were flattened against the edge of the suit. The sewn seams also required a distortion of the shapes as they rolled over the seams. I did only the blue (Koi Ultamarine) and green (Prang Pro green/blue-green) shapes at this point, leaving the black shapes for last. I usually try to paint black last in a painting because it is very unforgiving... meaning it cannot be covered by another color or repaired if painted in the wrong place. In addition, wet paint that touches a black spot will cause the black to run into the other color.
I painted the umbrella in this next step. The red color of the umbrella is an important part of the composition of the picture, acting as visual secondary focal point (after Jessica's face) because of the bright red color and large shape. The red is also a complementary color to the green sun glasses. Such a distraction from the main focal point can be used to start the visual movement to other parts of the picture and achieve a balance in the picture. The shape of the umbrella also points to and from Jessicas's face. The umbrella is also in focus, establishing a middle ground of 3D space between Jessica in the foreground and the background beach, towels, chairs, and people.
Most of the background was added in this next step. I decided to use the dark red color again for the shirt of the large man in shadow under the umbrella. Repeating the red promotes the visual movement from the umbrella. The dark contrast of the man against the bright sunlit sand also makes the man standout. The background shapes are purposely vague and undefined with dull colors, making them seem further away in 3D space. The small umbrella in the upper left repeats the umbrella shape and dark shadow, leading the eye from the right side and back into the background on the left. The various white shapes also promote the visual movement around the picture, even to the clounds in the sky.
Almost finished now, I added the black shapes in the pattern on Jessica's swimsuit. This strengthens the visual attraction to Jessica's body and balances the top and bottom of the picture. I've also darkened the shadow under Jessica's chin and added a few more details in the background, including some blue shadows in and along the bottom edges of the white towels. I've signed it along the bottom edge of the middle-ground towel on the right.
I realized that I missed adding and darkening shadows of Jessica's hair on the left shoulder. This is the final picture as it looks today.
