I painted this whilst trying to follow a Bob Ross TV programme. I do love him! Super voice. Almost meditative and so calming.
Two problems immediately emerge:
1. He uses a stretched canvas and oil paints whereas I just had an A4 piece of thin watercolour paper and watercolour block paints. Almost impossible to mix colours with those so I don't and I didn't have most of the names of paints he was using.
2. He paints very fast!
So laughing at the chaos and my happy little tree looking distinctly psychedelic and the other happy little tree going so badly it is now a mountainside, I quite liked this result, particularly the sky and mountain tops.
I might try one of his again but with the pause button in use so I can keep up with what he is doing better!
@casablanca I can’t believe you are already on number 36 and I think it’s fabulous that you have not given up. Oh I love the pastel colors of the clouds in this painting and the mountain tops are spectacular.
@casablanca I like this. You've given it your own personal touch. The pause button is your friend when following a video tutorial.
Regarding mixing your watercolour paints. Have you tried using a small pallette or saucer? I have managed to mix my block watercolours that way.
@casablanca I particularly love love love the sky with the cloud. You so nailed it. Don;t know how you did it, but try and remember it and do it more often. I also like the mountain. It has a bit of mystery, it is daring. From the photo it seems to me it needs a bit of stronger connection to the bottom. The daring colours end too abruptly. But the rendering of the top is excellent. Indeed you need to practice a bit on the trees. I don;t know what it is about them. Although there is variation in colour, they seem a bit uniform. I can;t put my finger on it. Yet ;)
For some inspiration and practice, I find this guy really good https://youtu.be/wU6jjU-CwYs
And back to your painting: besides the two points you made, there is a third: you don't paint in watercolour as you do in oil. I mean the order. In watercolour, you should start with the light and go to dark. In oil, or acrylic, you can add lighter colours on top of darker ones (the snow and clouds and all) but in watercolour you can't do that. You have to rethink the entire process. And I think that it is a darn hard thing. Not impossible, of course. You proved it here and you proved it soooo well. I mean the result is stunning if one thinks of the technicalities of this. I can only congratulate you on embarking on this difficult task. And if it was hard, it's only your brain growing and learning. Which is AWESOME. All my admiration for your determination on keeping up with this challenge!
@casablanca I think I know what bothers me about the trees - the forest in the middle, between the mountain and the lake: the fact that they are painted as individual trees. The unit should be the forest, not the tree. Do you see what I mean?
@salza I tried but the blocks are so very small, it is hard to get much off them. I have a child's beginner tin! I will see about getting something bigger or even the tubes, though I suspect they would not be as long lasting as this has been.
@monikozi I do see what you mean, thank you! Hard sometimes to put your finger on what it is about something. Feedback appreciated. I have just watched the video above you suggested and had a try at painting trees.
Interesting what you say about the colour order for oils v watercolours. That makes sense now you say it, but of course back to front to everything I have done so far! I used gouache for the white in this one as it is the only thing I know that can sit on top of the colours.
@casablanca Yes, gouache is basically something between watercolour and tempera (or poster paints). Some refer to it as opaque watercolour. I am not very sure what the difference is. The thing is that gouache covers watercolour, it is opaque and it is reactivated when water is added. But yes, the process is completely different between watercolours and oils.
March 22nd, 2022
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Regarding mixing your watercolour paints. Have you tried using a small pallette or saucer? I have managed to mix my block watercolours that way.
For some inspiration and practice, I find this guy really good https://youtu.be/wU6jjU-CwYs
And back to your painting: besides the two points you made, there is a third: you don't paint in watercolour as you do in oil. I mean the order. In watercolour, you should start with the light and go to dark. In oil, or acrylic, you can add lighter colours on top of darker ones (the snow and clouds and all) but in watercolour you can't do that. You have to rethink the entire process. And I think that it is a darn hard thing. Not impossible, of course. You proved it here and you proved it soooo well. I mean the result is stunning if one thinks of the technicalities of this. I can only congratulate you on embarking on this difficult task. And if it was hard, it's only your brain growing and learning. Which is AWESOME. All my admiration for your determination on keeping up with this challenge!
Interesting what you say about the colour order for oils v watercolours. That makes sense now you say it, but of course back to front to everything I have done so far! I used gouache for the white in this one as it is the only thing I know that can sit on top of the colours.