South pond

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

This is the early stages of a watercolor I started last week. I was inspired by the infinite water patterns on the surface of a local pond after paddling on a hot summer day. The clouds seemed to race across the sky, which were reflected on the water, as it was a sunny day.

I have been experimenting with painting more diverse atmospheric effects. In my clouds I have used ultramarine, Payne's gray and raw sienna. Lately I have been blending and softening the edges of the clouds by lifting paint. To do this I use a dry paper towel while the watercolor sheet is still damp. It dilutes the color in certain areas and takes out the hard edges. In addition, I drop in some pigment of red or yellow to brighten an area of the sky, particularly if there will be dark evergreens added later on.

For water as on the surface of a pond, I have been combining shadow green with Payne's gray and ultramarine to achieve deep, cool effects as seen above. There are times when simply suggesting movement on the surface of a lake with a few squiggly strokes of the brush may fool the mind into believing there is water lapping against the shore.