LESSON VII - Part 4: "Green" Painting Challenge

In this challenge, you'll be painting a close-up of a green plant.  Here's an example of one of my paintings --

Try to fill up your paper with the design of the leaves, and if you include a flower, make sure that it is mostly off the edge of the paper.  Your emphasis should be on the leaves -- to make the shapes of the leaves themselves interesting, as well as the negative shapes in the background.  Try to vary your greens, and include both warm and cool greens in your painting.

For your reference, use one of the "green" photos you took. . . 

If you like, start out with a wet-in-wet underpainting -- maybe light yellow and blue, or light gold and blue.  When that is dry, do your drawing in pencil.

You could paint a light yellow or gold wash on all the green leaves and stems. . . 

Mingle different shades of green in each of the shapes, and finish with a few well-placed darks.  No need to paint the background, if you like the way it looks . . .

(your painting goes here.)

LESSON VII - Part 3: Painting an Abstract Landscape

For this abstract landscape, we're going for a suggestion of a landscape, rather than a painting of a particular place.  So, try not to overthink this -- just enjoy experimenting with the colors and some different "tools" . . .

For this project, gather the following materials:  A rectangular sheet of watercolor paper, already stretched onto a board.  Watercolor paints -- Aureolin Yellow, New Gamboge, Quinacridone Gold, Raw Sienna, Quinacridone Burnt Orange, and Sap Green.  Liquid Acrylics that you can squeeze or apply with an eye dropper -- I used Daler-Rowney Acrylic Ink (Indian Yellow) and Lumiere Liquid Acrylic (Pearlescent Emerald).  Don't worry if you don't have these on hand and don't want to purchase them.  You can make an intense watercolor mixture of Orange, and another one of Bright Green, in little containers, to be applied with either an eye dropper or the end of your brush.  A paper towel or two.  A palette knife.  And, your brushes and water, of course.

Prep all your "Yellows", for your first wash . . . 

Wet the entire paper with clear water, and then apply the different watercolor yellows, in horizontal strokes . . . 

While this is still fairly wet, using an eye dropper, or the tip of a brush, drop in some of the Orange acrylic (or your intense Orange watercolor mixture) . . . in a horizontal line, in the top 1/3 of your paper.

To get this to move horizontally, you may have to brush clear water across it, and then hold your paper/board up sideways, so that the paint and water can drip onto your palette . . . 

While this is all still wet, add some more horizontal "lines" of your different yellows, to make it all more intense.  Then, hold your board sideways above your palette, to let the excess paint/water drip off . . . 

Now, tear some strips of paper towels . . . 

Lay these strips onto the WET paint, and lightly tap them down with your fingertip.  Don't overthink this, either -- wondering whether these are going to be clouds or bushes or mountains.  We're doing this just to add some texture and interest . . . 

After the paper is dry, peel off the paper towel strips.  If any pieces stick, scratch them off with your fingernail . . . 

In order to make the texture and contrast a little more subtle, wet the paper again, and paint another wash of one or more of your "Yellows" over the whole painting . . . 

While this is drying, mix a wash of Green -- just add Sap Green to the Yellows that are already on your palette.  Also, get your "Emerald Green" ready (either the liquid acrylic with dropper, or the watercolor mixture with dropper or brush) . . . 

First, decide which end of your paper that you want to be the top of your painting -- the "sky".  Then, starting about a third of the way down from the top, wet the paper -- from there down to the bottom.  Paint some horizontal "stripes" with this Green wash.  Let some of the yellow show through. . . 

While this is still wet, drip some of the Emerald Green onto your painting (see how this mixture is more pigment than water?) . . . 

Using the tip of a palette knife, drag it through the paint, horizontally. . . 

Paint some more horizontal "stripes", using clear water and also the Green watercolor wash.  Be sure to NOT cover up all of the Yellow and Gold underneath . . . 

While this is still wet, tear some more paper towel strips and lay them down onto the Green wash, tapping them down lightly with your fingertip . . . 

After the paint has dried completely, carefully peel off the paper towel strips . . . 

Prep two different mixtures:  1) Quinacridone Gold + Quinacridone Burnt Orange; and 2) Sap Green + Quinacridone Gold.  

Starting near the top of the Green wash, paint a very wet shape, from the left side of the paper, over to the right side -- using both of these mixtures.  Vary the top edge of the shape, so that it gives the impression of trees or bushes in the background.

While this shape is still damp, sweep across JUST the bottom edge of that shape with clear water, in order to soften that edge.  A few inches down from that, do the same thing, across the paper (paint a shape across the paper, than sweep the edge of the shape with clear water.)

At the bottom of the painting, paint a few horizontal strokes with Quinacridone Burnt Orange (or Burnt Sienna) . . . 

To finish the painting, mix up a dark, using Sap Green + Quinacridone Burnt Orange, and paint a few horizontal stripes, below the middle of the painting.  And, add some dark horizontal strokes at the very bottom . . . 

Now, sit back and admire your painting.  Don't expect it to look exactly like mine.  In fact, if you do another painting, following these instructions exactly, your 2nd painting will look different than your first one.  Hopefully, you enjoyed the process -- and had fun painting a little differently than you normally would.

LESSON VII - Part 2: Ten Things to Know about Green & Ten Sketchbook/Color Exercises to Try

Here are 10 things that I think you should know about the color Green, along with 10 sketchbook exercises and color studies for you to try:



1.  The Greens in nature are extremely varied, ranging from the yellowish green of a fresh Boston lettuce, to the khaki green of a late summer tree, to the blue-green of a Colorado Blue Spruced.  When you encounter a forest landscape, your first impression is that it is entirely green.  But, if you really look -- really SEE it -- you will find that it contains many other color jewels within.

The color harmonies of Green mostly mark two of the seasons -- spring and summer.  Think of spring's bright greens and yellow-greens, and summer's lush deep greens and blue-greens.  The color of grass and leaves are constantly transformed by light and shadow, too.




Sketchbook Exercise #1 -- Draw a scene, with trees in your yard, in pen.  Then, add some color with your watercolors.  Write about your experience, in one sentence, on your page . . .

Now, go for a little hike or walk.  Stop at a place that appeals to you, and draw some of the trees in ink.  Write about where you are, and then add some color with watercolor -- either on the sport, or after you return home. . . 

2.  Natural Greens are predominantly warm, so Yellows and Reds need to be included in your Green mixtures.  Greens are challenging, but they can be beautiful, can look natural, and can even be transparent.

Don't be afraid to use green, and don't use the same boring green everywhere.  Try to use a colorful blend of Green mixtures and tube Greens.  For colorful greens, mix Yellow and Green together first, and then naturalize the mix with a small amount of Rose.

Sketchbook Exercise #2 -- Draw a bird's eye view of a plant -- either a houseplant or a plant in your garden.  Draw this in pencil, and then add some color with colored pencils . . . 

3.  Use both tube Greens and mixed Greens, but always add another color to your tube Greens.  Many artists mix their greens, instead of finding the correct color in a tube for convenience.  And, certain pigments, like Winsor (Phthalo) Green, are way too bright, overpowering, and unnatural to use alone.  You may be better off mingling Yellows and Blues to get the Greens you want; however, you can also use tube Greens, like Sap Green, and add other colors to it.

Sketchbook Exercise #3 -- A helpful exercise for you to do is this mixing exercise.  Draw a grid on watercolor paper.  Label and put all your Yellows across the top (including Quinacridone Gold and Raw Sienna).  Then, label and put all your Blues and your tube Greens down the side of the grid.  

Paint the Yellows first -- all the vertical strips.  You can be pretty bright with your Yellows.  When those strips are dry, paint the Blues and Greens next -- all the horizontal strips.  Stay very transparent with the Blues and Greens, so you can see what Greens your paints will produce.

4.  Winsor Green (Phthalo/Thalo) is an unnatural color, when used alone -- with a strange, blue tinge.  But it can still be a useful color for your palette.  Phthalo Green is a cool, staining, transparent color, primarily used for mixing darks.  Use Phthalo (Winsor) Green + Alizarin Crimson for your darkest greens.  If you add equal parts Winsor Green and Alizarin Crimson, it becomes a beautiful Black.

For rich, dark greens, start with Phthalo Green, and add a Yellow to it, to get a very transparent dark.  If this green mixture is too vibrant and unnatural, it can be tamed with a bit of Quinacridone Rose or Quinacridone Burnt Orange (either added to the mixture, or glazed on top).  Also, a nice Yellow-Green can be made with Phthalo Green +Aureolin Yellow, with a touch of Quinacridone Rose, to make it look more natural.  Mix the Phthalo Green and the Aureolin Yellow together first (you will need more yellow than green in this mix); then, add the Rose.

Try creating different dark greens, starting with Winsor Green, and adding various yellows.  These mixed greens will be less harsh and more varied than using Winsor/Phthalo Green right out of the tube.

Sketchbook Exercise #4 -- Draw one or two trees, simplifying the shapes.  Draw clumps of leaves and not individual leaves.  Mingle the greens within the shapes, using some of the mixtures above.  

5.  Permanent Sap Green -- warm and transparent, nongranulating and nonstaining -- is a good choice of green for your palette.  A basic transparent Green mixture is Sap Green + Aureolin Yellow.  Then, add a touch of Rose for a natural landscape Green which stays transparent.  You can neutralize Sap Green with a Rose or a Red, for a bronzy Green.  Sap Green + Quinacridone Rose makes a nice Gray-Green.

Sketchbook Exercise #5 -- Draw some "Green" Flower Doodles, in pen.  And then, color them with markers or watercolors.

6.  Some suggestions for mixing interesting Greens:

- Mingle Sap Green + French Ultramarine, for middle value foliage or foliage in shadows.

- Mingle Sap Green + Quinacridone Rose to gray down foliage a little.

- Mingle Sap Green with Cobalt Blue + Quinacridone Gold for grass in sunlight.

- Mingle Sap Green with Quin. Burnt Orange + Phthalo Blue for an intense dark green.

- Mix Sap Green + Raw Sienna + Cobalt Blue for a gray-green.

- Don't use Yellow Ochre in a green mixture -- it's too opaque, so the mixture is not luminous.

- Don't add a 4th pigment to any mixture -- that's when your greens will get muddy and opaque.

- Whenever a green in your landscape is too vibrant or unnatural, it can be tamed with a bit of Rose or Burnt Sienna, (either added to the mixture, or glazed on top).

Sketchbook Exercise #6 -- Negative Painting of Foliage.  Start with wet-in-wet underpainting.  Draw some leaves of a houseplant, in the foreground.  Then, mingle colors in the negative space.  Draw the next layer of foliage, then mingle some more greens in the negative space.  Continue for as many layers as you want . . . 

7.  Remember that your Warm Greens will come forward, visually.  Try making your distant Greens slightly grayer and cooler (bluer).

To make your foreground foliage brighter and warmer, mix some Yellow and Burnt Orange into your Greens.  Distant trees should be cooler and a little grayer, so add more Blue into the mix.

In fact, underpaint the foreground with a warm Yellow and the background with a light Blue, before painting any Greens.

Sketchbook Exercise #7 -- On a small piece of watercolor paper, use a resist (like masking fluid, or a wax crayon, or torn masking tape) to draw some wavy lines.  Then paint a wet-in-wet wash, starting with warm greens at top and gradually moving to cool greens at bottom.

8.  Green and Red are the warmest of the complements, and so, the most cheerful!  Evenly matched partners (since they are both warm and both of a middle value) -- setting up a vibration when they touch, like optical glitter.  

In even the most abstract art, Green reminds us of nature's greenery, and Red reminds us of its flowers.

If your green is overly bright, use a transparent glaze of Quinacridone Rose over it, to cut the intensity.  

If you have a bright red in the background that needs to be calmed down -- use a very light glaze of Winsor Green over it.

Make your tree trunks reddish brown to make the leaves of the trees look brighter.

Sketchbook Exercise #8 -- Draw and paint some small studies of leaves.  Make some Blue-Green, and lift out the veins.  Make some of the leaves Red, with a Blue-Green background.  Make some of the leaves Green with a warm Red background.

9.  Using an analogous color scheme in a nature painting breaks up the monotony of green and creates excitement in your painting.  Start with the main object's local color (green) and build an analogous color scheme around that.  (Remember that analogous colors are next to each other on the color wheel.  

Since the local color of leaves is green, use more yellow in the areas closest to the light source and more blues in the shadows.

Use analogous greens and yellows to dominate in a nature painting, with a touch of reddish brown added for contrast.  (That is a foolproof color combo!)

Sketchbook Exercise #9 -- Do some contour line faces in black ink, on top of some green under paintings . . . 

10. Try some "Optical Mixing", with Yellow and Blue -- where juxtaposed colors are blended by the viewer's eye.  This is called Pointillism, and was used by Georges Seurat, a Post-Impressionist artist.  To paint a large grassy area, he painted an undertone of Green, and then built up areas of light and shadow, using dots of Yellow, Orange, Violet, and Blue.  This would be a good way to add some variety to a big area of Green in your painting.

Sketchbook Exercise #10 -- I actually want you to use your camera for this.  Take some "Green" photos, to use as reference for future paintings, and for the Painting Challenge for this lesson.  Take close-up shots of houseplants -- in your house, or a friend's house, or at a florist.  Place special emphasis on the leaves, rather than the flowers.  

LESSON VII - Part 1: Painting Green Apples on a Window Sill

In this watercolor project, we'll be painting a few Granny Smith apples, sitting on a windowsill in the kitchen, with patterned tiles beneath the sill.  We'll be using various techniques, including transparent layering, mingling, glazing, and a little salt, at the end this time, for texture.

Use these 7 different pigments for this project -- Aureolin Yellow, Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Rose, Quinacridone Magenta, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Blue, and Sap Green.  Substitute with something similar, if you need to.

Prep 3 colors on your palette, to be used for the wet-in-wet underpainting:  Aureolin Yellow, Quinacridone Rose, and Cerulean Blue . . .

Wet your paper with clear water.  Then paint these three colors, in "stripes".  Since we're painting wet-in-wet, there should be no hard edges to these stripes . . . 

Let this dry on a flat surface.  While this is drying, find your reference material.  I set up 3 green apples on a window sill and took some pictures.  You can set up your own "still life", or work from these photos, or from my drawing . . . 

When the underpainting is completely dry, do a pencil drawing.  Start by drawing a straight horizon line, about a third of the way down from the top.  Measure and use a ruler for this line.  If it's not level, it will look as if the apples are going to roll off the ledge.  Now, draw a few apples, sitting on this line.  Add a few more horizontal lines to indicate a window sill, and then draw a simple pattern underneath the sill . . . 

Clean off the middle of your palette, and now mix up a simple Yellow wash.  Paint each apple with this yellow was, wetting each first with clear water.  Then, paint some of the pattern shapes Yellow . . . 

To the Yellow wash on your palette, add some Cerulean Blue, to make a Green.  Also, prep some Sap Green, mixed with a little Cerulean Blue.  Wet each apple separately with water, and mingle these colors in each apple.  Then, mix a Cerulean Blue wash, and paint some of the pattern shapes with this Blue.  Paint this Blue over some of the Yellow shapes, too, in order to make a Green . . . 

Clean off your palette, and mix a wash of the Quinacridone Rose.  Paint the windowsill with this Rose wash.  When that is dry, paint another layer of the same Rose wash on the middle shape of the sill.  Then, use this Rose to paint a few more of the pattern shapes.  If you paint the rose over some of the Blue shapes, it will make a Violet.  When you paint the Rose over some of the Yellow shapes, it will make an Orange . . . 

When this is dry, paint a wash of Quinacridone Gold over the windowsill, to warm it up.  Then, use the same wash to paint a few more pattern shapes and the lines between the squares . . . (you could also leave the shapes between the squares unpainted)

After that is completely dry, paint a few darks in the apples -- right at the bottom of each (Sap Green plus Cobalt Blue), and the stems (Magenta plus Blue plus Quin Gold).  Use the dark magenta to paint a dark under the windowsill, to give it some dimension.  Now, paint some magenta pattern shapes.  Paint some shapes within the shapes.  No need to draw these first, unless you want to.

To finish your painting, paint a glaze (pale wash) of Cobalt Blue over the patterned area.  When there is just a sheen on the paper, sprinkle some salt on the wash and let it dry.

When that is completely dry, brush off the salt . . . 

This final Blue glaze subdues the pattern a little, and the salt gives it a subtle, "weathered" look.  Your focal point should be the apples and not the pattern.  If they complete with each other, you need to tone down one.  (There can't be two stars of the show.)