Hello 

As the old saying goes "April showers bring May flowers" and I know many of my students love painting flowers, plants and gardens. Get those cameras ready for the blossoming trees that usually only last about a week, and take loads of pictures. Flowers and plants are also an excellent way to learn how to paint in watercolor along with developing an understanding of negative painting.

Next week I head to Minnesota for a 3 day workshop along with a demonstration at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. No classes next week at The Studio or in Libertyville. I also will not be able to make the Lakes Region Watercolor Guilds meeting. 

This week's newsletter goes into the procedure of painting light to dark when painting a close-up scene compared to a landscape scene.

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YES we are having Class this Thursday at the Civic Center in Libertyville. No Class next week
YES we are having Class this Saturday at The Studio in McHenry. No Class next week

David

90% of the paintings I create in watercolor, the process is back to front and light to dark. This is usually the steps in painting a landscape. Then there are those times where we can't paint in that order, that usually is the case with portraits, still lives and night scenes. Those scenes you don't paint back to front because the backgrounds in those instances are usually darker then the foreground. In watercolor, it just makes sense to always paint light to dark. 

A very important reason for working light to dark is that you can always paint a dark over a light and that helps when you paint large areas which holds the value pattern together along with giving the painting some color harmony,

My mentor, Irving Shapiro would always tell us that the painting goes through the ugly stage in the beginning  when you are putting in the lights and middle tones, then it turns beautiful when you add the darks, which are usually what creates the shapes and details in a painting. Don't judge the look of your painting until the end results.

Click on video to watch me paint Light to dark.

Here is another example of having to paint the front first and the background after I finished the swan in front.

Here is the piece I donated to "Art For the Paws".    For the next 4 days you still have time to bid on 100s of paintings to help out Helping Paws Animal Shelter.  

Check out my work HERE  Check out the other works HERE

 Minnesota,  Twin Cities Decorative Artists' Guild
Email me if you want info on this workshop in Minnesota beckerart@gmail.com​​​​​​​

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