Landscape with reflection on the water

by Tissa Hewavitharana

To become a skilled watercolour artist takes years of practice. However, starting from a few basic notions it is possible to paint acceptable landscapes. We have come across some of the most common elements of landscapes, the majority of which, like creating skies and trees in the distance can be applied in general landscapes.

Painting reflections is naturally a part of river scenes and sea views. To get a good result it is necessary to bear in mind that the reflections painted in watercolours depends fund a mentally on two things. The background of the composition and the dark colour that is used for reflection.

The majority of the techniques are necessary to paint a river scene, the flow of the water, the ripples, trees in the background and vegetation in the distance and sky. The colours have to be chosen carefully and the brush strokes have to be long and continuous so as not to make breaks in the superimposition.

A watercolour painting of a landscape

Once the trees and shore have been painted in the area where the water is painted, make some horizontal brush strokes with the colour used for the trees. To finish the reflections the background should be kept totally dry. The contrasts have to be once indicated in a darker tone. The dark brush strokes have a space between each one so that the foreground colour can show through.

Precise strokes

The principal shapes are drawn with very precise strokes. First the line is drawn that separates the water and the vegetation. The background is created with gradations and merging colours with long horizontal brush strokes. First of all the paper should be dampened.

In the lower part a pale colour is painted and before it dries a blue gradation is painted in the upper part and the intermediate part a somewhat darker blue tone applied.

When the background is totally dry, you can rest assured that the painting will not retain the colours merging with each other. At the outset the trees can be painted in several phases. First a clear wash is applied in a uniform manner and then the background of the trees is painted.

After, in a medium tone some areas are shaded with vertical brushstrokes. The river bank is painted with dry pasture using a mixture of ochre and luminous green, in long brush strokes. Above the line of the river bank a thin pale orange stroke is drawn. Following the process the reflection in the water can be painted. The light wash that was done at the beginning presents a soft gradation into the white of the paper.

The reflection on the water must be similar in size to the trees that make it, for they are at the water's edge. If they were further away the reflection would be smaller. Observe the river scene I have done. It was painted on a cloudy day by the Kelani river.

Rain

Notice the dark shady clouds and the atmospheric affect of mist expressed to show a downfall of rain at any moment. The boat is the centre of attraction in relation to their surroundings gives a dramatic impression of the sheer scale and grandeur of the natural world. Notice the man standing on the edge of the boat. When you are painting figures in a landscape it is not necessary or desirable to make them highly detailed.

You will observe that the whole painting does not express any details including the distance hut in this painting. Reflections express the smooth glassiness of the water through the use of light and dark tones. Some of the painting problems one would experience in watercolour are streaks and runs forming the watercolour washes for example painting the sky water reflections in water shadows and proper use of colour mixture.

It is always good to try out different drawing papers and test how they respond to wet washes. Different papers behave in different ways, depending on what materials they are made of and their surface coating. The reflection area of the boat is finished off with sweeping brush strokes. Blue and green are used in such a way that they do not blot out the luminous tones that are the base. Finally, the near foreground can be finished with several brush strokes in blue that merge into the brownish grey strokes on the right.

There are four ways to apply paint to the paper. Wet on dry, dry on dry, dry on wet and wet on wet. Generally, you should aim to include at least two different kinds of brush strokes in painting to give it variety.

Not only must we learn the four techniques of applying the paint to the paper, also we must learn how to look at things with a seeing eye. It will not guarantee you instant results. Constant practice is the only way to get good results.