Step 10 - Completion
For this final stage, I knew the sky needed to be stronger and darker to give the light areas the proper glow. Continuing to "push" a watercolor at this point can be a risky move, since it's not usually possible to go lighter again and you also never know when you're gonna have one of those "@%#*! water has a mind of its own" moments. That's just one of the thousand or so decisions you'll have to make during a painting, but, like I mentioned before, 9 times out of 10 I make the painting better by pushing it a little farther. The most important thing is to not be afraid to make that decision - it's not like it's your last painting ever and, no, your life does not depend on it, no matter how much time and paint you've already put into it.
Having made my decision to continue, I closed my eyes (just kidding), turned the piece upside down again and hit the upper part of the sky with a strong mixture of Alizarin Crimson and Pthalo Green. In this case, I'm really happy that I decided to go darker. Overall, the painting is very close to my initial plan, and I feel like everything is working (despite the fact that there are always little areas that only I notice where I could have handled things better).
So, there you have it, the Charles Bridge in Prague at night in watercolor. Hopefully, you're all ready now to go tackle that night scene that you've been putting off for the last three years!
Just remember, there's no such thing as the perfect painting, your next one's going to be your best, and it really is about the journey, not the destination.
6 comments:
I love this painting! I ran across your blog trying to get ideas of how to do a night watercolor and it has been a great help. Thank you for the inspiration and ideas.
Thanks, Esther. I appreciate it and hope your painting turned out great!
Thank you so much for this blog posting. I LOVE your paintings and like Esther was looking for how to do a night sky. This is PERFECT!
What a great online instructor you are ...and so generous with your assistance
Steve,
We spoke via brief email some time ago. Although my style is much less photo real than yours, I found your demo a very useful and detailed explanation of your process.
In case (you or other browsing artists) would like to see my very different example of a night scene, here is the link to my post:
http://caeraislign.blogspot.com/2011/01/moon-folly.html
Thanks for your encouragement, and for bringing such excellent art into the world.
Hello Steve,
Just found your blog and so enjoyed and appreciated the demonstrated step in your night scene. Read each step.. good commentary! The finished result is a really wonderful painting. Thank you for sharing your process. I want to do a night scene... and this has helped me to plan my painting.
Wish you had a gallery of all your paintings on your blog. And a "Follow" gadget!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us Steve! It seems like a lengthy process, but I feel like I am ready to now tackle a night scene of Cardiff Bay today! Wish me luck!
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