Night Scene - Step 8

Step 8

I've pretty much finished up the water here, and I'm pretty satisfied with how it's looking. The values and colors are working, so I will probably only need a few adjustments as I wrap things up.

As you can see, I've also added a couple more washes to the sky. The first one was basically a warm, dark mixture of Burnt Siena and Alizarin to smooth out some of the brush strokes and get rid of some of the Ultramarine Blue (too purple). The second wash was basically the same except this time, with the painting upside-down, I added a black mixture (Pthalo Green and Alizarin Crimson) that got heavier as I moved down towards the bottom.

At this stage in a painting, I spend as much time, if not more, just looking and analyzing as I do actually painting.

Night Scene - Step 7

Step 7

I started to really work on the water here. Starting on the left side, I painted a medium-dark purple-gray mixture around the light reflections. In some places, I bridged the gap between these two areas with a wash of pure Cadmium Red to give the lights a glow. Then, once dry, I came over the top of these areas with darker, vertical lines for the reflections of windows, dark shapes, etc. (Just make sure your reflections are directly below what's being reflected.) I made the reflections with jagged horizontal strokes to show the movement of the water.

I also finished some of the darker parts of the buildings behind the bridge, the bridge tower, and some of the bridge details.

Five Of My Favorite Living Watercolorists

Okay, this isn't an easy task. There are so many good watercolorists out there working today, that this is like trying to list my five favorite types of gelato or my five favorite sunsets ever witnessed. Stubborn guy that I am, I decided to try anyways, so here goes. In no particular order, these five artists "wow" me with their work every time I see it:

• Steve Hanks
• Paul Jackson
• Dean Mitchell
• H.C. Dodd
• Judy Morris

There's at least 10 more I could put in there (but then that would be my fifteen favorite, wouldn't it?) Anyways, if you like watercolor and you're not familiar with any of these artists, do yourself a favor and look them up.

Night Scene - Step 6

Step 6

I've added another wash to the sky. This time, I added a little more Ultramarine Blue to the mixture to darken it. I've got a ways more to go, but you can already see that the buildings are looking more "lit up". It's always interesting to see how changing one part of a painting (darkness, color, etc.) changes every other part as well. Each painting is a supreme balancing act, and you have to really know what you want the finished product to look like so you don't get lost in these middle stages and leave it unfinished.

I'm also ready to start working on the reflections in the water now. This will be a very important part of the final piece, so I really need to pay attention to how it's handled. The best way to paint water is to look it as abstract shapes and values and just paint what you see (as opposed to what you "think" you see - it's that whole right brain, left brain thing). Come to think of it, that's pretty much the best way to paint anything. If you get the shapes right and the values right, then you've got it. See, you had no idea painting was that easy!

I also worked a bit more on the dark parts of the bridge tower and the buildings to the left. They're getting closer to completion.

Night Scene - Step 5

Step 5

Ah, the sky. I figured that the only way to really have a deep, dark sky was to build up alot of layers. This first one is an attempt to establish the overall warm glow created by all of the city lights. I basically mixed up Burnt Siena and Alizarin Crimson with just a bit of Ultramarine Blue.

If you take a closer look at the photo, you'll notice that my pencil is now at the top. That's because I actually flipped the piece upside-down. That way, I could paint around all of the buildings (and especially the lights) without having to worry about the paint drying (which happens REALLY fast here in AZ) and leaving strange looking marks. It's also easier to add more blue towards the bottom (actually the top) so that the sky gets darker as it gets farther away from the lights, etc.

I'm not too worried about all the brush strokes you can see at this point, since I'll be adding many more layers before I'm through.

Completely unrelated thought:

Anyone looking for a quick laugh should check out Zach Braff's blog, http://www.zachbraff.com/. Back in the pre-kids days when we could actually sit down and watch a primetime TV show (and yes, I do know there's a little thing called tivo now), my wife and I loved the show Scrubs. It is goofy, yes, but also incredibly well written and innovative, and just a whole lot of fun. And I've liked just about every other thing he's been a part of. Anyways, his blog is about the same, a well written and funny stream of consciousness that lets us into his world in an honest and hilarious way.

Or, maybe it's just because we're both in our thirties and HUGE celebrities that I feel a connection (actually, I'm not even a celebrity in my own house.)

Either way, check it out.

Night Scene - Step 4

Step 4

More work on the darks here. I wanted to let the warm colors from the lights bleed down into the bridge, so I had to be careful to keep those edges soft (as opposed to the hard edges more commonly seen in watercolor.)

Notice also how the buildings begin to become more ambiguous as they recede off into the distance. With any landscape, things become less distinct and have less detail and contrast as they get farther away. The term for this is atmospheric perspective and, although somewhat difficult to achieve in watercolor, is a great way to establish depth.

Night Scene - Step 3

Step 3

I laid down the light reflections in the water using a variety of colors and working wet-into-wet to allow the colors to run together. I also started to add some of my first darks with the bridge, trees, and some of the windows, rooftops, etc. Notice how this already makes the buildings seem lighter.

I also put my first wash in the sky, keeping it wet, but being careful to paint around my light areas. I wanted the sky to have a very warm glow, so this first wash was pure Alizarin Crimson with a little Burnt Siena mixed in.

How to Paint a Night Scene in Watercolor

For my recent painting, "Lights of Prague," I was presented with some unique challenges. It was my first night scene, so the most important element would be the lighting (or lack thereof).

My initial inspiration came from the beautiful lights of the city being reflected in the river, as well as the interesting architecture, so I had to make sure these became my focal points.

Step 1

I drew out the scene using watercolor pencils (that way the lines disappear once they get wet.) Then, I went to work on what would eventually be the lightest parts of the painting. This process is done completely wet into wet, and I love to drop in pure colors so that the water can mix them for me. I was very careful to avoid the few areas that were to remain white (as you may know, white in watercolor comes from the paper, so don't lose it!)

The hardest part here is to paint dark enough. The areas that look so dark now will look so much lighter once I surround them with dark colors. When you're first starting out, it's probably better to err on the side of caution and be a little too light. Just don't be afraid to go back in later to darken things if the values (lights and darks) need to be adjusted.

Step 2

Again, here I'm painting the areas that are hit with the lights of the city. I'm more used to painting midday scenes, so it's amazing how dark it felt like I was painting some of these areas. I just had to have faith that the buildings would look "lit up" once I put in the shadows and night sky.

Upcoming Schedule

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2008. I hope all of your holidays were wonderful! With this second blog, I'm going to update my schedule for the next few months. Hopefully, this art season in Arizona will be much drier than last year (and less snow, please!)

In addition to being able to view my original works year round at the beautiful Howard/Mandville gallery (http://www.howardmandville.com/) in Kirkland (Seattle), Washington, I'll be doing a few art festivals in the southwest in the next few months. If you're in the area, I hope you'll stop by to check out my newest works.

Carefree Fine Art and Wine Festival
January 18 -20, 2008
Carefree, AZ

Carefree Fine Art and Wine Festival
February 29 - March 2, 2008
Carefree, AZ

La Quinta Arts Festival
March 13 - 16, 2008
La Quinta, CA (Palm Springs area)

Indian Wells Art Festival
April 4 - 6, 2008
Indian Wells, CA (also near Palm Springs)

So, there you have it. Please let me know if you have any questions about these shows, and don't forget to check out my website (http://www.stevestento.com/)