Lester River Watercolor

Start with these reference images:

Start at the top of the page as we paint background to foreground with a sky color and proceed into the foliage areas on each side, keeping the values light. Continue on down the page putting in the local color, leaving the water the lightest value. Cut out the shape of the bridge. Let dry.

Using the middle values, we now start to indicate more shapes, in foliage and rocks. Is your negative shape, the sky, an interesting shape? Putting down rock pigments, put a piece of wax paper over the wet pigment. Let dry. This creates wonderful texture. Bring out some rock shapes by putting a dark value behind some of the rocks, softening the edge as you go.

The final step will be going in with some dark values to bring out some of the dark shapes (refer to the value study). Scrape out some texture with a credit card while the paint is still wet. Stand back from the painting and see if your values are correct and your shapes are interesting, negative and positive.