As promised here is a quick small watercolour from yesterday’s photos of an outing to Norfolk Plains. The one chosen (joint decision of my class members) to work from was not Brumbies Creek as I expected but the 2 potato paddocks west of Cressy on the road to Poatina. This painting was done as a demo for my small class. Their works varied but all were fantastic. (I should have photographed all to post here).
First I cropped the image to a panoramic format. This emphasised one of the primary attractions in the linking of the sweeping shapes. The contrasting colours particularly with the bright green of the potato patches was the other primary focus. This I played down a little with the addition of some earth red (Burnt Sienna) as I tend to steer away from overly intense green which I find can be harsh to my eyes.
Using watercolour light grasses in front of darker paddocks are tricky. Masking is an option but I find that can look harsh so I preferred to scratch into the just damp paper and use a little of the opaque yellows and even a touch of gouache once dry. These opaque light paints come to the fore so are fine for the front grass.
Working in pastel oil or acrylic is another option to more accurately render these grasses….. if accuracy is a priority. I do like the freshness and sponteneity of capturing the impression of the location in watercolour.