Watercolour Painting - final stages

"Into the bright sunlight" Staithes, North Yorkshire.
Watercolour. Alistair Butt © 2007.

Watercolour painting - Staithes, North Yorkshire

The final parts to complete this watercolour/watercolor painting were the group of foreground boats along with their reflections in the shallow water and wet mud.

Each of the small wooden boats was painted individually, working from left to right, starting with the interior followed by the external areas. Being painted in an array of colours meant lots of mixing but all areas were treated the same with the colour being built up using overlaying layers (from 1 to 5 - light to very dark) to create the form of each part or area.

The area of low water with the boat reflections, the wet mud with it's reflected light and the shadow cast from the buildings to the right of the picture frame was a real joy to paint. Using wet-into-wet washes as a starting point followed by further washes as this dried until painting wet on dry (not always recommended but glaze washes were to follow) to establish some of the reflections and ripples in the water. The detail, although soft edged (using a damp brush with clean water), for the darker or coloured reflections was painted next. Glaze washes were applied over the area of cast shadow. The last parts to be painted were the sharp detail of some stones and the ropes, a nice contrast to the loose mud and water.