Loose Painting: Why Can't I Do This?

Loose Painting: Why Can't I Do This?

My attempts at creating a loose painting are just that, attempts.  I have watched the youtube videos to view demonstrations of this painting technique.  Looked at so many paintings from artists that have created paintings using this technique.  Recently watching a video I felt sure that I was ready to take on this task.

This is a photo I took in my yard.  I thought the leaves would be perfect to paint in a loose method.

 

I decided to use a sky background for this painting.  I thought it would lend more to the loose painting style.  I sketched out the painting on a large 22 x 30 piece of 140 lb Canson watercolor paper.  My favorite paints are Winsor Newton, student and professional grade.  The colors I used were sepia, van dyke brown, raw umber, burnt sienna, raw sienna, cerulean blue, ultramarine blue, sap green, green gold, deep hookers green, olive green, yellow ocre, cad yellow, cad orange and aliz. crimson.

In the photo below, the background was applied and allowed to dry.  Looking back, I think this was the mistake that prevented me from creating a loose painting.  The basic idea of a loose painting is the blending of all the areas in a painting so that the lines are blurred.  So there are no items that are  painted that actually resemble them.  The loose style merely resembles the item.  My leaves are too recognizable to be called loose.

Once I realized a loose painting did not take shape in the initial stages I committed to a different approach for this painting, a realistic style.

The next steps in the painting more leaves were added and some branches.  The photo below shows the results of this process.

More leaves were added using a variety of colors (photo below).  Alternating the shades using more water to tone down the paint or less water to make the paint darker.  Adding shadows.  Including some details on the branches.  Including stems to the leaves. 

In the last few steps of this painting, the bird house remained.  I painted the birdhouse using varying shades paynes gray, using more or less water to achieve the shading.  

I have a process that I go through before I call a painting finished.  This process involves a skill that an artist learns by practicing their craft.  It is knowing when to stop, when is your painting finished.  I still struggle with this skill.  What I usually do when I think I am done BUT I am still not sure, is that I take a break.  Then I come back to it and look it over again.  If I am still unsure, I will take a photo to go over it to see if there is something that I missed or is there something that does not seem right.  Could I add something else.  I try to wait at least overnight and take another look.  At each step of the way, I may make a few changes.  Knowing when you are done is a learned skill that will come over time.  I keep saying this to myself anyway.

Each time I complete a painting, I learn something new.  In this painting I learned, how not to paint a loose painting.  Its okay.  I learned something.  I keep painting.  As an artist when you stop learning, maybe that is when you stop painting.

The final painting.......

Thank you for reading.  Follow this blog to get notices of new posts.  Share your painting journey with me, send me a link to your blog or send me an email.  I would like to allow guest bloggers to contribute to this blog so if you are a beginning watercolor painter, send me your ideas.

God Bless,
Tanya




A companion blog was created on this painting:
https://tanyascreativeside.blogspot.com/2019/12/multiple-watercolor-washes-enhance-color.html