Watercolor Pencils (and Titanium White) to the Rescue

Tres Arboles
Watercolor on Paper
18 x 28 in/46 x 71 cm
Copyright 2010

Hi-
I am re-working my watercolor.

I was not happy when I looked at it again after I put it away four months ago. You know, sometimes you just have to get away from your work, let it "rest," and look at it with a fresh eye.

When I looked at it again, my fresh eye did not like the foreground because I thought the colors were too dark.

I had previously added darker, but warmer, colors (violet and red) to make the foreground appear closer to the viewer.

However, now the darker, but warmer, colors seemed, to me anyway, to make the painting look unbalanced.

To re-work the watercolor, I wet the paper and lifted, lifted, lifted the colors.

It looked somewhat better, but now I had new problem. The foreground looked washed out, and not in a good way.

Then it came to me—watercolor pencils (and Titanium white).

Why not? What else are watercolor pencils for? There are no rules (except in the Tranparent Watercolor Society where white watercolor is verboten,) and I have no intention whatsoever of entering it anywhere.

Although the scene is on a partly-cloudy day, I used watercolor pencils to add contrast, brightness, and highlights. (Oh, and I used Titanium white for the white flower petals.)

I also changed the name from 'Bluebonnet Fields Forever' to 'Tres Arboles,' which emphasizes the three trees, where it belongs, rather than the flowers.

Now I'm happier, and I think my watercolor is, too.

Until next blog…