Belle Mer
Hello friends,
I am delighted to bring another painting to you this month. We are all closeted away in our homes, and my hope is that this small effort of mine will bring some diversion to you away from all the fear we have been facing. I hope that you will dig out your brushes and paints and paper and have a go at this painting.
I’ve chosen to share a painting of the sea with you this month. For me the sea has always been a source of comfort and strength. During one of the most difficult times of my life, I yearned for the sea. I wanted to be standing on huge rocks with only the sound of crashing waves in my ears.
I was lucky to go live in Iceland that year. The stark beauty of that island with its raw weather and raging seas was perfect for me. Somehow the harsh winds and black ice juxtaposed with the incredibly vast spaces, soaring glaciers, deep ice caves, volcanic islands, and bursting geysers soothed my soul.
My hope is that I can send you a little of that comfort today for your soul. I really enjoyed painting this seascape for you. I hope that you gather peace from the sea with me.
This is the photograph I started with. It’s a shot of our beautiful coastline here in Fort Bragg. The photo was taken just down by Glass Beach towards the southern portion of the trail. For those of you who know the trail, it was taken down by the compass, looking back towards the beginning of the trail. It was such a gorgeous day.
To paint this you will need your watercolor paper. If you don’t have quality paper, I highly recommend investing in some. You can easily find paper online. There are several sources. Just Google watercolor paper, and they will give you choices. They all work fine.
I usually use 140 lb Arches cold press watercolor paper, but Saunders or Fabriano Artistico are a couple others I recommend. I do not recommend Strathmore. A 300 lb weight rough paper would be another fun choice.
The paints I use are Windsor & Newton. In this painting I suggest using cobalt blue, alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow, raw sienna, burnt sienna, and ultramarine blue. These are really all you need. The green in the painting comes from mixing a yellow and a blue. The dark browns and grays and black all come from mixing the primaries together, and/or a classic mix is the ultramarine blue with burnt sienna.
As you can see from the above photo, the next step is to sketch out your design. I like to sketch directly onto my paper. You may feel more comfortable using a light box, enlarging the photo and tracing with tracing paper. Any of these methods work just fine. The most important thing is to get your design on paper.
Remember, it doesn’t need to be perfect. Just relax and enjoy the process. These are really quite simple shapes in this photo. Sometimes squinting will help you see the big shapes. Draw those first.
While I’m writing this blog, I’m listening to Charles Trenet singing “La Mer.” I suggest you do the same. Pour yourself a cup of hot tea, relax, and enjoy, my dear friend.
The next step is to tape your paper down to a board. Doesn’t have to be anything special. You can even use a cutting board propped up against a large dictionary, for example.
I do suggest that you get yourself a bit of an angle on your board. It’s true you can paint flat on the table, but you lose the help of gravity. Watercolor is about water, the mix of pigment with water to get those wonderful surprise effects that only watercolor can give.
I’m showing you here a photo of my setup. I’ve just used DIY tape that you can get from any hardware store. I’m sure you have some rattling around in your drawers somewhere.
After you get the paper affixed to your board, you’re going to want to spray the entire sheet of paper. Take a large brush, such as a hake brush and evenly cover the page. After the sheen has left the paper, start dropping in your colors.
Again, I want you to have fun with this. Don’t be afraid to splatter the paint. Push it around with your brush. Play. But then stop.
You will get the best results from watercolor if you stop after your first wash and let it dry thoroughly. Mud is made by continuing to mess about. You can use a hair dryer to speed this process, but remember that the paper must be totally dry between layers.
And I did say “layers.” The beauty of this process is it gives you time to make that phone call, do the wash, have a little fun, cook the meal, whatever needs to be done, while your painting dries. A watercolor painting takes a lot of time and several layers.
“My soul is full of longing for the secret of the sea, and the heart of the great ocean sends a thrilling pulse through me.”
I hope that you will enjoy painting along with me this month. I am happy to answer any questions you might have. Please feel free to ask a question in the comment section below or contact me directly at lanettemarierozell@sbcglobal.net. Blessings on you and yours during this time of quarantine. Wishing health and safety on you and yours. XX
