"Over the course of his career Terry ofter produced articles and guides for various publications.
Here is one that Terry produced in 2013 all about painting water - I have made a few little amendments to reflect paint changes but thats all - enjoy! - Martin"
Water, water everywhere so why do so many students find it so daunting to tackle?
Probably the reason is there are so many different choices of subject, puddles, rivers lakes, seas, the list goes on.
Then there are so many different ways and techniques used in painting water.
So what is the answer? It’s simple, just keep it simple.
Start by choosing a subject that is not too complicated, understand what you are painting, this is the key, when you look at water, what you are seeing is mostly reflections. Water is a clear liquid, so what we see is whatever is reflected in it.
Reflections can appear like a mirror but when the water surface is ruffled by the wind, the reflections become distorted, changing the whole mood of the painting. Adding water to a painting can transform a somewhat ordinary subject into something of interest, such as this woodland track.
Inspired by a very wet summer I have introduced some puddles to the foreground, try when possible to have something reflected in the water, such as a tree or a fence post, this will help make the water appear wet.
Painting Still Water and reflections
Materials you will need for this project
- Paper – Bockingford watercolour paper 140lb not surface.11 x 15 inches
- 2B pencil
- No 12 Round brush
- No 6 Round brush¾ inch bristle hair brush
- Paints
- Ultramarine
- Sunlit Yellow
- Raw Sienna (see how to mix this here) this is a lighter very Earthy brown which is made using Sunlit Gold, Autumn Gold and the smallest drop of Shadow
- Burnt Sienna (see how to mix this here) a great reddish brown that can be created using Autumn Gold and a small touch of Ultramarine
- Shadow
- Sunlit Green
- Country Olive
- Autumn Gold
If you don’t have these exact colours, use something similar. **This guide was written when Terry was still using the Sienna colours. I have attached the colours used to mix similar colours - you can use the swatches as reference or the images of the works in progress. -M**
Line layout
Begin with a line drawing on watercolour paper using a 2B pencil. The image size is 10 x 9 inches
You can either copy this line drawing or photocopy it and enlarge it to the size you want to use. If you photocopy the line drawing you can trace it onto your watercolour paper using a 2B pencil.
Wet the background and the puddles with clean water. Then, using a No 12 round brush and dilute Ultramarine, wash the sky section beyond the trees.
At the same time, use the same colour and paint the puddles, add some Sunlit Yellow into the still wet background to suggest the foliage. Repeat the colour into the puddles for the reflections. (The Sunlit Yellow will blend with the Ultramarine creating a green)
Allow this to dry
Using a No 12 round brush and a mix of raw Sienna and Sunlit green, paint the floor of the wood at the base of the trees.
Using the same brush, paint the track using a dark mix of Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna and a little Shadow colour. The track and the foreground will be much darker than the puddles.
Using a No 6 round brush and a light mix of Ultramarine and Sunlit Green begin to paint the tree trunks.
Tip – paint the trees and their reflections at the same time using the same colours, as it can be tricky to get the exact colour mix again.
The trees in the foreground are slightly darker than the distant trees but the colour of the reflections remains the same colour as the tree trunks.
To mix a dark tree trunk colour, use Ultramarine, Country Olive and Burnt Sienna. This colour should be more of a green than a brown.
Tip – take care when lining up the reflections in between the sections of land, the reflections must be consistent.
The sunlight falls from the left to the right, so the left side of the tree trunk is in sunlight and the right hand side is in shade.
The foliage is a mix of Country Olive and Sunlit green, and lightly stippled over the trees using a stiff bristle haired brush. The foliage reflections in the water are painted using the same colours at the same time.
The finished painting
Still Waters 10 x 8 inches
This uses the same techniques as our project with the addition of a small footpath.
If you want to imply that the water is moving slightly in a breeze, you could do the same painting but instead of the reflections being created using a round brush, they are created using a flat brush and the tip of the brush is tapped onto the paper creating small horizontal lines suggesting ripples. The lines must be horizontal or the water will appear to slope.
Ruffled water 9 x 12 inches
The techniques used in this little picture are almost the same as the project, indeed even simpler as there is no foliage, but the grass is suggested by flicking the brush upwards slightly.
The ruffled water is very simple, using a flat brush and the same colour used to paint the tree trunks, the brush is held horizontally and placed onto the paper, moving it gently sideways with short horizontal brush strokes.
This gives the appearance of moving water.
The Water Meadows 9 x 12 inches
Adding some animals to our paintings adds life and interest.
You don’t need to put too much detail, just stick to the shapes.The ripples in the foreground are added using a flat brush and the light ripples in the dark reflections are lifted out using the flat brush.
This is done when the dark section is dry, the brush is dampened with water and the tip is used to agitate the dark colour, then kitchen towel is dabbed onto the surface to lift the dark pigment.
Painting water may at first seem quite daunting, but with just a little practice, patience and a few simple techniques it can be very achievable.