Three iterations

I have been taking some time out of manic unrestrained creativity to try and follow a few tutorials, after the success with the Winter Landscape I painted before Christmas.

This has got me thinking a little about the development of my practice in watercolour which, after barely touching for 20 odd years or more, I have launched into with some kind of an obession, and about my practice in general.

I have a creative mind, and strong visualisation, but my abilities have often lagged far behind. I took Art at both GCSE and AS-Level, managing only a D in both, but always felt a little that I’d kind of missed something there. I am very poor at perspective, translating a still life to paper, and cannot draw the human form to save my life, but I also feel a lack of practice (my biggest weakness in many areas as I have a very fast moving brain) is partially responsible for this.

I have approached watercolour from a combination of diving right it, endless expreiments with colour and behaviour of paint and again until now broadly avoided and focussed learning.

So I set myself the task of a further tutorial, and when there were some aspects that I was not 100% happy with, set my self the task of repetition, and producing a few versions.

The original tutorial was based on using only two colours – Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna. I tried this, but I just wasn’t getting the greens that the tutorial seemed to be getting, so I added in some of my own using Oxide of Chromium.

I managed to make a nasty splodge and backwash into the sky on this first version and though I like the square format it has cramped the horizon a little. I struggled a little too to get the vibrancy in the mid distance trees – I think I worked a little too wet.

I did this second version on Bockingford 300gsm Not. I am less pleased with the houses and the right hand trees on this version, but I do like the foreground trees and rocks.

In many ways this technically worked a bit better. The Langton paper is very heavy and can take a LOT of water, though I find it mutes the colours slightly. Irritatingly I have let some water drops spoil this, and I think I was getting tired as the rocks lack detail.

All in all though the excercise of making 3 versions has been very useful. Which do you like best?