Local Fields

It works indeed. Simple, yet effective, Michael. This is great. Beautiful colours in the sky and a lot of depth in it because of the subtle change of greens.

Welcome back to watercolour Michael, this works well, I particularly like the nice juicy washes in the foreground tree.

It certainly does work Michael! Your sky is fabulous, I love watercolours like this.

Love your sky - simplicity at its best.

Works Very Well!

i agree with all the comments above and particularly love the sky.

Thanks to you all - just getting back to doing the occsional watercolour

This is beautiful Michael

This jumped off the screen at me so I'd say "yes" it definitely works. That sky is fantastic.

Thanks Val and Petra - I do like painting big skies - bit of a 'trademark'

I like that sky too, Michael - what colours have you used? I'm wondering if you painted it wet on dry - the white paper patches suggest that - or wet in wet, which the lower, more blended areas suggest. Or both, maybe?!

Very simple, but very attractive. Normally, we think we had to put so many things, but this is a really nice example, Michael.

Beautiful sky and lovely greens in your trees.

Sort of works? It works very well indeed, Michael! So pristine and lovely. It's super!

Thany you everyone. Caroline - my skies - I must say at the outset that it's difficult to desribe it and is best demonstrated but here goes. I make up 3 washes: raw sienna ( very thin) , Ultramarine and a third variable wash of ultramarine and light red. I then paint the outlines of the clouds with clear water leaving a lot of the paper dry. The paint is applied with a large brush (nothing less than a size 16 and sometimes a wide flat brush. The raw sienna is applied to the clouds and towards the horizon. The variable wash is used to desribe the clouds using different strengthe and different mixes (I don't mix the wash very well in the palette which allows me to dip in a variety of shades and strengths without having to keep mixing new washes. Having applied the colours I then use a damp brush to soften the edges of the clouds and mix the clours a bit on the paper. This does away with some of the white paper patches but leaves some patches which help add sparkle to the finished work. The secrets are having enough washes made up in the first place and painting it at speed - I usually do the sky in about 3/4 minutes and then leave it alone to dry. Phew - hope this helps.

It certainly does, Michael, thank you so much for taking the time to share your expertise. I'll have a go with the damp brush, not something I'd thought of doing with a sky. Do you keep your paper flat? Ron Ranson seems to have his at an angle in his books and dvd, but doing it that way I always seemed to end up with a nasty rim of Raw Sienna forced down to the horizon.

Caroline - I paint on a board raised about 15degreesbut I use nothing less than 200 lbs paper which means I don't have to stretch and since it is heavyweight I don't even bother to fix it to the board. This gives the advantage that I can turn the paper to let washes flow and run together - a useful trick. As for the nasty rim I simply remove excess paint as it dries with a damp brush which I have run through my faithful rag to half dry it - it mops it up without too much trouble. If I still get a stain line I wait until it is dry and then gently scrub it sideways with a damp flat brush and dab it off with the rag - comes away quite easily.

Yes, this works so very well :)

Beautiful work Michael.

Thanks Denise and Kirstie

Many congratulations Michael, top ten again!, this beautiful painting deserve it, well done

Congratulations to you too Michael, such a beautiful sky and brilliant depth in this painting.

Well done for your painting being chosen for the Top Ten. The sky alone would make it a contender for the list as it is wonderful.