Original Watercolor: Farm Life Over Fields

There's a blank sheet of watercolor paper in front of me. I normally just wait for inspiration. When it doesn't come I end up resorting to a landscape scene that I build on the fly. So that's what you're getting from me today. For this scene I was thinking about sitting in a field on a warm but soon to be stormy day. I imagined looking back at the farm house and barn, over some old fence posts as the clouds roll in.

Pencil Sketch

My first step is to lay down some sketch work. I add a horizon line, some background elements, wire frame of buildings, fence posts and an idea of where some trees will be.

Background

The first thing I paint is the sky. Using my #10 round brush I wet the sky, mix some Ultramarine Blue and loosely phase it in from top to bottom. While the sky is wet I mixed some Dioxazine Purple and draw it across the horizon and allow it to play with the Ultramarine Blue.

Foreground

I take on the foreground as one big piece. Starting near the horizon I run some Lemon Yellow from top to bottom. Before I reach the bottom the paint runs out but I keep wetting the brush and bring it the rest of the way down. I then add some Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna near the middle to blend them in as I get closer to the fence posts. In front of the fence posts I mix some Sap Green to create a nice transition from the lighter Lemon Yellow to the darker Sap Green.

Middleground

When the background and foreground are dry I run in a mixture of Ultramarine Blue and Dioxazine Purple across the middle ground area. It can be small hill or a tree line...or both, it doesn't really matter. I made this background a little too dark when I initially added it so I used an old slightly stiff watercolor brush with some water to go back over it and pull some color out. With it being a sort of middle/background it shouldn't be too dominant. It created a sort of hazy appearance which I like.

Subjects

When everything is dry I lay some color on the farm house and barn using my #6 round brush. I decided to have the light coming from the top right of the painting. I diluted some Alizarin Crimson and added it to the roof of the farm house and sides of the barn. I then use a diluted Ultramarine Blue and shaded the left side of the farm house and barn along with a hint of color on the left side of the barn's gambrel roof.

I mixed some Sap Green and Burnt Sienna, loaded up my #10 round brush and used the side of the brush to roll in the trees on the left. I pulled down a number of tree trucks with this same color to complete the wooded area. I'm not particularly happy with this as I feel I laid the color down a little too dark for this painting but it is what it is.

Finished

To do the finishing work I took some diluted Ultramarine Blue on my #6 round brush and went over each fence post, then mixed some of it with Burnt Sienna and went over the left side of each post for a little shading effect. I mixed some Sap Green and a little Burnt Sienna using my #10 then used the side of the brush to pull up some grass in the foreground and add some shade under the trees.

Using my #4 round brush I used some Ultramarine Blue and placed some shade areas under the eves of the house and barn and used this same color for the windows and doors. I walked away from this one happy after I saw it in the frame.

Supplies

Watercolors: Sennelier tubes - Sap Green, Ultramarine Blue, Dioxazine Purple, Burnt Sienna, Lemon Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Alizarin Crimson
Brushes: Princeton Neptune - #10 Round, #6 Round & #4 Round
Paper: Fabriano Acquarello, 100% cotton, 300 g/m, 5"x7"

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