Introduction

Picture a beautiful hill covered with trees behind a barn with a rickety fence. Overhead, two hawks wheel and dive against the stormy sky. It is an awesome scene and perfect for capturing in watercolor.

Now imagine this: an exciting urban landscape with buildings, cars, people, streetlights, phone poles, and billboards. Or a dramatic scene of the city lit up at night. How about a train crossing a concrete arch bridge as a jetliner makes its final approach in the sky overhead? These are scenes of everyday city life—a life common and familiar to many of us, and a life that is all around us. A life worthy of documenting in the unpredictable medium of watercolor. In fact, many years ago, the California Scene Painters did just that: paintings of trains, tenement buildings, trucks unloading cargo, and ships entering port. These artists captured something of the fabric of our lives that had rarely been done before: everyday life in the city.

Watercolor is the perfect medium to capture both the peaceful reverie of the country and the gritty chaos of urban life—plus everything in between. This book will help you get started in this challenging and rewarding medium. In it you will find:

• A discussion of materials and supplies for both studio and on-location painting

• Tips and guidelines for painting on location

• Selecting a subject and developing thumbnail sketches and color studies

• The use of photography and how you can work from photos to “say” what you want to say

• The use of a sketchbook both as a planning tool and for final work

• Color properties and relationships and watercolor pigments

• Creating mood with color, changing the lighting and time of day, and painting night scenes

• Keeping your work loose and full of energy

• Adding people and vehicles

• Painting urban scenes, including billboards, phone poles, and signage

• Creating atmosphere with rain and reflections

• Using pen and ink and white paint

At the end of the book, you’ll find six step-by-step demonstrations that will help you apply these ideas in a practical way.

My philosophy is based on enthusiastic encouragement and a “you-can-do-it” approach. I want to liberate you from the fear of failure and help you develop the courage to explore and find out for yourself what works and what doesn’t. I want you to be able to paint like you were born to paint.