Painting With Masters

Recreate the work of watercolor master Zoltan Szabo.

Lesson objectives: wet-into-wet and wet on dry techniques. Atmospheric perspective.

Draw lightly with pencil the main shapes of this landscape.

Note: the paper is white but distorted by the camera. I painted at night with artificial light. Next time the photos will be more accurate.

Wet the paper and paint the first wash with cobalt blue for the sky and a mix of bamboo green (or viridian) with a touch of burnt umber, to tone it down for the grassy area. 

While the paper still wet (shiny) apply a wash to the hills in the background with a mixture of cobalt and permanent rose (or alizarin crimson) to get a light purple or lavender color. Make your puddles of paint very light and test on a piece of scrap paper before you paint. I also painted the rock wall on the left with burnt siena and a touch of cobalt blue, wet into wet. If your paper is dry, brush the area with clear water first.

I made two puddles of green, one darker than the other. I painted a wash of the lighter green, wet on dry, leaving white areas for the flowers. These white areas were not precise. While the paint was wet, I dropped a bit of burnt umber on the grass, and touches of the darker green. Some grasses where also added wet into wet. 

Final details. After the painting was dry, I painted the trees in the far distance with a cool neutral  mix. The pine trees also painted with the cool mix plus burnt umber. I added darker grasses here and there and dark touches on the rock. where the flowers are, I outlined each flower and pulled out the paint with my round brush to blend it with the grass, using a green a bit darker than the grass. Finally, I added a tree line on the hills (which can be done during the first wash instead) using similar lavender color and tone.

Your turn to paint. Have fun!

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