Boy Child Play in Park Painting - Finished!

 

"Boy Reaching into Water Fountain - Fun at the Park"

© 2013 Barbara Rosenzweig, Watercolor Painting

11x14 matted to 16x20 $52
8x10 matted to 11x14 $37
sold matted for standard size frames

 

I just love painting children! After chasing this fast-moving tyke all over historic Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square Park, I finally stopped and found him on his tippy-toes trying to reach into the water fountain!

In my earlier posts, you saw the process and techniques of laying out all of the parts of the painting. This is the most challenging and time-consuming part -bringing the painting to life!

 

My first task was to add layer upon layer of greens and hematite black (a granulating watercolor paint that is perfect for stone) to all of the stone work. This creates depth and a sense of age.

 

Next, I had to create the copper trim around the water fountain with its lovely turquoise patina. I used some unlikely colors - maroon, purple, burnt sienna, blue, and yellow, until they gave me the result that I was looking for. I had to be careful to leave the white of the paper showing where the light hit the copper.

 

Then on to the little boy! Here, you can see that I lightened the crown of the head to bring out his white blond hair in the sun. Around the back of his uplifted head, I darkened the hair where it would be in shadow.

For the shirt, I added thin, short lines of purple into the stripes to give it more punch. Also, adding pale blue and purple in the shadows in the folds made the shirt look like it was twisted on his body.

 

For the jeans, I used a variety of blues, as well as purple, to build up the color, darkening in the folds and lifting the color where the light hit the tops of the folds. To "lift" color, I use a slightly moistened thin brush, gently stroking the area where I want the color removed. The I use a clean paper towel to blot the spot. I used this technique for the stitching around the pockets and the seams.

 

 

Next, I needed to correct the right foot. It looked like it was flat on the ground, but the heel should be lifting. I changed the angle of the heel, shortened the toe, and darkened the shadow below it closest to the heel. As you read this, you can see from the photo above if any of these changes improved the painting.

 

Now for a decision. When I saw the little boy at the fountain, he had a ball in his right hand. Although I did start to paint it, I felt that it didn't add anything to the painting. I decided instead to make his hand grasp onto the rim of the water fountain appearing as though he was really trying to pull himself up.

 

Now for the final step! Once the wall above the fountain was sufficiently mossy and "aged," I added the lettering that appeared there, "Drinking Fountain erected by Flower Market Association 1921."

 

I hope that you enjoyed and learned about the many decisions, techniques, and choices that I make throughout this process. Painting for me is both a challenge and a joy!

 

"Boy Reaching into Water Fountain - Fun at the Park"

© 2013 Barbara Rosenzweig, Watercolor Painting

11x14 matted to 16x20 $52
8x10 matted to 11x14 $37
sold matted for standard size frames

Size

Art Print 8x10 /mat 11x14 $37.00 USD Art Print 11x14 /mat 16x20 $52.00 USD

 



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Child Watercolor Painting Process "Boy Reaching" - Continued

CAUTION !!!
You are about to see a painting in its adolescent stage! Beware! You will be seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly! View at your own risk! Hope that you enjoy seeing this daunting process.

 

 

Once I decided on the portion of the photo that would be most effective for this painting, I lightly sketched in the important details. Now I take the plunge and put paintbrush to paper.

 

I started by lightly painting in the background and the boy to get a sense of the colors I would be using. Next, I started on the tile floor. Here, I used richer colors that will eventually be toned down.

 

 

Still in the preliminary process, I start to refine the hair, shirt, pants, and sneakers, as well as lay in some turquoise for the beginning of the copper patina on the drinking fountain.



 

Here's where it starts getting UGLY! I'm laying in colors for the stone wall with its green algae.

 

As you might have guessed by now, I am very slow and deliberate in my painting process. It takes me a long time to complete a watercolor to my satisfaction. At this point, I am nowhere near being done. Once all of the colors are "in," the refining begins. There must be "dark darks" and very "light lights" to make the painting have depth. Once these "values" are established, I can attend to the most difficult and time-consuming part, adding all of the minute details.

 

Can't wait to hear from you!

 

 

Linked to Watercolors by Barbara Etsy Shop, Watercolors By Barbara Website, Fine Art America, IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor, BoogieboardCottage, Alphabe-Thursday, Join the Party {Linky}  Fall into Fall, and Pink Saturday, Five Days Five Ways, Friday Flair Linky Party, Friday Favs, Fancy These Friday’s, Friday Link Party, Saturday Show & Tell

 

 

New Adventure Watercolor Painting Process "Boy Reaching"

Thanks so much for sending in photos! I can still accept a few more for this New Adventure Series.

As promised, I am using photos that were sent in to create a series of special childhood memories. The photo should show your child or grandchild looking away from the camera and into the new place they've found to play in and explore.

My end of the bargain is to share the entire process with you! There is absolutely NO obligation to buy.

Here is the first of the photos. As you can see, the little boy is absolutely adorable! Even though he is too short to take a drink from the fountain, he has fun reaching up into it!

Once I saw the potential for a painting in this series, I cropped the photo to make it a more interesting composition and focus on the child.

 

 

The next step is to start a drawing that includes all of the essential details. As you can see, the lines are very light, so that they don't show through the transparent watercolors too much.

 

 

I look forward to sharing the next stages in this process with you! If you have any questions at all about this process, I'd love to answer them.

 

Linked to Watercolors by Barbara Etsy Shop, Watercolors By Barbara Website, Fine Art America, IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor, BoogieboardCottage, Alphabe-Thursday, Join the Party {Linky}  Fall into Fall, and Pink Saturday, Five Days Five Ways, Friday Flair Linky Party, Friday Favs, Fancy These Friday’s, Friday Link Party, Saturday Show & Tell



 

SNEAK PEEK - THE BEGINNINGS...

Here's a sneak peek of a painting that I am starting. Over time, you will see its progress and the completed work. I hope that you enjoy this look into my artistic process. More later on the decisions that I had to make to create this still life watercolor.