Practice 3 Sky

Another 30 minute watercolor practice sketch of sky, clouds and water.  This was done on paper with a little tooth you can see how different the water color takes to the paper if you compare this one with the watercolor practice 2.  Practice 2 was done on paper with a very smooth surface.  Compare this sky with the sky in practice 1.  Practice 1 started with a wash of clear water and then color was added over the wet wash.  Practice 3 sky was done on dry paper giving the hard edges of the clouds.  Additional color was added to give a wet gradation in the under side of the clouds.  I also lifted off color with paper towel to soften the edges at certain places.  The reflection on the beach was done with a clear wash first and then laying in color.

Practicing

I am reading a watercolor book by watercolorist Robert Wade.  He recommends practicing pages and pages of cloud/sky studies. Here is my first.  Using a wet on wet technique in the cloud area.  Ultramarine blue and a mix of ultramarine blue and quinacridone sienna for the dark area.  This only took 5 minutes total.  Of course there was a wait time between letting the clouds completely dry before putting in  the hills in the foreground.