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Acknowledgement: The lovely reference photo used to complete this work was taken by my best buddy, I think he’d like to keep his anonymity; so I’ll address him by his nickname among our group of friends. So if anyone enjoys this painting it would simply not have been possible without my awesome friend the Dj Cube. Thanks for all your support buddy, I’m really grateful to have ya around ^- ^ Please do take the time to enjoy the original reference photo as well as the painting which you can see here

 

www.flickr.com/photos/68644874@N05/31671912286/in/datepos...

 

And with that, this painting was a really fun project. I’ve always wanted to do something in the subject of autumn, and I really like the results. I had a chance to work with iron oxides almost exclusively. Every mixture in the picture save for the sky, the shadow colour and the pavement is an iron based paint, or has one in the mixture. This allowed me to create some really lovely dull colors without overpowering the painting with high chroma. I think this really makes the sky sparkle as they’re high chroma diluted coats of Quinacridone Violet [Beta Quinacridone] (PV19) Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255) & Hansa Yellow Deep (PY65).

 

 

 

In tints PV19 undergoes a massive shift from Magenta to red violet, as the pyrrol scarlet lightens it shifts from an aggressive and rich Orange red to a subtle slightly cooler salmon pink.

 

 

 

All the lovely dark and subtle greens were also possible due to the iron oxides. The grass is a velvety blend of Iron blue [Prussian Blue] (PB27) & Yellow Ochre [PY43], some patches of it have Cerulean Blue (PB36) Instead of Iron blue.The Tree on the right was conveyed with Iron blue (PB27) & Burnt Sienna (PBr7). The shrub on the left is conveyed with a similar mixture, but instead of burnt sienna, it is Raw Umber (PBr7); & finally (if I recall correctly) the shrubs behind the pavement in the background are Iron blue (pB27) With Burnt Umber (Have I failed to mention how wonderful Iron blue is for mixing dark natural greens? Meanwhile Cerulean being a cobalt based pigment has a lighter and more powdery texture. Both do their respective jobs well)

 

 

 

The house windows are a light coating of Iron blue, the door a mixure of raw umber with a touch of ultramarine blue to dull it down. The house is raw umber (one section with abit of ochre) the wooden panels on the house are burnt umber. The fence is also a mixture of raw umber and yellow ochre. The Dirt pathway is Raw umber with Burnt Sienna.

 

 

 

The pavement is one of my favorite mixes, Cobalt Teal Blue (PG50) & Pyrrol Scarlet (pr255). It creates a wonderful silvery gray. The shadow tone is PB36 Cerulean blue & Pyrrol scarlet, this is a lovely near neutral which you can get a purple or stone blue bias from. I went closer to the cool cerulean, and it was a perfect mix for the cool shadows. The brances you see on the trees are a mixture of burnt umber with venetian red (PR101).

 

 

 

Finally and most importantly, the main focus of the painting, the tree leaves are PR101 (Venetian red) PBr7 (Burnt Sienna) & PY43 (Yellow Ochre) This trio creates a fantastic moderately chromatic range of oranges. I think they did a wonderful job at conveying the autumn element in the picture.

 

 

 

Overall I’m very satisfied with this project. I didn’t capture the lovely deep shadow contrast in the original reference photo unfortunately… And an oversight lead to a very washed out looking second house (Watercolor has to be done in layers. And because the hiding power isn’t very high especially in tints, all I could do was layer a light coat of the building colors, lest I rewet and bleed the tree leaves all over the place into a bloody mess) Other than that, I think there is a wonderful harmony in this painting. The grass does a wonderful job conveying sunlight at dusk, and the greenery has a lovely duotone texture thanks to the iron oxides. The sky is wonderfully luminescent, and the trees have that powerful autumn glow. Thanks again to my fantastic friend Cube for sharing his photos with us.

 

 

 

List of Materials:

 

Brushes:

 

Escoda Reserva Kolinsky Tajmyr Sable Pointed Round, Series 1212

 

Da Vinci Maestro Kolinsky Brushes, Series 1310 One Stroke

 

Princeton Series 6100 Synthetic Bristle Bright: Size 2, 1/4″ (This brush is great for picking up paint from your pans without scrubbing and ruining your sables)

 

Princeton Series 4950 Interlocking Synthetic Sable Rounds (Good for applying masking fluid)

 

Paint

 

 

 

Winsor and newton Cotman

 

PB27: Prussian Blue

 

PV19: Quinacridone Violet

 

PBr7: Burnt Sienna

 

PR101: Light red

 

PY43: Yellow Ochre

 

 

 

Lukas 1862 Aquarelle

 

PR255: Pyrrol Scarlet

 

PB29: Ultramarine Blue

 

PG50: Cobalt Teal Blue

 

PB36: Cobalt Cerulean Green Shade

 

 

 

Maimeri Venezia

 

 

 

PBr7: Burnt Umber

 

PBr7: Raw Umber

 

 

 

Paper: Arches 140LB Rough Watercolor Block

 

Misc:

 

Pentel Graphgear 1000 Drafting pencil

 

Staedtler mars plastic eraser

 

Tombow Mono eraser (detail eraser)

 

Mijello Water Bucket

 

Winsor & Newton Masking fluid

 

Barry Hernimans Cloverleaf paintbox (God I love this palette!)

 

 

 

Thank anyone seeing this for taking the time to look, and until next time!

Done