In The Garden

This is an excerpt from the Book called “Painting Houses & Gardens In Watercolor“ by Richard Taylor. Continue reading to learn more about In The Garden, thanks to the author.

Many blouses have some type of garden attached, even if it is a small stone courtyard or tiny area in which flowers, shrubs, or even a few vegetables can be grown. At the other extreme some homes have larger and greener gardens where tall trees cast violet shadows in summer and orchards shed their fruits at the turning of the year.

The warmer months encourage outdoor living and part of this chapter examines the aspects of painting garden furniture and decorative pots and containers.

Flowers In The Garden

It is probably safe to say that all gardens as flower gardens to some extent as it is extremely unusual to come across and garden without any flowers at all, even if they are only colorful and attractive weeds. This section is not about simply painting flower; it is about painting flowers as part of a garden and the critical element of how to balance tone.

Most flowers in a natural setting can be seen clearly as they are viewed against natural parts of their environment such as leaves or stems. It is, therefore, important to ensure that neither the flower heads dominate the composition because they are too bright, nor that the foliage takes over because of its brilliance. Both flowers and foliage need to work in harmony to achieve that critical tonal balance.

Choosing Paint Colors

Tonal balance is best achieved by careful choice of colors. If you are painting yellow base, for instance, it would help the tonal balance of your painting if you used cadmium yellow in the leaf mix for example, sap Green, French Ultramarine, and Cadmium Yellow. If, however, you are painting violet or purple flowers, you will probably have used a blue in the mixture. In that case make sure that you use the same blue when you come to mix the green, maintaining a sense of balance throughout the scene.

This approach also applies to plants and flowers that are growing in hanging baskets or containers. To maintain the balance ensure that any blues that you use on the shadows in the case of terracotta or plastic pots, or in the actual color of the pots itself in the case of metal containers.

Cottage Garden

12×10 ½ in (30×27 cm)

Record white flowers amongst a riot of color by applying tiny dots of masking fluid with a cocktail stick and, when dry, wash dark paint across the masked flower shapes. Once the paint has dried, the masking fluid can be peeled off to reveal a collection of small, white flower beads.

Wild flowers are often found in gardens and it is the randomness of the colors that makes them so appealing to paint. Stems and long leaves can be created by applying a basic under wash and allowing it to dry. A darker mixture can that be used to paint around stem shapes, visually thrusting the lighter-colored shapes forward.

For delicate flower petals use a watery mix of paint; this will dry with a translucent effect, gaining the maximum from the white of the paper. The deepest colors in flower heads are usually seen in the center. To achieve this apply the color required onto the center of the flower while the under wash is still damp and allow it to bleed gently.

Many gardens have flowers growing in them, but not always in the ground. Containers can be used to good effect to bold plants. From the artist’s point of view, the containers can often be more interesting than the flowers they bold.

Fruits Of The Garden

Growing produce, whether fruits or vegetables, in gardens is a universal activity, while their use as food is obvious, they can also provide some wonderfully colored subjects for the watercolor artist.

Summer and autumn are by far the best seasons to explore gardens for colorful fruit and vegetables, the reds of bush fruits, strawberries and cherries during the summer, and the golden sienna’s and oranges of apples, squashes, and pumpkins during the autumnal months, re a pure delight to collect and arrange. Or you many prefer simply to sketch or pint them in the bush, tree, or in the ground as they grow.

Using Underwashes

For the summer fruits I usually choose colors from the cadmium range, mainly cadmium yellow that I often use as an underwash for particularly bright reds. The reason for this is that cadmium red is a rather weak color on its own and can dry to a disappointing pink if applied directly to white paper. If, however, it is painted on top of a yellow or orange base, it can glow with the radiance of a hot summer’s day. For the deeper reds I mix a touch of alizarin Crimson with Cadmium red.

Orchards Shadows

12/11 in (30/28 cm)

The fruit trees in this garden cast a wonderful pattern of shadows in the early simmer morning sun. The shadow colors were created by mixing Winsor violet (dioxazine) with French ultramarine and applied rather rapidly, avoiding working, with a medium brush onto a dry underwash.

For autumnal fruits and vegetables I use a selection of natural earth colours-chiefly raw sienna to act as an underwash, and burnt umber in the shadow mixes. The other colors are, again, from the cadmium range. Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Orange are particularly useful, but do need to be use with some caution as they are both powerful colors and can exert a distracting influence in any composition if the paint is applied too thickly. Finally, when painting apples I tend to use a sap Green base and soften it with a little raw sienna before adding a touch of burnt Umber and French Ultramarine for the darker areas. These colors are all applied to damp paper to create some graduated shading.

Marrows, squashes and gourds provided and excellent opportunity to practice mixing yellows and oranges. Cadmium Yellow was used to create the underwash in the vegetables. One dried, a wash of cadmium orange was added, leaving the yellow highlights to show through. Dark shadows were washed onto damp paint, while softer shadows were created by washing onto a dry underact.

The colours of these apples changed as different shadows fell on them. Small areas of white paper crated highlights. But although small, they echoed the shapes of the shed window through which the light fell. Alizarin Crimson and a touch of French Ultramarine were painted onto the dry apples. As the paint dried it granulated, adding to the natural appearance.

Garden Furniture

Few of us choose to sit out in our gardens during the cold, gray winter months and it is for this reason that most paintings featuring garden furniture are bathed in the dappled shadows cast from the summer sun.

The types ornate cast iron chairs and gardens vary from ornate cast iron chairs and tables to rustic seats hollowed out of fallen tree trunks, but both these extremes cast a variety of interesting shadows and are great fun to paint.

Rather like gates and white fences, you will often have to look through or behind garden seats to be able to paint them successfully. But tree is also another element to be considered here. Gardens in the summer are usually awash with long shadows cast by tall, overgrown trees. These shadows fall indiscriminately and follow the shape of any objects that they fall onto. If, for example, a curved garden seat is in the line of a cast shadow, the shadow will follow the curve, helping to define the shape of the seat more clearly, turning the shadow to your advantage.

Painting Dappled Shadows

Dappled shadows are a frequent feature of summer garden living. These are best painted initially onto dry paper, using a medium-size brush to “draw” the shapes created onto the surface. To create a sense of depth with these shadows, however, use a small brush and wash out the farthest distant shadows a little, softening the edges nod leading the viewer’s eye out toward the middle ground. The basic color mix that I use for strong summer shadows is based upon French.

Ultramarine and Alizarin crimson, although I occasionally find it useful to add a little Winsor Violet (dioxazine) to strengthen the mix when required. For slightly softer shadows I use Ultramarine Violet, darkened with French Ultramarine or, again, softened a little with cobalt Blue.

This small study of a very ordinary-looking garden seat was enhanced by careful choice of tones of green for the surrounding foliage. The darkest greens were mixed with sap Green, French Ultramarine, and a touch of Burnt Umber to make the wooden slats of the seat stand out.

Courtyards And Patios

For many people, paved courtyard, terrace, or patio is an ideal extension of the house, allowing tables and chairs to be set out on a solid surface without fear of muddy shoes or sinking chair legs.

The main themes to consider when painting courtyards are stone and tile textures; initially from the floor, but also from the type of ornamentation often found in these areas. As there is no ground in which to grow flowers or shrubs, pots and containers tend to be featured, injecting a sense of color and natural growth into an otherwise cold stone environment.

Continental Courtyard

9 ½ x8 in (24×20 cm)

Wet bleeds, warm Mediterranean violets, read and yellows, and strong shadows all work in harmony brew. A “one stroke” approach was used for shadows on the white tablecloth and vase. Ares of white wall showing through the dappled shadows break up any feeling of solidity.

This old Greek urn, set on a terracotta-tiled floor, was certainly worthy of a study. The rusting metal bar was created by applying pure Burnt Seined to dry paper. Then dropping water on before in dried and allowing this to bleed outward. The surface of the put was produced by dropping colors onto damp paper and allowing them to bled or separate, according to the nature of the pigment.

Painting Stone

The key to painting stone is to use vast amounts of water and apply the pint with vigor, flicking the colors on separately. First flick a little Raw Sienna onto wet paint, then quickly flick some Burnt Sienna, followed by Burnt umber and French Ultramarine. For large areas of paint try dipping a toothbrush into paint and flicking this, but be careful as the paint will fly in all directions unless you angle it carefully at the section of paper you with to paint.

Finally, y blotting. A “crunched up” piece of paper towel can be used to boot some excess water and paint form stone areas. This not only soaks up water, but also forces some paint into the fibers of the paper as they come into contact with it, creating extra texture to add to the previous washing and flicking.

A felling of “cold” stone can be achieved by working onto a dry underwash of Raw Umber. A sliver of unpainted paper represent s the tops of the curves. Running a line of paint onto dry paper underneath a decoration or ridge also helps to reinforce the shape as it dries with a hard edge.