“Desert Sky” 8 x 12 Watercolor by Roland Lee. A scene of the southern Utah desert with red cliffs and a dramatic sky. This is an example of a Roland Lee 3-minute watercolor sky.

I feel that cloud shadows need to be darker so I decide to apply a second glaze. First I completely re-wet the sky area with a 1-inch flat brush and clear water. While wet, I touch a mixture of [...]

At this stage I bring the painting into sharper focus by putting additional darks in the shadow areas and adding the foreground elements. Finally I put in some strong directional shadows across [...]

I usually wet the entire sky area first and then drop in Cad Red, Ultramarine blue, and Yellow Ochre, letting the pigments mingle naturally. After completing the sky I allow it to dry and paint [...]

In this closeup you can see how the addition of the darks on the underside of the clouds helps tie them to the mesa and helps the composition.

This painting of Lake Powell Morning features the type of reflections only found on very still water. In this case the scene is near Moki Canyon on the upper lake. This is the perfect painting to [...]

The finished painting with amazing reflections.

I am painting on Arches 140 lb. watercolor paper.  After doing a thumbnail sketch I start with the sky and do my initial glazes on the distant cliffs. I have to do the cliffs before I can develop [...]

After letting these washes dry completely, I am ready to begin delineating the wavy hard-edged reflections.

I begin with the reflections closest to the rocks. Reflections are generally darker in the water and of course, the reflected image always has wavy edges if there is the slightest ripple.

Note in the distance I left a streak of blue across the water. This is where a wake or wind has broken the surface reflection. I continue to work on the reflections using a smaller round brush to [...]

With the paper wet, I first use a 1-inch Aquarelle flat brush to wash in the warms from the sky and cliffs. I then use a #12 or #14 Sable round to lay in the blue reflections from the sky on the water.

This painting was inspired by a Fall hike I took along the Virgin River in Zion National Park. I love the way the sun on the cliffs reflects in the cool blue water.

I start with the sky wash first and then drop down to lay in the basic washes in the water. First I wet the paper, then apply a small amount of yellow ochre along the horizon, then do a graded [...]

I allow the pigment to mingle in the wet in wet wash, tipping my board vertically to allow it to run down. this helps give the appearance of vertical reflections of the cliffs and trees in the [...]

My photo reference was taken with my pocket digital camera. In a high contrast lighting situation it is difficult for the camera to read the shadows and the highlights, so the shadows are way too [...]

On the distant warm cliffs I lay in the shadow shapes with Quinacridone coral and ultramarine blue allowing the pigments to mingle. Moving down to the foliage I apply simple shapes using both wet [...]

I use negative painting (backpainting) in several places to define lighter trunks and branches against the darker background. I also further define the shapes on the cliff with darker [...]

The finished painting. “Zion’s River” 8 x 12. I feel like I captured the warm glow of the canyon and the colorful reflections in the water. What do you think?

This painting of Zion’s Mt. Kinesava is done on Arches 140 lb. watercolor paper, stretched and mounted. A light pencil sketch with a 4H pencil gives me some guidelines to work with. The sky [...]

With the basic values in place on the cliffs, I move into the foreground trees and shrubs which will frame the cliffs. In this area I am creating a feeling of texture as I use both wet-into-wet [...]

Some of the shadow areas are now darkened, and I add detail to both the distant cliffs and the foreground. I use negative painting to create shapes in the foliage and tree branches. The whole [...]

This closeup shows the techniques I use to build the underglazes. Both wet-into-wet and negative painting on dry paper are used to create positive and negative shapes.

The first step is to sketch out my drawing on 140 lb. Arches paper which is mounted on incredible art board. I tape off the edges with masking tape.