Step 1
“Mirrors of Stone” – watercolor painting of Lake Powell by Roland Lee
Step 2
On the stone walls I use a very loose technique of wet into wet, allowing pigment to mingle. Then I use a dry brush technique, laying my brush on its side to “scumble” across the surface of the Arches cold press paper. This creates texture which I will convert into little cracks.
Step 3
I’m adding the stains and varnish common to the desert southwest. The core shadow side of the stone pillars are warmer in temperature and have reflected light on the back side. The shadows cast by these pillars on the facing rock wall are much darker and pick up the blue from the sky.
Step 4
I complete most of the cliffs, at least with basic washes before moving into the water. I need to know what the cliffs look like before I can effectively create their reflections. I have sketched in some shrubs on the foreground rocks which I will paint using the negative painting process.
Step 5
The painting in progress in my studio. Notice my reference photo shot at the Lake. I have chosen to significantly change the scene to create more interest. I generally use a lot of artistic license when I paint.
Step 6
Now I start to carefully build up the water reflections. The shrubs on the right foreground are created as I paint the darker water reflections behind them. See the close-up steps that follow.
Step 7
Using my pencil, I lightly sketch in the shapes of the shrubs and branches. This is my guide for painting the darker shapes around them.
Step 8
Now I have the overall shapes of both the water and the shrubs. All I need to do next is model the branches with color and value.
Step 9
I move back into the water carefully painting the reflections. Based on the law of linear perspective, the intervals between the ripples and reflection breaks get narrower as they go back in space. This gives us the sense of distance. “Mirrors of Stone – Lake Powell” 22 x 29.
