Step 1
Watercolor painting of the Sentinel in Zion National Park. An artist should be free to make his/her own interpretation of a scene. Ultimately art is about feelings.
Step 2
As with all my paintings, I begin with a very small value study to determine where the lights and darks will be. I have placed my reading glasses by the sketch to show the relative size of most of my studies. I am not interested in detail – just the values.
Step 4
Because the sky does so much to set the mood, I usually begin my paintings by quickly developing the sky area. Notice the warm yellows and pinks that permeate this sky. After wetting the paper in the sky area, I will let the pigments mingle without pushing them around too much.
Step 5
Working from the top down and from the distance forward, I layer glazes to build up my darks. I am using negative painting to establish the lighter branches on the right. After the background cliffs are completed I can use positive painting for the branches which stick up on the left side.
Step 6
The finished painting reflects my own feelings for the place. Even though I had several reference photographs, I wanted to create my own image from my personal experiences. This means I am free to change the colors, sky, shadows — whatever it takes to create the scene I envision.