Reddi Arts Watercolor Demonstration for a Purple Iris

Flowers challenge the water colorist because they are so subtle in the way they shift colors while also exhibiting brilliant color variety. 

If not done skillfully a white flower that has yellow tones in the center can 

end up looking like a yellow flower in the painting.  Striations can end up

looking like weird streaks.  Here is my demonstration of a purple iris with 

water droplets on the petals. Enjoy!

Reddi Arts Demo for a Yellow Iris

By Now my method is similar, start the sketch, add the light yellows first, 

preserving the whites, and slowly introduce the color.  

Here is a step by step on a recent demo. 

Treating Complex Landscapes As Color Fields

Recently I was visiting Talbot Island by boat with my friend on the Now and Zen Sailing Charter.  We landed temporarily at the North Florida Land Trust house and grounds there, and witnessed this wonderful sunset scene upon returning to the boat.



Below: I took this photo while there and in the Reddi Arts watercolor class, I decided it would be a great object lesson to simplify complex landscape references into larger multi-color fields.

Treating it this way allows you to capture the feeling of the light at that hour without getting lost in the details of the trees.


My sketch on the white board was to illustrate the loose composition I am targeting.



So here are the steps I used to get there.
First a color wash in yellows for the light, I skipped the drawing, you'll see why, this takes practice and confidence, and knowledge of the structures of palm trees.

After that dries I glazed in other pinks and blues to give vibrant colors, glazes work better than mixing them on the palette.  I used salt into wet color in the background tree areas to simulate detail.

Now here I do the "drawing" direct with a light application of color to indicate in 

peach orange where the trees will go, working fast and trying to keep the areas wet 

so as to add color directly into the tree structures. 

The finished product!

For a look at other fine art by Gordon Meggison, go to www.gordonmeggison.com

Raise a Glass to Better Times

Glass has always been mysterious in it's multifaceted reflective qualities, and it's transparencies.  In my Reddi Arts watercolor class I decided to do a simple wine glass demo to illustrate how to simply "see" and render the multitude of confusing principles to wine in a glass.  Wine itself has also always had a symbolic aspect worth considering, a sort of meditation on hope! 
To see more works demos from the past or fine art from my collection, go to www.gordonmeggison.com
 

Here we go starting with the drawing and masking fluid

To see more works demos from the past or fine art from my collection, go to www.gordonmeggison.com

Using Trees To Teach

One of my favorite subjects is trees. In trees you see 

the incredible variety of nature, color, texture, design 

composition, and the mystery of fractals.  My students

 joke that I speak of fractals all the time.  Yes I do, it is

 endlessly fascinating to me that the principal of fractals,

 though not obvious, 

is ever present in 

every tree, 

no exceptions.

An Italian Dream

My mind lights up when I travel, particularly to Europe,

specifically France and Italy.  Here I take a virtual trip to 

Nesso Italy,  using this photo as a demo to illustrate

 a procedure for capturing the luminous ad dreamlike quality this unique place

represents. This painting is 10" X 16" acrylic on canvas.

I always start with this monochromatic wash that creates 

a halftone of the painting before color is added.  This gives a warm 

under painting , and simplifies the problem solving process.

 

Then I start blocking in the color choices, using cross hatch strokes 

and cool and warm combinations to work against each other to give 

excitement to the light properties.

Scroll around for detail views of the painting.

"Feast of the Flowers"

The original name of Florida was named by Ponce De Leon as "Feast of the Flowers". 
I seized on this theme some time ago, fascinated by the realization that Ponce de Leon
must have had upon setting foot on Florida soil. Any walk in the forest here will render
just that, when one is looking, something is in bloom at all seasons of the year here. 
I did this piece from a view of my back garden while soaking in my jacuzzi, enjoying
early morning mists there.  I have done this in several ways and in different mediums,
watercolors and acrylics.

Below: I started with a loose composition sketch and some use of masking fluid to preserve white.

 

Below: loose broad washes set the misty tone, using oranges into the purples to introduce light.  Using saran wrap to get leafy texture into wet washes.

 

 

Remove the masking fluid.

 

Color in the whites to appropriately tone the flowers, 

and add leaves in purples and greens to differentiate warm and cool greens.

Below: Two more versions of the same theme, the first is another watercolor version, the second is an acrylic.  They can be viewed in www.gordonmeggison.com

watercolor

Acrylic