Nature Study :: Some Dry Brush Painting

Nature Study :: Some Dry Brush Painting, originally uploaded by islandj.

Even though we are happily on vacation from school this month, we are still spending plenty of time in nature, and being to practice some techniques to make our nature study in the fall more meaningful. On Tuesday we learned something new to all of us :: dry brush watercoloring! Many of our friends bring their watercolor paints to the nature trail, and sit and paint. I had been thinking this was very brave of them all, and hadn't really considered it, but thought we might be able to just walk out the back door and do some nature painting, and see what happened ... and then I discovered a tutorial on how to do this method of watercoloring that didn't make a mess. I'm in!

So here we are, in our backyard, painting some simple scenes. Even Sterling wandered over and had a try at a palm tree (and a person sitting in it's shade), which says a lot for the power of three girls having a good time and trying something new. Keeping the brush and paints fairly dry meant that we had greater control over how the color went on, and for all of us that meant easier results. Even Sage was respectful of this new way to use the paint pot, and I think we are all very happy with the results!

(PS - the technique is very simple. Simply add a drop or two of water to each paint color, and let it soak in a bit. Then use a dry brush - I wet it and then dried it on a washcloth - to dab up some paint. The color will be strong, and because it isn't sopping wet, the brush will form more of a point like a pencil, and be very easy to direct on the paper. When changing colors, wash and dry the brush each time. Add a drop or two of water when necessary. This works so well because the paper doesn't get soaking, and it dries quickly. When I was done with the detailed work, I used a wet brush to diffuse some of the color on things like the grass and such. Viola! We are artists and didn't know it!)