Mother & Daughter - Painting Shadows and Single Washes : Preview

One of the most wonderful qualities of watercolour is its luminosity and glow, particularly when combined with the beauitful bright whites of the page. These two elements are the main focus of this tutorial, along with the usual principles and of course, trapping the light.

We will be painting the figures in this scene using a single wash of shadow, hopefully letting those lovely colours merge together to create a gentle softness. We will then be contrasting this with nice bold, strong abstract shapes of light created by only the whites of the page.

This is also a great oppurtunity to focus on using a strong background to carve out the positive shapes of the figures, whilst at the same time trapping the light to bring the piece to life.

For me this tutorial is about enjoying the unique elements of watercolour such as transparency, wet in wet and brush work, and attemtping to show them off to their best in a single painting.

Happy painting!