Learning by washing
Hey guys, I‘d like to share one subject I did 4 times in a row in the sequence you see here.I think I improved step by step. Would be nice to hear what you think. Picture was taken this spring in Tuscany (Belforte). All the best and happy holiday ahead.
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What paper are you using? 100% cotton is best. This looks like Fabriano - the paint sits on the surface more.
If you squint when looking at the photo, try to think of the shadow on the walls and the ground as ONE shape rather than lots of different planes. You can follow any YT video by Andy Evanson for the following approach that helps us to get away from slavishly painting 'things' and towards painting shapes.
Try to paint the entire scene in three stages.
Paint the lightest tones - the sky, the LOCAL colour of the buildings (the warmest tones), the light in the trees - cover the entire sheet with these tones, not just where you see them in the photo. Ignore the trunks, brickwork and any details.
Paint all the midtones in one go - so all the shadows OVER the local colour of the buildings leaving gaps where the light comes through. Extend this down and across the ground in one shape using varying colours that blend into one another.
Then just add the gestures of details with your darkest tones. The trunks, a little brick work, the lamp etc.
This way you get a more unified scene and the characteristics of watercolour start to work for you.
Its not easy (Andy makes it look so!) as it takes a while to switch to this way of seeing things in your mind.
He usually advocates making a value study first l just using tones of grey.
I am still on this path as well, but it is a very good method for learning watercolour. Ollys approach is similar in terms of thinking in layers, just way more refined.
Also look at YT tutorials by Matt White - he's a protegee of Andy's and follows a similar method - I would say his are the easiest to follow for the beginner.
Good luck!