Original Watercolor: Train Station - Painting with Son
My third son, Luke, is always wanting to do something with dad. There are days I look at him after he asks and I decline because I'm usually immersed in some form of self interest. After watching him walk away I feel bad then I try to make up for it. With two older brothers and a younger brother Luke sometimes gets the short end of the stick.
Luke and I painting
So we changed that today. Luke and I went out on the patio with our watercolor paints, brushes and paper. We were bent on creating some sort of art together. I had already started a sketch earlier today so I just used that for our session. When Luke and I paint we sometimes work on the same painting together. Usually it's a space or ocean scene, per his request, and we end up incorporating a lot of goofy creatures and robots. Today, I instructed him to do his own sketch and paint all on his own.
Pencil Sketch
This sketch idea came from a photo I found on Flickr by Dale DeVene. I have to force myself to not do my typical landscape scene of trees, barns and fields. So I went at this grudgingly doing a more urban subject matter. I eliminated the car in front of the engine from the photo and took some liberties with colors and structures. With these types of paintings I go in with the intention of staying loose but I end up incorporating details that makes me unhappy with the final product. Lets see how this goes.
Background
The background is going to stay completely simple. I added an extremely diluted Ultramarine Blue for the sky and while it was slightly wet I brushed in some diluted Sap Green for a suggestion of background trees. This is still a technique I'm working on. And this is essentially all I'm going to do for the background.
Finished
OK, so between talking with Luke while we painted and getting into the zone I forgot to snap some pictures of the rest of the process. I used some Alizarin for the lifted track house, various dilutions of Sap Green for buildings, a diluted Payne's Gray for the train and some Burnt Sienna for the track area. I'm not completely happy with the final product but I'm looking at this as a chance to paint with my son and enjoy the camaraderie of a fellow aspiring painter.
Luke's artwork
Luke's finished painting incorporated a house painted with a diluted red, a diluted green for the roof (trying to mimic one of my buildings), a black shaded side to the house and a tree he celebrated because he first painted some branches before laying down the leaves. The sky only got partially painted because he didn't want to have to paint the house and tree over the blue. I think that was a great move. Overall, I'm very proud of his work.
My take away from this session with Luke is that he's an extremely creative person and he likes to talk about all kinds of things while he works. Hell, he talked for a half hour after he sketched the tree and house about who lives in the house and if the tree is too big.
Thanks for reading.
Supplies
Watercolors: Sennelier tubes - Sap Green, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Lemon Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Payne's Gray, Alizarin Crimson
Brushes: Princeton Neptune - #10 Round, #6 Round & #4 Round
Paper: Fabriano Acquarello, 100% cotton, 300 g/m, 5"x7"
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