Thinking Like An Artist

Watercolor Painting by Dennis Pendleton. Washington Park here in Denver is one of my favorite places for plein air painting. This bridge along the jogging and walking trail is a familiar sight and one I have painted several times. On the days when the canal is full of water it shows reflections from the bridge and that is what interested me on this occasion. Comfort is important when painting outside and there was shade to the right of the trail so that is where I chose my vantage point. While setting up I was already deciding what was important and what was not. For example, there were parked cars all along the road next to the trail and I decided to barely indicate only a few and use them to balance the dark tree on the left.

The trail leads the viewers eye into the painting and across the bridge where it is stopped by the dark leaning tree. This momentary stop encourages you to look at the reflections, bridge and surrounding plants and trees. This all happens in the blink of an eye and yet it is important because now the viewer is looking at the entire painting and discovering points of interest. The bushes and trees on the left were quite complicated and I settled them down by using only two greens. A warm yellow green in a lighter value and a cooler green in a darker value. This allowed the bridge to remain the focal point. Lowering the horizon line, which is the bridge, allowed me to show how the trees loomed over the composition like giant umbrellas.

Darks reflect slightly lighter in the water and you can see this in the bridge reflection. I also left out some of the details in the reflection and curved the lines just enough to indicate a little breeze. For the trees behind the bridge I used dappled brush strokes and allowed some of the blue sky to show through. Grays mixed with cerulean blue and brilliant orange were used for the bridge and trail and the dark railing is a mixture of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue. The first car is unpainted white paper and the second one is Indian red. The dark leaning tree on the left is a mixture of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue and the other tree on the right is the same mixture in a lighter value.

The more you think about things like colors, values, shapes, edges, brushwork, and balance before you start painting the more it becomes automatic. This increases your chances of creating a successful painting and makes the whole experience more enjoyable. Happy Painting! Dennis Pendleton