There may be a shore with trees and other vegetation, or buildings, bridges, boats, rocks, or fences and posts. These will be reflected on the water’s surface. Usually there are objects in or surrounding a body of water. So, while water will reflect sky color, it also has a color of its own. The water, if you eliminate the reflection, has its own ‘local’ color, which will depend on minerals, silt, or microscopic life suspended in the water as well as the depth of the water and whether you can see the bottom. That is, water is a translucent liquid with a reflective surface. Water tends to be translucent, like frosted glass, allowing light to pass through it, but diffusing the light at the same time. Yet, water is not usually a perfect reflecting surface (like a mirror). In contrast, when water is seen from a distance, the viewing angle is more acute, meaning that more of the light sky is reflected. The water in the foreground tends to be shallower, allowing a viewer to see more of the lake or river bottom. A graduated wash is preferable to a flat wash of a single unchanging value. When painting water, keep in mind that it would usually look better as a GRADUATED WASH, darker at the front and getting lighter as it recedes into the background. A yellow dawn or an orange sunset would similarly affect the color of the water that you see. A clear, blue sky does produce a blue sky reflection, whereas an overcast, stormy day could create a gray water surface. In general, the color of water is determined by the color of the sky. You might want to read Painting Begins With Looking And Seeing,, , to learn more about critical observation skills. It won’t be convincing at all! Instead, take the time to slow down and to closely OBSERVE and study reflections. As an artist, you mustn’t merely paint a blue wash with a few straight lines for ‘ripples’ and expect this to look convincing as water. The techniques used to paint reflections are determined by the characteristics of the water itself.īut before painting a water scene, it’s important to understand what causes the changes in water’s appearance. Your scene could show still water, a slow moving river, a rushing stream with whitewater, a windswept lake, water riffled by a soft breeze, a shallow puddle, rolling ocean swells, or crashing waves. Since there are numerous variations in the appearance of water, each painted differently, it makes sense that there are also differences in the way reflections are painted. I love to paint water! However, reflections can cause all kinds of problems, and be quite challenging to paint. Water is appealing! It can add interest, mood, and depth to a landscape. I’ve been painting a lot of water and reflections in my watercolor painting this summer.
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