Simplicity 1

I once wrote a blog post about the limited palette approach to creating art: Royal Colors.

The day that I started using a limited palette was the day that I started getting watercolor and color usage in general.  

~Royal Colors blog post

In word I will describe the thrill of creating a monochromatic painting: Mileage.

One easily overlooked quality of watercolor is that it is the closest material possible to painting with pure water.

Shock and awe came about as I was noodling with this little study above. It was almost 8 pm and I was being eaten alive by a mosquito herd in a remote part of an old piney forest. As I fought the quickly dipping sun I realized that after more than a dozen years of painting that the numerous techniques to laying watercolor on paper had sundry of applications. One painting I did while back at my old residence comes to mind. Little Tree, click on the title to see, was created on a scrap piece of illustration board with gouache (the sister media to watercolor). Yes, I had done this process successfully before. It was more intense and layered, but I knew it was possible.

An imense amount of value can 

be derived from a single swatch of 

watercolor on paper. 

It may dry slower than you think it should, but you can layer till your hearts desire with the exact same saturation of pigment. But that's not all.

Gradation can be created by continuing to saturate the water even on the paper.

You can create texture and depth by combining dry brush, wet on wet and saturation.







This little study done on a scrap of watercolor paper took no more than 20 minutes. I used one brush, one color, and a small volume of water.

Try it with your own set of paints, limitations can be liberating.