Several years ago one of my granddaughters visited New York City with a friend, and sent back a few photographs. I was intrigued by the idea of doing a quick (well, semi-quick) watercolor sketch of the two teenagers in sunglasses. After I used my MacBook's photo app to crop out the surroundings, I simply enlarged the image and concentrated on capturing their sunlit smiles.
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| Step 1 |
I sketched in a few details in pencil, but mostly wanted to rely on my eye and a limited palette of transparent colors to build the shapes and emphasize light and shadow. I tried to remember to stop every now and then to capture the progress of my painting –– always a challenge for me once I get started! For the first two steps, I worked exclusively with my favorite #12 Cosmo-Top Spin round brush, as it holds a good point. Colors used in the first two steps: Holbein's Burnt Sienna and Mineral Violet; and Winsor & Newton's French Ultramarine, Burnt Umber, and Sepia. By step 3, and in the final version, I added a few other colors, to help develop shading, add details to the sunglasses, and add the jackets and the background. I also switched to a smaller brush –– a Robert Simmons #4 white sable (synthetic). Colors added in these final steps: Winsor & Newton's Permanent Rose, Cobalt Blue, Raw Umber, Green Gold, and Winsor Blue GS; also Holbein's Verditer Blue.
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| Step 2 |
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| Step 3 |
