Painting rocks

After the river reflections were finished and fully dry I painted in some rock shapes on the river banks along with some quick brush strokes to imitate fallen branches and twigs. Painting rocks like these does not require a lot of effort, they are just quick brush strokes that represent rocks – no detail.

I also put in some shadows on the shore where needed. The watercolor (watercolour) paints I used for the shadows were French Ultramarine and a little Alizarin Crimson – lean this color mix towards the blue not the red.

Finishing off the watercolor painting

The final steps with this painting were to paint the last of the details.

The birds in the sky, again positioned to take advantage of the light colored cloud and to draw the eye towards the focal point of the painting which was the distant view of the river.

I also added the man walking along the edge of the river with his dog. and finally the dead branch in bottom right hand section of the river, along with its reflection which was kept quite light.

Being happy with the final result I signed the painting and it was complete.

Should you have any questions about this demonstration or watercolor painting in general please let me know through my Contact page.