Sunset on the Trent
30th April 2023
In: Art
Two versions of a sunset scene from a photograph taken along the River Trent in February. The first is a digital painting completed in Procreate and the second is a watercolour.
I often think that I should do more digital painting as much of functionality is similar to photography software e.g. layers, layer options, brushes, selection tools colour picking, swatches etc.
The difficulty, however, is the number of options. There are so many apps and so many different ways to draw and paint it is hard to know where to start and, when I do, I seem to be constantly experimenting…
May be starting this blog will help to organise my approach, even if this is just reporting on the options that I try. For example, this particular digital painting was inspired by James Juliet Art Tutorials on YouTube. James has a very structured approach which is easy to follow and very effective.
I used some of James’ steps to produce the following sunset scene in Procreate on an iPad. Three brushes were used: the soft brush for the underpainting and sky, the burnt tree brush for the foreground grassy textures and the leatherwood brush for the trees.
As I was painting the above scene, I was thinking about the steps I would take if I was producing a watercolour e.g. the sequence of washes, where the hard a soft edges might be, and how to render the details. Consequently, it was a small step to put this thinking in practice and the learning allowed me to complete the watercolour without using a reference picture or indeed an outline drawing. The only guide I drew was the horizon line and I applied masking fluid for the sun.
Overall, I am not sure about the results but I do like the process of working out a scene in a digital format and then translating it to watercolour. This is the big take away from this exercise and one I will use again.
I often think that I should do more digital painting as much of functionality is similar to photography software e.g. layers, layer options, brushes, selection tools colour picking, swatches etc.
The difficulty, however, is the number of options. There are so many apps and so many different ways to draw and paint it is hard to know where to start and, when I do, I seem to be constantly experimenting…
May be starting this blog will help to organise my approach, even if this is just reporting on the options that I try. For example, this particular digital painting was inspired by James Juliet Art Tutorials on YouTube. James has a very structured approach which is easy to follow and very effective.
I used some of James’ steps to produce the following sunset scene in Procreate on an iPad. Three brushes were used: the soft brush for the underpainting and sky, the burnt tree brush for the foreground grassy textures and the leatherwood brush for the trees.
As I was painting the above scene, I was thinking about the steps I would take if I was producing a watercolour e.g. the sequence of washes, where the hard a soft edges might be, and how to render the details. Consequently, it was a small step to put this thinking in practice and the learning allowed me to complete the watercolour without using a reference picture or indeed an outline drawing. The only guide I drew was the horizon line and I applied masking fluid for the sun.
Overall, I am not sure about the results but I do like the process of working out a scene in a digital format and then translating it to watercolour. This is the big take away from this exercise and one I will use again.