Watercolor and Charcoal

This is a mixed media piece that I completed over the summer.  It was done with watercolor and charcoal.  I started with a rough contour drawing from a photograph.  I then began painting with the watercolor.  I tried not to fixate too much on the placement of color when I was painting.  A lot of wet painting techniques were used in order for the colors to bleed together.  While the paint was still wet, I began drawing with charcoal.  Because of the wetness of the paper, I was able to blend the charcoal effectively to create some “dirty” values.  In some areas, some wet painting was done over the charcoal.  After the paint and charcoal were dry, I went back and made some touchups with black and white charcoal.

Color choice was important to me in finishing this piece.  I wanted to use soft colors that would best represent the calm mood of the piece.  Contrasting colors used in the background and foreground help to establish a sense of space in the piece.