Two Sailboats 

For this project I am using watercolour on 100% Cotton Paper. The size of the block is 9” x 12” and I've set myself a time limit of 4 hours for the painting. Also I am using a limited pallet of colours. Colbalt / French Ultramarine. Alizarin Crimson. Raw Sienna and Burnt Umber. 

I’m sorry that the colours in some of the initial stages are a little dull but the final one shows the colours more truly.

Step 1

I scaled the image to the page, emphasising on more sky, this should hopefully speed up the painting and stop me from getting bogged down in too much detail. As I wanted to do the whole sky and the under colour for the sea in one hit. I also didn't want to use masking fluid, so I wet the paper with clean water everywhere EXCEPT the boats. Then with a single colour (cobalt blue) I could paint away from the sails and ignoring any real idea of the horizon. 

Step 2 

Using cobalt / French Ultramarine I sketched in the boats lightly and added the wood of the masts. The mast colour was done using raw Sienna for the base colour and adding a little burnt umber just on one side this shading helps to make the mast appear round.  

Step 3

Next it is the sails, to help to create the 3D effect of the white sails, the shape is all created by the shadows, as white is never white Mixing a light grey colour first and making it a very light wash we can start to put in the folds of the sails. I tend to work one section at a time to stop from getting confused and when I am happy I make the mix gradually darker to intensify the shadow. I use a mix of ultramarine and alizarin crimson for my shadow colour pretty much 90% of the time.   

Step 4 / Step 5

Continuing the sails shadows for the second boat and adding a little detail of rigging. Most of these

‘details’ are just sketchy lines and an indication of colour. The same is true for the ‘figures’ at the back of the boat, its just an impression. Step 5 just shows more ‘details’ added to suggest people and more rigging. 

Step 6

The last portion was adding the sea; again using all the same colours but leaving some white under the boats it gives the impression of spray / bow waves; reflections of the sails in the water and hopefully some movement too.  

In total this took me just over 4 hrs so not quite meeting my target. I tried as far as possible to make my main focus on the contrast and feeling of movement in the piece as opposed to details. I hope you have fun if you try this and I would love to see what you have created so we can all share.  

Looking forward to writing my next blog for you. If you have a preference for a medium or subject matter please let me know

Ruth