Painting Outdoors: Watercolor Tree Branch

March has barely arrived, but spring is already knocking really loudly at the door of North TX and the door is about to burst open with bright flowers, fresh leaves and new life. (I'm excited!) As I mentioned in a previous post, I am working toward painting en plein air, or painting scenery and landscape while outside.
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05mar2020_steemit_enternamehere_watercolor_tree_branch_thumbnail__20200304_224421.jpg

This tree painting session was not a plein air exercise, it was more of a self-test. I wanted to see how well my setup would work without going too far from home in case I found I needed any additional supplies while painting. So I trekked all the way to the back yard.

Another part of the test was working with the clock. It was about 20 minutes before last light when I sat down (still need to get a stand up easel/rig in this piece!) to sketch the basis for this quick tree branch. The sky was overcast, providing a flat grey-feeling light. I had to work quickly or else it would be too dark to work.

First I made a very loose pencil sketch to let the paint do more of the talking than the rigid lines of the leaf shapes. (That was the plan, anyway.) To keep things loose and free, I barely looked at the paper while sketching, focusing mostly on looking at the shapes of the leaves and the composition and grouping of branches and leaf clusters.

The following evening, around the same time, I went to the same spot as the previous evening to put the first layer of watercolor on the paper. Again, it was mostly overcast. But there were a few fleeting moments when the quickly-fading sun illuminated the clouds, turning them pink from below, which caused the lighting to become noticably brighter and warmer for a brief time. After that, it seemed like the night started to pour in very quickly, and it was time to pack it up and go back inside.

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04mar2020_steemit_enternamehere_watercolor_tree_branch_first-layer__20200303_220515.jpg

_{The first layer of watercolor}

Finally, the next morning at the desk, I put the dark black-brown of the branch on the page and added some other color details, like making the side edges of the page warmer and adding more yellow to light green areas. Overall it is a satisfying page for me. What I take away from it is: A) Lay down a base wash first. B) Paint to the conditions-if lighting is dark, match the paint. C) Watercolor is good times (I had fun).

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_Done

Final Thoughts and Reference

This was a relaxing and challenging hour of painting. I see room for improvement, but mostly it's a likable finished product. Definitely looking forward to painting MORE in the coming weeks, in addition to daily sketching. The finished product is great, it's necessary, it's "the point". But getting there and enjoying is part of the process.

I read a recent post by theycallmedan where he said,

...quitting is contagious and when you're not fighting for something bigger than yourself it makes quitting an option.

I ~~feel like~~ have felt like a quitter of steemit in the past. But I just keep making my way back here. Now that SMTs and Communities are live, it is more exciting time than ever to be a part of our blockchain. So I am very grateful for this time here and for your votes. I REALLY appreciate all the support! I want to continue being an active ~~member~~ guest of OCA.
I will prove I am interested and involved here by continuing to post and curate content.

Reference of Subject Tree

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Thank You Everyone for reading! Leave your remarks, opinions, thoughts and other feedback in the comments :-D

Also, here are some off blockchain links for anyone interested in learning a little bit more about plein air painting and artists.