Elizabeth Fluehr ArtZone

The following exercise was painted using the Soft Focus Technique of thick paint on damp paper. You can learn about this method in my video demonstration called Soft Focus Watercolor Techniques.

Stage 1.  Using just two tubes of paint (gamboge hue and cobalt blue) and the soft-focus method, I invent five soft lines that cross the page.

Stage 2.  Allowing myself to add a third color (red rose deep) I visualize a leaf and its long stem, and then make it happen using negative painting.

Stage 3.  Pretty much ignoring what I painted in Stage 1, I visualize and paint negatively a second leaf and stem. It's to the right a bit and upside down from the first one. I also add a third leaf idea in the lower left corner, this time painted positively.

Stage 4.  Still ignoring Stage 1, and still thinking about leaves, I use negative painting for another stem and leaf idea (horizontally in the lower right quadrant). When I consider the painting so far, I see that the eye bounces around the painting in all the light areas. Something must be done to establish restful areas.

Stage 5.  Here I start to use gouache mixed with watercolor to quiet down an area immediately right of the first leaf. While I'm doing it, I decide to turn it into something of a leaf shape itself. See that pink area I'm talking about?

Stage 6.  It's time to deactivate the white in the upper right corner with another pink leaf shape.

Stage 7.  And I add a third pink shape to shut down the last white on the right half of this painting. I am thinking now that I want whites limited to that first leaf and nearby areas. In comes a new violet shape from the left edge. Later I'll decide there was no justification for it, and it will be obliterated.

Stage 8.  I'm tiring and making bad decisions, especially the dashed curve made by lifting. Good grief! It makes me think of a highway center line. Time to set the painting aside overnight.

Stage 9.  With a fresh attitude, I rewet the painting in the morning and continue to this finish. I am pleasantly surprised at how easily my mop brush softens away the dashed curve and makes it disappear. Now I'm satisfied with the composition and am pleased that I've achieved restful areas in contrast to the more exciting areas, and that both are beautiful and interesting.