This week I asked my class to choose a painting by a master watercolourist. Once you have chosen a painting from a master, try to find a similar subject and or composition in one of your own photo references. Ideally, I would like people to analyze what the master has done to interpret and executed the subject. You may wish to copy this painting as a way to study what was done. Next I would like you to try painting from your own reference using the same style as the master painting that you have chosen.
I chose to work from a painting by Winslow Homer.
Winslow Homer, "Waterfall in the Adirondacks", ca. 1889.
I tried to follow Homer's simplification of the landscape and focus on the falls as the main subject. He has used confining darks to hold the viewer's eye. The linear fallen trees arch to keep the eye in the painting. The figure defines the scale but does not take away from the main event - the falls.
This is my study using a photo I had taken of Tupperville Falls. I was not able to resist putting some texture on the rocks but I tried to keep the shapes large and simplified. This painting is 6.5 x 10.5 inches as compared to the Homer's 13.5 x 19.5 image but I am happy with the strength of the statement in this small format.
