Welcome to Week 20 of the Creative Monday Challenge! This week we will be painting water, whether a mountain stream, lake or the low country marshlands. For Mountain Blues I used a palette of cool shades of greens and blues and reflected those colors along with a hint of mauve in to the stream.
I stretched my colors beyond realism with Winter Symphony and used warm shades of pink, mauve and orange with a little bit of blue and purple. The key to painting water is to wet the area first and use a light touch with the paint, letting the colors mix and mingle. I also like to leave some white areas to suggest light reflecting off of the water and add a little sparkle.
Rocky Stream is an example of fast running water and a small waterfall around the rocks. I wet the water area first and painted with shades of blue, brushing in the direction of the water flow. For the frothy, white water at the botton of the small waterfall, I used the tip of a round brush to add dots of color and then sprinkled salt for more texture.
The water is the main subject and focal point for Sunset on the Marsh and I went to town with bright, warn colors. I added some purple and blue in the foreground of the water and used horizontal strokes. I kept the land and tree masses darker with very little definition to provide contrast and keep the focus on the water and sky.
I hope you enjoy this week's Creative Challenge and if you are new to Creative Monday I would love to have you join us. You can read more about it and get info on joining the free Facebook Group here.
