Painting reflective water that has some depth and movement is a bit different from painting reflections in still water. Where there is movement in the water, the colors of the trees and flowers on the shoreline are reflected using vertical strokes of a sponge, but the shapes are only suggested.
1-inch (25mm) flat
3⁄4-Inch (19mm) flat
no. 10 flat
no. 4 fan
four 14" × 14" (36cm × 36cm) stretched canvases, with 1 1⁄2-inch (4cm) thick, staple-free edges, by Fredrix
Creative Edge
FolkArt Sponge Painters
FolkArt HD Clear Medium
wide palette knife
narrow palette knife
1. Double-load Periwinkle and Wicker White on a sponge painter dressed with Clear Medium. Stroke in the sky color using horizontal motions across the top two canvases. Carry this color around the top and side edges of the canvases.
2. On the bottom two canvases, use the same colors but make vertical strokes with the sponge to block in the water area. Then pick up more medium and some Green Forest and begin stroking in the green color in the water using vertical strokes of the sponge.
3. Finish the green water area, picking up Thicket sometimes for the darker areas and Wicker White sometimes for the lighter areas and reflections. Keep your strokes vertical for the water area. This is what gives the look of reflections in moving water as opposed to the glassy “mirror image” reflections you would see in still water.
4. Using a wide palette knife and Wicker White, place in the white clouds using thick paint. Leave the clouds textured, don’t smooth them down. The background shadow trees are dabbed on with a sponge dressed with medium, using Forest Moss and Green Forest for some, and picking up a little Periwinkle for others. Pick up some Magenta and medium on the dirty sponge and dab on some very subtle pink color into the trees in the center. Drag this color down into the water area using vertical strokes of the sponge to create reflections.
5. With a 1-inch (25mm) flat loaded with Green Forest and Periwinkle, picking up a little Fresh Foliage sometimes, dab in the foliage of the large green tree on the right. Highlight with Wicker White and shade with Green Forest. For the shorter trees in front, use the dirty brush and pick up Forest Moss, Wicker White and Magenta.
6. At the far left side, use a no. 4 fan brush and Thicket and Fresh Foliage to tap in the foliage of the tall tree. Load a 1-inch (25mm) flat with Green Forest and Fresh Foliage and use the chisel edge to indicate water movement at the left side.
7. Use a 3⁄4-inch (19mm) flat double-loaded with Fresh Foliage and Wicker White to paint the lighter lily pads in the water area. Pick up Green Forest sometimes for darker green pads. Lily pads are round but because they are laying flat on the water, due to perspective they will have an oval or elliptical shape in the painting.
8. The water lily flowers are stroked in with a no. 10 flat double-loaded with Magenta and Wicker White. Keep the paint very thick for these flowers as you want them to stand up from the canvas surface.
9. The row of flowers along the shoreline on the right side is painted with the no. 10 flat. The colors are Brilliant Ultramarine, Magenta, Yellow Ochre, each highlighted with Wicker White.
10. With Green Forest and Periwinkle on a 1-inch (25mm) flat, pull a mass of spiky green iris leaves up from the bottom left corner. Pick up Fresh Foliage sometimes to highlight, and Magenta once in a while for color variation and to echo the color of the pink iris blossoms.
11. To paint the details of the foreground irises, load a 3⁄4-inch (19mm) flat with Magenta and Wicker White. Stroke three upper petals (the “standards”) and two lower petals (the “falls”) for each iris blossom. Pick up more Magenta sometimes and more white other times for color variations in the petals. Paint a couple of buds with one or two strokes.
12. Establish the shoreline under the row of flowers with Green Forest on a 3⁄4-inch (19mm) flat.
13. Paint the yellow beards in the centers of the irises with Yellow Light. Stroke the 3⁄4-inch (19mm) flat through Green Forest and touch into Magenta, and paint the stems of the irises with long vertical strokes.