It is often satisfying to look at a landscape in microcosm. If the larger landscape is daunting to you, if there seem to be too many details or if you just simply enjoy slowing down and paying a kind of Zen-like attention to this more intimate world, you will enjoy this approach.
There are a thousand possibilities when you begin to consider what to paint. Open your eyes and look around you—there is never a shortage of paintable subjects. A single flower growing in the crook of a giant oak’s root system, a closeup of a gnarled limb and branches or the indomitable patch of sea grass growing from granite rocks—all of these make perfect subjects for a more intimate approach.
Arches hot-pressed watercolor paper
blue, green and yellow hues of your choice
blue, brown and red-brown hues of your choice
2-inch (51mm) flat
To paint this scene of sea grasses, first sketch in the basic shapes of the rocks. Locate where the grasses will be and protect them with liquid mask applied with the end of an old bamboo pen. Then allow everything to dry before proceeding. Next, mix good strong washes of warm red-brown, dark brown and the deepest blue Lyra watercolor crayon and lay these on your paper with a wide, flat brush to provide a strong, free underwash for the painting. Use some of the darkest darks at the base of the grasses for good, strong contrast. Mixing the three colors will give you strong, dark hues.
When the first layer is dry, begin to add details—planes, shadows and small sharp cracks, following the interesting linear quality of the rocks. Blend these with clear water and a 2-inch (51mm) watercolor brush.
Remove the mask by lifting one edge and pulling it as gently as possible away from the paper so as not to damage the surface. Then begin detailing the grasses, keeping them fairly light shades of green, yellow and blue so they stand out against the shadows. I used a yellowish spring green, a warm light yellow and the same deep cool blue, greatly diluted.
SEA GRASS
Watercolor and watercolor pencil on Arches hot-pressed watercolor paper
7" × 10" (18cm × 25cm)
Finally, add the rest of the details, shading the clumps of grass to give them a slight dimensionality, paying attention to the warm brown and reddish tips of the blades, deepening the shadows behind them. Add more texture to the rocks as well. Wet some of this detail to blend and allow some to remain dry and very linear until you are satisfied that the painting is complete.