Vineyards in autumn

 A watercolor from start to finish: Vineyards in autumn

In November, the vineyards in our town take these beautiful yellow colors. Last year, we had lots of fog and it gave a very misty atmosphere. This year, we were lucky to have a few days of bright blue sky. I decided to go photo hunting in the vineyards and get some inspiration for watercolors.

I did a youtube video on the first steps of this painting, go and watch it if you want to see the process!

Understanding the landscape - playing with alcohol-based markers

My first step whenever I'm painting a new subject, especially an intimidating one, is to work on small rough sketches to understand better the subject. For this first step, I find it very freeing to work in alcohol-based markers. 

Value study

First, I did a value skecth with my grey markers. I think I used too many different greys, but it was very nice to feel more comfortable with the subject.

Landscapes in alcohol-based markers

I'm also trying to improve drawing landscapes with alcohol-based markers. So, after this first value study, I tried another small sketch with colors. I really like how crazy landscapes turn out with alcohol-based markers. You have to work on big shapes, which helps a lot in simplifying the subject. It's also a funny process to pick and chose colors, as you cannot get a variety of colors from the same marker. You hav to work in layers, each one adding some depth to the underneath ones. 

I love this phase of exploring medium, when you learn how the different colors interact, which process works best with this specific medium, etc. 

Playing with alcohol-based markers

Switching to watercolors

Choosing the colors

Once this first dabble was done, I switched to watercolors. I used my 100 % cellulose paper, so I could not really work on the paint flow and the layers (as the 100 % cotton paper does not react at all the same way as the 100 % cellulose one), but more on the colors I wanted to use. I did two small sketches, using two different limited palettes and playing with slightly different compositions.

In my final painting, I decided to use a mix of both palettes, but still working with limited colors.

Choosing a palette

Moving on to the final painting

When I started working with my 100 % watercolor paper, I already felt more comfortable with the subject, as I had spent several days working with it.

During the first layers, I worked a lot wet-on-wet to put the colors in place. I slowly started to add depth by working on my darks and adding first details on the following layers. I really put an emphasis on the contrast. I wanted to have a sharp contrast beween the bright yellow and the very dark shadows that are here all day in autumn and winter.

However, after a first pass on the painting, something was looking weird, and I was not so happy with the result. I let the watercolor aside for a few days (this is when my Youtube video ends, if you want to see how the "intermediate" result looked).

When I came back to the watercolor, I noticed that my perspective was not working so well. I used a new layer to work specifically on the moutains and the foreground. I also added a tiny bit of yellow gouache to make the leaves pop more, as my yellow watercolor was too transparent to stand out from the purple-ish background. I am not sure this last pass on the painting solved all of the issues, but it definitely helped in some areas. I decided to call it done there. Always something difficult to do!

The final painting! (on a sunny day)

Lessons learned

As which every painting, I learn a lot on my medium, paper, etc. How they react? How they interact? Which process works best? etc. 

I also improve so much with my drawing skills, as each new subject is a new challenge. I learn how to learn! How do you tackle a new subject? How do you break down a complex landscape in simplified shapes?

But one thing - among many - that I want to keep from this painting is patience. I am a very impatient painter, and I don't like coming back to a painting after I left it. However, leaving a painting / drawing for a few days before finishing it helps a lot in seeing what worked and what did not work. It does not mean that you will be able to solve all the issues, but you can understand a lot by coming back to it. And side benefit: you can be sure that the layers are entirely dry!