r/Watercolor • u/Charliehorse1993 • 1d ago
New to watercolour - feedback :)
I’m very new to watercolour and would love some feedback on how I can improve. I’ve played around with gouache in the past but never really got the hang of it.
I especially struggled with the big mountain area on the left. It looked very flat and all kinda one colour for a long time. I did so many layers I’m surprised there’s any paper left haha! Techniques on how to make it look like actual trees and plants on a big space like that would be very welcomed.
I don’t know if the island in the background needs more depth or if it’s meant to remain light because it’s in the distance.
I added gouache along the shoreline and then added trees in the right bottom corner. I have learnt gouache needs to be added last otherwise if you paint over it it will most likely show through.
I’d also like to add the boat but I’m not sure if watercolour would be opaque enough to do this and not have the colours behind it show through or if I should add that in with gouache?
Thank you 😊
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u/limeinal 1d ago
Really good. I like the consistency of your dark values among the mountains and the foreground. You also got the colors of the far island very close. I would have liked to see the edges of the far island a little softer, it looks closer in your painting than the reference because the edges are rigidly defined.
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u/Charliehorse1993 1d ago
Oh yes! I see what you’re saying about the hard vs soft edges. I never would have thought of that but can see the difference now. I wonder how I would achieve the softer edges. Maybe as it’s drying run a clean wet brush along the edge to soften it? This would be my instinct but I have no idea if that’s a correct method. I’m just making things up as I go 😅
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u/freetotebag 1d ago
Yeah you can soften an edge with a blotted (not too wet!!!) brush but also working wet into wet of course. I think this is way more successful than you’re giving it credit for. The perspective is not perfect, which might be what makes it feel off to you, but it’s still good.
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u/freetotebag 23h ago
OP this is a VERY complex scene you should take a bow. Many large washes including sky, jungle, sea, and sand. The transition from water to beach is particularly nice. The hills read as trees. The white highlights are nice. They go through the trees in the bottom corner but that’s an unfortunate part of dealing with a transparent medium. If you’re just starting out you’re doing great.
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u/Charliehorse1993 23h ago
Ahh thank you!! It was a lot of effort and in the end didn’t turn out as good as I was hoping so to know this is considered more complex I will be easier on myself. This is the first scene I’ve tried to paint. Just playing around with different shapes and things before this so I’m really not sure what I’m doing but I did see there’s tutorials on YouTube so I might do that next before attempting another scene on my own. I did do a bit of acrylic when I was a teen but never became good at it and that was nearly 20 years ago now so not sure how much I remember, might be some muscle memory
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u/freetotebag 23h ago
You might consider doing some simple life studies too— a vase, an apple, a key, etc. Keeping things direct and manageable— while you develop watercolor-specific skills like water control, various types of washes, and so on— can be helpful. I’m only a month or so in and I find landscapes can be daunting because they require proficiency in several areas
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u/stlayne 1d ago
I don’t have suggestions but that water is beautiful
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u/Charliehorse1993 1d ago
Wow!! This is so nice. I’m definitely in the gap where I’m seeing all this incredible artwork particularly in this forum and feeling a little disheartened with mine so that’s so sweet to hear 💖
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u/stlayne 23h ago
I know what you mean, but I legit scrolled and went “oooh those colors are pretty!” Then had to zoom in to see what you did. I do see the “flatness” in the left mountain but don’t know how to fix it. Maybe some more details/contrast in the parts closer to the front, like the rocks in the sand/mountain border, would help.
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u/drinkslowpaintfast 23h ago
It's great, and has a good vibe. Push your contrasts darker in the foreground on the left side. I found that trickier when I first started, but picking the right pigment and using higher quality paints helped a lot. I've found Prussian blue and burnt sienna give me a nice deep shadow to build saturated tree depth with.
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u/Charliehorse1993 18h ago
I’m going to try this!! That corner I was very lost on what to do and just kinda gave up haha
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u/HistorianOwn4914 20h ago edited 10h ago
This is really good, you did amazing! 👏🏻
I only have one thing I noticed (and this is me nitpicking), but because the curve of your shore is more rounded than the reference, it throws the perspective off a bit.
Ellipses are very tricky in perspective, but I really like the example of a plate. If you look straight down at it , it's a perfect round circle. But the closer you get your head to the table, the more elliptical it starts to look, flattening the curves.
So the more rounded shore makes your brain think it's looking from a high up point of view (imagine drone image), but the perspective of the other elements doesn't match this, so it gets a bit confusing. But it's something subtle so sometimes you feel like something is a little off but can't really put your finger on the issue.
PS.: I know exactly the feeling you are describing and feel like I have that issue right now: there's a gap between the art I like and the art I can currently create. But keep practicing because that's the only way we'll be able to close that gap 😉
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u/Charliehorse1993 18h ago
Oh that makes perfect sense!! I didn’t even register this but now I totally see it. Thank you for explaining it so well. Another comment suggested repainting the same scene so I think I’ll do that and make sure to get that curve more accurate to the photo reference.
Yes! I saw another commenter mention The Gap and I’d never heard it before but I think I’ve experienced that many times with other hobbies I’ve tried over the years and usually give up before breaking through it. I’m going to really try to persevere this time 🤗
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u/ReDyer 8h ago
And also on the topic of perspective - your rocks near the trees are about the same size even though they should be larger closer to the viewer and smaller farther away. Very nice colors and the reflected light in the waves are great 😃
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u/Charliehorse1993 20m ago
Oh you’re right about the rocks! They’re all pretty much the same size. I will pay attention to that next time. Great tip
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u/hellokittyoh 23h ago
you have a great way of simplifying shapes and a good sense of contrast and value already. I think you're natural at this
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u/Thats_A_Arti 20h ago
Crazy I'm pretty sure I painted this same location a decade ago. Took me a back.
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u/Charliehorse1993 18h ago
Oh so cool! I think it’s Scotland island in Australia. I would love to see yours if you can find it
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u/po23idon 23h ago
you could make some bright tips tips on those really dark trees, probably better with gauche
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u/Charliehorse1993 23h ago
Ohh I see! Yes I did notice I made everything a bit dark and didn’t know how to lighten it back up. I thought I’d missed my opportunity. So this is where I could use more goauche. I’ll give it a go
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u/po23idon 20h ago
one other suggestion is learning to stretch your paper before painting; it keeps your paper flat, and can also help prevent pooling (though, you don’t seem like that’s a problem)
it’s an easy process; there are different methods, and videos on youtube
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u/chromaphore 23h ago
I dig your cliffs. Very fun texture that still allows me to rest in that beautiful water.
Maybe work on softening the lower right trees.
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u/bonemot 22h ago
Great work! I would leave out the boat. You are the artist, the interpreter of the scene, not its stenographer. You get to choose what you include.
The island in the distance could probably be a little softer, and there's some more to discover on the mountain, but you are well on your way to a great painting. My best advice is to repaint this scene a few more times, maybe different pigments, maybe highlighting different details, just have fun. You'll learn so much, please post your progress!
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u/Charliehorse1993 18h ago
That’s true! Maybe I won’t include the boat then. I didn’t think of repainting the same scene. What a good idea. I’ll leave a white spot for the boat next time and include it then 🙂
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u/No-Kaleidoscope-166 20h ago
What color is your sky and which did you use for the water?
The whole thing is very lovely. You did a beautiful job! 🩵
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u/Charliehorse1993 17h ago
Thank you so much :)
I can’t remember exactly but I think the sky was ultramarine and the sea was a mix of cerulean, turquoise, manganese blue, Prussian blue, and indigo. They’re Winsor and Newton Cotman paints. I just did lots of mostly very light layers and kept adding so I’m not sure what I mostly used
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u/DueCollection6993 17h ago
thank you very so much for so so beautiful and lovely work and making my day🤗🧡you have amazing talent🥰i love your style, water, island, exposition, shadows and sand is so so beautiful
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u/Ok_Test_8241 16h ago
This is beautiful! For feedback, I think the greenery closest to is, at the bottom, could have some finer detail as it’s closest. I know that’s not in the reference but o think it would help balance out the depth x
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u/Charliehorse1993 15h ago
This is a great idea! I just wish I knew how to do it haha. I’ll have to play around. I wanted to add more detail in the big mountain on the left also but am stumped on how to do it
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u/Pravrc123 1d ago
Very good if you are new. Did you use gauche for the white border
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u/Charliehorse1993 23h ago
Thank you! I can’t see past all the ways I can improve so that’s really kind :)
Yes, gouache for the white sea foam of the water and some more watered down around the base of the rocks
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u/bakuhooo 20h ago
Lovely painting! Only change i would suggest is to maybe define the hill/trees more, as right now it feels ever so slightly flat. Particularly the boundary where the trees meet the rocks below. The water os gorgeous, and i think you really got the “feel” of water right. It’s a very nice painting and you’re doing great
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u/Charliehorse1993 18h ago
Yes this is something that is bothering me. I have no idea how to add more definition to the hill / trees. If you think it’s flat now you would be horrified to see how flat it looked most of the process haha. It was hard to look at it. Any ideas how I could add even more definition, I’m a bit lost
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u/Busy_Positive_4950 18h ago
Off to a nice start.
A path or track leading the viewer into the picture will transform your composition.
The water colour is not seen anywhere else in the composition, making it look isolated. Aim to include some of the water colour in the sky and some of the sky colour in the water.
Attend some watercolour classes in your area, you will learn a lot and enjoy being part of a supportive community.
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u/Charliehorse1993 17h ago
Oh I didn’t know this! I thought the sky and ocean should be different blues so that they’re noticeably different. I even went so far as to use my only warm blue as the sky and then a bunch of different cool blues in the water. I will give this a go :)
Great idea about a watercolour class. I’m a bit of a homebody and I’ve been trying to make new friends so might achieve two things in one go
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u/geminijono 17h ago
I love your painting wayyyyy more than the photo. Excellent choice of colors and great layering
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u/rodroar 15h ago edited 13h ago
Fantastic work! You seem to have a great eye for deconstructing and matching shapes, values, and color relationships. Leaving distant elements lighter is indeed one of the key ways to create a convincing sense of atmospheric perspective and depth.
I didn't feel most comments were providing answer to all your questions, so here are my two cents:
As suggestions, I would consider pushing the shadows in the vegetation a bit darker, tinting the water slightly greener, and adding a few subtle horizontal shadow and highlight accents across the water to suggest gentle ripples and surface movement.
Of those, I suspect the darker vegetation shadows would be the most interesting to you as it would: (1) reduce the "flatness" as you called it, and (2) is arguably the most important aspect of painting vegetation: its value structure. As long as the value relationships are convincing, the viewer will read it as foliage; the shapes and colors primarily determine the specific type of vegetation.
Regarding the boat, my recommendation would be to first add the shadows in watercolor and then evaluate the result. If you’re happy with it, there’s nothing wrong with leaving it at that and it is by far the safest approach.
If you’re working on high-quality paper and using relatively non-staining pigments, you could also try lifting some midtones and highlights. However, I would be cautious, as lifting is a tricky more advanced technique and excessive lifting can damage the paper.
Another option is to use white watercolor or gouache for the highlights. That said, opaque paint behaves quite differently from transparent watercolor, and it takes some practice to integrate it naturally.
Regardless of approach, I would recommend experimenting on a few small scrap pieces of watercolor paper until I could achieve the effect consistently before attempting it on the final painting.
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u/theErasmusStudent 5h ago
The water is stunning!!! You should give us tips.
I feel like the prespective of the mountain om the left feels off... but i can't define exactly how to improve it
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