The Great Lake, Castle Howard

Watercolour Technique. The Great Lake, Castle Howard

This watercolour - completed from a photograph taken early in the morning in March 2017 at one of my favourite locations - Castle Howard in North Yorkshire. From this side of the great lake you can look up to the right to make out the house in the distance. The heads of the reeds catching the sun on the left was a striking effect against the dark background of the distant trees. The different tonal values reflecting of the surface of the water made for added interest into the picture.

The Process.
1. Working on Arches 300gsm NOT surface Watercolour Paper. Started with a wash of yellow ochre, adding more pigment to certain areas while still wet and bringing in some cerulean blue in to the sky.

2. A mixture of yellow ochre, burnt umber, ultramarine and paynes grey added over the distant trees, darker parts of the lake and the foreground. While still wet, added much more ppigment to distinguish between the darker and the lighter values. Actually adding much more pigment than you think necessary as the colour dulls as it drys.

Force-dry with a hairdryer - this drastically reduces drying time allowing to work quickly.



4. Pick out details such as visible branches in the distance

5. Foreground just add sap green and crimson to previous mixture. Applying plenty of pigment to increase the intensity of the colour as moving closer to the foreground.

6. Pick out individual reeds and stems in the foreground using the darkest mixture of pigments. Dry.

7. I used a blade to Scratch out with a few highlights on the surface of the water and some foreground highlights.

8. Done.