The pretty gate and pink flowers cascading over this entrance are spectacular. A week ago I did the drawing below plein air or on location. Painting and drawing on location captures the essence of a place. The sights, colors, noise and even smells add to any drawing or painting done on location. I used this pen and ink sketch to paint the scene later in my studio.
Starting with pencil I drew the pillars surrounding the gate. I wanted to get the perspective right so I took my time. From there I added the pretty gate and finished up with the foliage and flowers.
Using a Micron pen I finished the drawing with the black ink. For the shadow areas I used cross-hatching for the values.
Later in the week I decided to paint the scene in gouache paint. An opaque watercolor, gouache has been around for a long time. I used it in art school quite a bit but really haven’t painted with the medium in years.
“Pretty Gate with Flowers”, 5x 8 inch gouache on paper, ©2017 PJ Cook.
Using a water-media sketchbook I completed the painting shown above. I used the sketch I did plein air to capture the true essence of the pretty gate and flowering arch. I loved the shadows from the flowers cast on the entrance so I focused on those with pretty violet colors.
Have you painted a scene from a drawing or sketch that was done on location? Share your experience with a comment below. Thanks.
this was a beautiful simple watercolor. I am anxious to try it myself. I like alot of artists have a hard time paring the image down to its simplest and focus on that – thank you for posting this to inspire us!
Thanks Paula, I’m always trying to look for the larger shapes in a scene that I am painting. There is always so much to look at and it can be hard to focus on what is important. This one is part of a series that I have been doing of doors and gates.
Thanks and good luck painting!