Sydney Harbour to the West

I have finished this painting, for which I posted the drawing some time ago, and have entered it into the Sydney Easter Show.

Watercolor Painting for Sydney harbor viewed to the west

Haven't posted for some time so thought this would be a painting you might like to look at. It was painted on Arches Cold Press (Medium) 300 gsm paper using a full sheet.

After finishing the painting I realised all the cars were way to small so I had to spend a couple of days carefully lifting out the old ones and painting the new bigger ones back in. This is the final version.

To put things in perspective the Sydney harbor bridge is about one mile long so the distant shore is a long way away.

I intend to paint this scene a few times, playing with the light for different effects and with varying levels of detail.

For now I will have a break from it and paint some other subject. All told it took me over a week to finish this watercolor painting which is a lot longer than I normally like to take but sometimes it just can't be helped for the subject being tackled.

I intend to publish this painting as a demonstration on my Painting With Watercolors website in the future.

Happy painting,

Joe

Sydney Harbor my latest watercolor painting

Sydney Harbor my latest watercolor painting project

This is my current watercolor painting project which I am working on to enter in the Sydney Royal Easter show in about 6 weeks. I have been thinking about how to tackle it for some time as it has way more detail in the scene than I normally like to put into my watercolor paintings. For the distance (North Sydney) across the harbor I will just paint over the pencil marks with a varied watercolor wash so as not to bring it forward - and so I don't go crazy with all the detail!

My photo reference was taken from the Island Shangri La Hotel, a big hotel at The Rocks, in Sydney, about two years ago.

I want this to be a sunset scene (sun sets on the left of the painting) so I can play up the lights and darks. I have not drawn in a lot of the detail on the Sydney Harbor Bridge as I will do the last of that directly with the watercolor.

Happy painting,

Joe
www.paintingwithwatercolors.com

Watercolor Painting Sunrise over The Three Sisters, Blue Mountains, Australia

Sunrise over The Three Sisters, Blue Mountians, Australia

Here is my latest watercolour painting. I think the title tells you all about it really. I particularly like this type of scene and feel it is just made for watercolour. It is mostly a wet on wet painting with warm and cool colours flowing into one another. The dark silhouette of the three sisters helps add to the feeling of space in the painting. As soon as I saw the scene I new I had to paint it!

The Three Sisters are a rock outcrop in the Blue Mountains, just outside of Sydney, Australia.

The painting’s dimensions are 56cm x 18 cm. It was painted on Arches Cold Press, 300 g.s.m. paper.

At some point I will post it as a demonstration on my Painting With Watercolors website, but not for a while as I need to wrap up a few other projects first.

Happy painting,

Joe

Painting a fog and mist filled landscape

Mt Hotham in the Victorian Ski fields

I have just posted my latest watercolor demonstration of a fog and mist filled Australian alpine landscape.

You can find it at this location on my PaintingWithWatercolors website: How to paint and fog and mist filled landscape.

The photo above is the reference I used for the demonstration. I moved things around to create the type of painting I was after which was really to capture the calm atmospheric feeling of this scene.

I am quite happy with the result.

Happy painting
Joe
www.paintingwithwatercolors.com

Wolf Dawn by Susan Cartwright

Watercolor painting for cover of Wolf Dawn

Well this is a bit of a different painting for me. My wife has recently published her first science fiction and fantasy book and guess who she got to do the cover for her!

If you like Science Fiction and Fantasy you can read a little bit about her story on her website: www.susancartwright.com

Happy painting,


Joe
www.watercolorpainting.com

Benefits of having an artist's online portfolio website

I have just posted an article on the benefits of an artist having an online portfolio website. I also discuss some options for creating such a website from the use of free software such as Blogger for creating a blog, through to how to make a website with free or low cost software like WordPress which has your own unique web name or url.

If you would like to read it you can find it at : Websites for Artists

Happy Painting

Joe Cartwright
www.paintingwithwatercolors.com
www.joecartwright.com.au

His and Hers

His and Hers

This is my most recent watercolor painting. It was painted on Arches Cold Press watercolor paper, 300 g.s.m.weight. Its painted size is 27cm x 37cm.

The painting was done as a commission for a lady to give to her husband for their anniversary. They met many years ago when they parked their boats next to one another.  His is the one on the left..

Because of the message to the painting, I left out all other boats and buildings and am very happy with the final result.

I will be publishing this painting as a demonstration on my watercolor painting site in the future.

Happy painting,

Joe Cartwright

www.paintingwithwatercolors.com

Victoria Bridge Penrith Australia

This is a watercolor painting of a river scene I finished on the weekend.
It is painted on a quarter sheet of Arches Cold Press, 300 gsm paper.
The painting is primarily of the reflections, the bridge itself is not that inspiring by the reflections were great.
As it was a misty morning with the mist just rising, there was not a lot of color around, so this is  basically a tonal painting, which is a subject I naturally gravitate towards.
The small row boat allowed me to add a little color to the scene and also set the location of the painting, as there is a rowing club near this bridge.

Happy painting,

Joe Cartwright
www.paintingwithwatercolors.com

Reflections and Shadows when Painting with Watercolors

Figure 1: Reflections of buildings and boats, Mevagissey, Cornwall, UK

I have just posted an article on my Painting With Watercolors web site covering the topic of shadows and reflections with watercolor.

It is not meant to be an exhaustive article but more one that covers some point I have found students often have difficulty with their watercolor painting of these subjects.

I have just recently returned from a five week overseas trip during which I collected some very useful photographs on the subject of reflections and shadows which I have included in the article.

The article can be found here: Painting reflections and shadows

Happy painting,

Joe Cartwright

www.paintingwithwatercolors.com

How to Paint Eucalyptus Trees in Watercolor

Hi Folks,

I have just finished my demonstration on how to paint gum trees with watercolor.  In Australia you can't paint landscapes without knowing how to paint eucalyptus trees.  We have many different types but I have settled on a light barked tree as they can be very impressive when done well.

My demo isn't meant to be a full painting. I just wanted to put down all the steps, that I normally run through with my students, with enough detail that they can easily follow along with their own work.

Step by Step how to paint gum tree demonstration

You can find the full demonstration on my Painting with Watercolor site here: How to Paint Gum Trees

Happy painting,

Joe Cartwright