Portraying Water
 Water is one of the most popular painting subjects, in water-colour
yet it isn't easy to get it right. One nice thing about water is that it
has rhythm in its movement and will generally repeat the sequence so can
catch that fleeting movement. again.... and... again. Water, like clouds
is usually in motion so you must observe the way it looks at one
instance and catch that time on paper.
One thing that dawned on me over the years is just how little you
need to do when you are painting a river to make it look authentic whole
areas can be just left as a flat wash. Lets start with the river.
Imagine your'e standing on the banks of the Kelani River. It's a huge
river with a smooth flow in and around you'll find boats of all shapes
and sizes, people bathing and some washing clothes. Their size in
relation to their surroundings gives a dramatic impression of the sheer
scale and grandeur of the natural world.
Always try to imagine the river as a soft mirror, reflecting
everything above it. Apart from when it is muddy and in flood a river
firstly reflects the colour of the sky, be it blue or stormy grey.
Secondly, it reflects the things that surround it trees, huts, earth,
and bridges all of course upside down. I'am a complete addict when it
comes to painting water. Whenever I pass, a river, a stream or even a
pond I have this irresistible urge to stop and keep watching its
movements, like any dog who can never pass a lamp post without having an
investigation.
Reflections in water
Reflections in particular can be confusing and are often not well
understood by many water colourists. Painting reflections in water takes
practice and close observation, novice painters usually come unstuck
because first they don't understand the way reflections behave and
second they are too timid in their approach.
In the painting shown here, I have titled 'floods'. Notice the
reflections of the huts, trees and the distant houses. Even the calmest
water is often disturbed by ripples and current that break up and
distort reflections, thus creating lovely wavering patterns.
Here the reflections of the huts and the trees are rendered with dark
limpid washes that give a life like impression of the smooth gently
undulating surface of the water. I have emphasized the smooth glassiness
of the water through the use of strong contrasts of light and dark tone.
Transparent glazes are applied one on top of the other to build up
depth of tone and colour. Note how strong and well defined they are.
Observe its reflections and how it colours reflected object. Also how
the reflected light acts on the objects around it and the water coloured
because of its dirt content either yellowish or brownish.
The dark reflections should be done as quickly and decisively as
possible. On large stretches of water the surface is made very light
where it's farther away and dark in the foreground. This is because the
horizon reflects the low, lighter part of the sky, but close to the
shore the water picks up the darker colour from the sky above.
Stream water
Also, because we are looking down at it, the foreground water
transmits some of the colour of the bottom.
With a large body of water some parts of the surface are smooth while
others are ruffled by wind. Smooth water reflects the sky like a mirror
but rough water picks up and relays the light from any directions,
either darker or lighter than the sky depending on the prevailing
conditions.
Water in a stream tumbles in some parts and flows in others. Watch
its movements very carefully for quite a long time and then try and
paint a generalisation of this movement. Brush strokes should follow the
action of the water. Don't put down every ripple because rushing water
looks much better when it's understated, and the absence of detail gives
an impression of rapid movement.
Open sea water
Open sea and crashing surf are in constant motion, but is recurring
movement, because of the agitated surface action, there is little if any
reflection. Open sea water has no colour of its own (it's clear) but
reflects the colour of the sky overhead.
The rougher the water the darker the colour, but seas are usually
darker than the sky above. Generally, the sea is darker up close and
lighter as it recedes, unless sky conditions cause a variation.
Remember that the Ocean is flat so you should keep you brush strokes
horizontal and not at various angles. Waves nearby appear greenish, as
do curling rollers. The white spray, splash, caps and surf can be masked
out at first to preserver the whiteness, or can simply be left
unpainted.
Hardly any part is pure white, so some light values will probably
help round the crashing forms and declare them logical. Simplify the
movement and generalize the action. Put down some of the rocks, waves or
splashes, don't try to incorporate them all.
Main faults that crop up
What are the main faults that crop up? There's no doubt at all about
what is the most command fault, it is over-elaboration, trying to put in
every ripple and patch of light that momentarily catches your eye, most
of which move around with the breeze anyway. It's even worse with
flowing water.
The solution
One of the commonest faults in beginner's paintings is that they
contain to many irrelevant and distracting details that dilute or even
destroy the message of the picture.
The secret of painting water is to 'edit out' all the superfluous
details and go for the bigger masses of tone and colour. You have
probably heard the saying 'Less is more' and no where does this apply
more readily than in the painting of water.
Achieving the smooth, glassy look of water requires surprisingly
little effort; often a few sweeping strokes with a broad brush on damp
paper are enough to convey the effect you want. You may leave much of
the paper bare and puts in just a few telling ripples and reflections,
which are all that's needed to spell 'water'.
Tissa Hewavitharana
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