Spring in the air and, after several Live in Lockdown tutorials on our Facebook page, we decided to venture out of doors. This is a scene looking down the road as you arrive in our village of Pouzolles here in the south of France. The small river is running at the moment but within a few weeks, will be drying up until next Autumn.

This is the reference photo you can use, should you like to have a go at painting the scene. below you’ll find a step by step guide, an original pencil sketch PLUS a link to the full video on our YouTube channel.

 

Here’s the 6 step break down which I hope will help. My tip would be to keep your water clean, your colours fresh and keep in mind that the sun is coming from the right hand side – i.e. shadows. I sketched the scene with a 2B pencil onto 420gsm rough Saunders Waterford watercolour paper which was taped onto a piece of hardboard.The watercolours used, were as follows: Cerulean Blue, Tropical Pthalo Blue, Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Payne’s Grey, Sap Green and Hooker’s Green with sparkles and flowers added with some Gouache Zinc White.

 

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Here’s the drawing which may help you set up.

 

And here’s the link to the video we did on our YouTube channel. The streaming isn’t perfect all the time but we hope it’ll help give you the atmosphere of the day. The great thing about watching the video is that you can pause and rewind at anytime.  If you join us on one of our Painting Holidays in France this could well be one of the locations we paint from.

Best Wishes Simon and Monica.