FINISHED PAINTING
House Portrait, watercolour on Not watercolour paper, 140lb (300gsm), 15322in (38356cm). I enlarged areas using Photoshop to see details. The trick is to add detail, but not too much. I squinted to see the overall values/tones. With my fine-pointed sable brush I painted shingles on the roof and the overhang tile area. Using a flat, damp sable brush I lifted out horizontals lines on the roof to indicate more shingles. I used watercolour pencils: white and black to refine the verticals with my T-square, and coloured ones for flowers and leaves. I carefully rendered the dog, basket, lamp etc – objects that are precious memories for the owner. I darkened the base of the house and back tree line to make the house sit solidly on the ground. To flatten the finished painting I dampened the back and then laid it face down between weighted boards until it was dry