Wednesday, 24 June 2026

30x30 Direct Watercolour Challenge *26 The Piper

 


Boer War again. Showing the drummer boy in the last, the piper here seemed a nice companion piece. Bagpipes are a marmite instrument, I think but I find them rather stirring. Apart from anything else I wanted to do a better job with the colour of the khaki uniforms of the soldiers than I did with the previous picture. This was another one I took just a few process photos of

Stage 1 – once again, I started by painting in the blocks of colour of the main shapes, all in very light shades that I could paint over or leave as they were depending on the effect that I wanted to achieve.

Stage 2

I added the first slightly darker layers of shading to the different areas of the painting.In some part sof the painting I would add another two layers onto the two that have already been applied in this photograph.

Stage 3

Darker layers added and now the figure has far more substance, particularly noticeable in the detailing of the kilt. The picture is really all about the figure, and I had deliberately left the background, which is pretty basic and featureless, to the end.

Last stage

A few last details give the figure a tiny bit more definition. A basic sandy background, and a basic lilac sky. I added the shadow beneath the figure and signed and numbered the painting. By now all that remains is to remove the masking tape.



#30x30DirectWatercolor

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