Special Effects

Smoke

Smoke and smoke effects in watercolor are actually deleted rather than painted. The area surrounding the smoke plays a more important role than the smoke itself. This area should be painted in a cool note—lean toward blue and the cooler colors to accentuate the smokiness of the sponged area.

In starting the picture on the opposite page, I painted the entire background mountain to assure myself of the proper values in their entirety. Then, after painting the rest of the picture, I took a sponge and gently rubbed out the entire area affected by the smoke. The same treatment applies to the stack on the left.

When the paper had thoroughly dried after this sponging process, I then used sandpaper and brought out the pure white for contrast and effect. The completed painting "Colorado Winter" is shown in color on page 82.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...