At the last watercolour class, I wanted to complete a piece in the 2 hours.

I used these 2 photos as reference and bam! I started throwing down some paints.

First, a wash of yellow/orange behind, leaving some bits white to suggest clouds.

Then a wash of purple/blue over the top.

Bit more action in the sky, more detail in the boat.

Notice how the washes mellow out as they dry. Nice.

Going darker, and a bit mental on the water.

Adding an unrealistic mountain backdrop.

Darker and darker still.

It takes bold courage and a heady draft of strong black tea to paint with such abandon

Some finishing touches and some last bumps of contrast.

Adding cast shadow from the boat, and darker paint to the water.

A desperate, last-minute bid for brilliance.

And because I’m a maverick, trying out some ‘godfingers’.

(Those little rays of light that poke through the clouds on some rainy days)

PROS:

I turned this around faster than previous attempts.

I managed to stick to a limited palette.

Some bits of the sky turned out alright.

CONS:

The boat needs to be heaps smaller.

Should have spent more time in the drawing stage.

The water is too deliberately worked and doesn’t look natural.