Painting A Rainy Day
3.1 Deep dive into the scenery
1 Deep dive into the scenery 1) Recognize the mood of the scene: Take a moment to feel the atmosphere in the photo. If it looks like it just rained, you'll notice softer colours and a quieter feel. Rain can make everything seem a bit calmer and cooler. Additional tip: Rain often mutes colours and adds a misty effect, giving the scene a dreamy quality.
2) Understand the impact of light: Think about how the light affects what you see. On a cloudy day after rain, the lack of strong sunlight can make objects look flatter and less colourful. Shadows might be softer or less defined. Additional tip: Cloudy days create even lighting, which can be great for capturing subtle details without harsh shadows.
3) Composition considerations: When setting up your painting, think about how to arrange the elements to make the picture look balanced and interesting. One helpful technique is the rule of thirds, which suggests dividing your canvas into thirds both horizontally and vertically, then placing key elements along these lines or at their intersections. Additional tip: Adjusting your drawing slightly to align important features with these points can create a more dynamic composition that draws the viewer's eye.
4) Identify the points of interest: Look for the parts of the scene that catch your attention and make it special. In your rainy-day photo, this could be anything from a unique building or a reflection in a puddle to the way the street disappears into the distance. These details give your painting personality and draw viewers into the scene. Additional tip: Don't feel like you need to include every little thing from your reference. Instead, focus on the elements that add the most to the overall feeling and story of your painting.
3.2 The Process
3.2.1 Drawing the composition If our drawing is unclear, the painting stage would be more difficult. Therefore, it is recommended to always start with the drawing.
1. Mark the eye level: Eye level (or horizon line) and vanishing point are the key elements to capture depth in a drawing. Eye level is the level at which the sky and ground seems to meet in our eyes. You can try it yourself and notice that if you place this level too high or too low, the ground will start to appear steep. Another interesting point is that all the vanishing points would lie on the eye level itself. It is the point(s) at which elements of the scene seem to merge. Right edge of the Dargah and of the pathway are in perspective and meet at a single point. A horizontal line through this point gives us the horizon line.
2. Position and proportion: Mark the position of the main elements with respect to the vanishing point. Suggest light lines through the point to serve as a guide for the angle of the edges in perspective. Notice how the lines get flatter as they reach closer to the vanishing point, as well as observe how any curve above the eye level appears to curve more upward and any curve below it appears to curve more downward. Also notice how objects appear smaller as they recede into the distance. This phenomenon, called as foreshortening, greatly helps to represent the depth in a drawing. ( Add a picture to depict cylinders in perspective)
3. Balancing elements and focal points: Refine the important parts of the major elements. Always consider height to width ratio when drawing any subject. If you are struggling with proportions, you can begin with practicing these individual elements separately before trying out the entire composition. You can also Position some elements different from the reference image and do what's best for your composition. To balance the composition, I have included smaller buildings and trees to the left of the Dargah. Also notice how some light electric poles can be added to balance the visual weight across the left and right side. Balancing the visual weight of elements in a composition is important for it to look comfortable to the eyes and avoid tension. It also helps the individual elements to appear like a part of the whole instead of one element overpowering the others. Keep the rule of thirds in mind to draw the viewer’s attention to the hero element of the composition. You can also make it more detailed.
4. Aerial perspective: Suggest some distant buildings. The shorter Gumbad at the distance helps to further to inform the depth and balances the Dargah along with the other short distant buildings. These elements at distance will always be shorter, less detailed and softer in appearance than the elements at front. Applying these principles of aerial perspective will help you capture depth in the drawing. Next, add the buildings and shops to the right to balance the composition.
5. Refine the front elements: At this stage you can add some more details to the front elements of the composition. Take your time with the drawing stage as it will make the colouring stage more fun and easier.
3.2.2 Painting the scenery I recommend keeping your painting surface at 45 degrees to the ground to allow free flow watercolor painting experience.
1. Colour scheme: There isn't much brightness in the scene as it is a rainy day. Notice how the hues look subdued and not very chromatic. An analogous colour scheme with mostly blues, greys and greens can capture the cloudy mood in the painting very well. Of course, we can still add different colours where it's important, but they will still be subdued and not overpower the overall mood of the painting.
2. Colour perspective: Depth can also be represented with our way of colour application. Notice how the distant buildings seem to have very little contrast and softer edges compared to the front. I am using wet on wet at the back to capture that softness. Observe the transparency of wet on wet also helps to show that it's far at the back. You can add minor contrasts to it to give an illusion of detail to these building. Painting from back to front also helps to relate the emphasis needed in background, middle ground and foreground colours. The closer it is to the viewer, the more warmth, detail, contrast and sharpness it will get. The colours should still be overall subdued.
3. Colour balancing: Just like the forms, colours also add to the balance or harmony of a painting. Notice how the umbrellas on the left are color balanced by the elements like the auto rickshaw and other umbrellas on the right. Similarly, the green on left can be balanced by the green on front buildings at the right. The electric pole should be painted very lightly, or it will end up looking like a sharp vertical line cutting across the composition.
4. Light and shadow: Light and shadow helps to create contrast in a painting. Areas of contrast catch the viewer's eye first. So, make sure you use high contrast only in areas of high importance. This scene has diffused light coming through the clouds on the top. So, the areas below the roof of the buildings will get darker. This contrast of light and shadow can be exaggerated especially on the Dargah to make it more eye grabbing. Also notice how the space between the vehicles and the pathway will be shadowed as it lies below the horizon and there isn't much way for light. Reflection created by the water puddle creates another high contrast and interesting point of focus.
5. Final details: Details are the cherry on top of an established foundation. It hooks the viewer's eye to the painting as they get lost in the fine details. Once the paper has dried, use dry brush to suggest some windows in the distant buildings, keeping them dull. Sprinkle some drop of water using your brush or finger to suggest smoke from the traffic, you can also use a touch of lavender to give the appearance of smoke. Use a fine tip brush to lay in the wires very thinly. You can also add birds sitting on top of the wires, this helps to add life to the painting. Darken the high contrast areas with dry brush once the paper has dried. For a lot of these, you would have to experiment with the amount of water that your brush should hold to achieve different kinds of strokes. The more you practice, the more intuitive it will become
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Artist Anukanksha