Watercolor of Fountains in the Retiro Rose Garden in Madrid, Spain

Posted on July 21, 2016 by victoria A. Olson

The Buen Retiro in Madrid, Spain is my favorite park. Here are a few open air watercolors from the collection of Fountains in the Retiro Park.

The Faun Fountain in the Buen Retiro Park Rose Garden – Madrid, Spain 2007

This fountain is called the fuente del Fauno. It’s located in the Rose Garden at the Retiro Park in Madrid, Spain.

The sculptures integrated in the fountains are fascinating! I should have included the Faun above the dish but I usually focus on the Dolphins.

The mythological creatures on the same fountain have opposite poles, angelic and demonic.

Fuente de Amorcillo or de Cupido

This one is called Fuente de Amorcillo or Fuente de Cupido. Again, I didn’t paint the top and ommited cupid from my watercolor. I was more interested in the base. Next time, I’ll paint the whole fountain.

Fuente del Faunito, Rose Garden in the Retiro Park – Madrid, Spain 2005

There are only two fountains with figures in the Rose Garden, so I paint the same figures over and over again. I just love to paint them.

Fuente del Faunito in the Rose Garden at the Buen Retiro Park in Madrid, Spain 2010

Here is the Faun Fountain at the Rose Garden again; a frontal view.

Fuente del Cupido in the Rose Garden at the Buen Retiro Park in Madrid Spain 2015

This is a view of The Cupid Fountain from an angle. Painting outdoors is a great experience; those of you who do open air painting know this and those who haven’t done it yet must put it on the bucket list.

Open Air Painting at the Rose Garden in El Buen Retiro in Madrid, Spain

I like to get a picture of the painting in process with the model; it’s fun to see them together.

Pink Blossoms in Talavera Vase March

Posted on July 7, 2016 by victoria A. Olson

In March the Cherry Plum and Almond trees are full of Pink and White Blossoms. I like to paint them because they brighten up the room and do the same in a watercolor.

Starting out with a light grid and drawing.

I’m starting out with a grid here to keep my parallel lines even with the picture plane. The grid helps me fit whatever I want wherever I want on the paper.

Marking angles as I paint

The grid controls the Talvera vase so it is not lopsided. There are a lot of branches and blossoms to paint, so I don’t draw them one by one, I cast lines in the direction of the branches and mark some of the pink flowers that stand out the most.

Working around the picture plane

I’m working around the picture plane trying to treat everything with the same importance, background and foreground.

The white blossoms

When painting the white blossoms, I leave the white of the paper. What I do is paint around them leaving a blank silhouette. This is called respecting the white of the paper.

Building up and Looking for Detail

I work around the paper emphasising some details. I try to be careful not to make any area heavier than other areas.

Looking for Contrast

When I’m pretty sure everything is where it belongs, I start in with a la prima, putting in the dark contrasting color in one shot in order to bring out the light.

This is the point where it can gain or lose

Finishing up

I’m finishing up here. This is the moment when it can gain or lose. It’s the point of no return. I try not to get to that point, but it really is hard to decide when to stop.

Pink Blossoms in Talavera Vase March 2015

I painted just a little bit more and stopped. I don’t have this watercolor anymore. Next year I hope to make another one in the spring.

Bottles in a Corner 2015

Posted on July 3, 2016 by victoria A. Olson

This painting is from a series called My Favorite Bottles.

I started this series in 2015. I painted the bottles in a different place in the house everyday.

The purpose of this blog is to remember the steps in making the painting.

Wetting Watercolor Paper with Brush 2015

Marking the placement of glass bottles on the format.

Putting in the color and contrast; trying for an a la prima.

I love painting colorful glass bottles.

White Almond Blossoms in Crystal Vase 2015 – The Watercolor Art Making Process

Posted on March 8, 2015 by victoria A. Olson

White Almond Blossoms in Watercolor.

Here in Madrid, Spain the almond trees are in full bloom in the first week of March. The flowers have white delicate petals with a touch of crimson in the middle. These blossoms are fleeting; I don’t catch them every year. Sometimes it’s windy and they blow away and decorate the ground before I can paint them. How do you paint white flowers in watercolor? You paint the space around them to give them shape by respecting the white.

Almond Blossoms in Crystal Vase 2015 – Watercolor on Arches 300 GSM – 15 in x 11 in – 38 cm x 28 cm

Start the painting lightly. Since the flowers are white, they are formed with the white of the paper, so just paint the background with a light color until you start building up contrast and color.

Here’s a close-up. You don’t need to pencil in all of the flowers, just fill in the negative shape.

Continue working around the paper, trying not to concentrate too much in any one area. Treat everything with equal attention for harmony.

Watercolor in Process: Fruit Bowl Finished.

Posted on February 1, 2015 by victoria A. Olson

The paper is quite big, so I made a quick drawing putting everything where I want it to go on the picture plane.

First I wet the area I’m going to work on. Then I lay in the color very lightly; so lightly maybe I can only see it. I do this because if something is out of place, I can move it.

When making a watercolor, I always try to paint all over the paper in different areas before retouching already painted areas. This gives harmony.

Normally I don't like to focus on one area and develope it too much because that area can get too dark too soon, but since the light changes, I wanted to capture the fruit all together with the same light.

Normally I don’t like to focus on one area and develop it too much because that area can get too dark too soon, but since the light changes, I wanted to capture the fruit all together with the same light.

I started in with the background because the background influences the foreground. They must all be worked on with the same amout of care and time for harmony.

I started in with the background because the background influences the foreground. They must all be worked on with the same amount of care and time for harmony.

Yesterday I didn’t think about putting in a vase, but this morning I thought it would help the composition and it did.

Here I felt that I knew where everything belonged on the picture plane, so I went straight for the color and value. I try to do this quickly and exactly to keep it loose and fresh.

Here I started putting in details, and contrasting colors, re-analyzing the shapes. But always working around the paper.

Today it was cloudy. The sun came out, went away, came out, went away. So I painted the shadow as fast as possible to catch it. I’m still not finished, so let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Yesterday, I covered an important light accidentally, so today I brushed water into the area and pulled out the light with a cotton cloth. This is not recommendable because the paper suffers. Lights should always be respected.

It’s hard to tell, but as I was working around the paper yesterday and the day before, I was lightly laying in the pattern on the table-cloth. Today I emphasized. I finished the painting at mid day. This painting took about 18 hours to make. It’s a full sheet of Arches 640 gsm. 22 in x 30 in 100% cotton.

Strawberries in Dish – Jan 29th 2015

Posted on January 29, 2015 by victoria A. Olson

Had some strawberries, a dish, paint and some time.: Strawberries in Dish
– 5.75 in x 7.5 in – 14 cm x 19 cm – Arches 640 GMS –

Strawberries and Talavera Sugar Bowl 2015

Paint Everyday

Posted on January 27, 2015 by victoria A. Olson

Hi there. This Blog is all about painting. I’ve been painting for many years and I’d like to share my thoughts on how to approach painting or better said, how I approach painting. How do you get better at painting? The answer is – painting everyday. We don’t have a lot of time, but even a twenty-minute painting is better than nothing and watercolor is perfect for this. Today my objective was to paint the still life fast enough before the light changed without doing a preliminary drawing because I’m practicing drawing and painting at the same time.. This blog is called Painting Life because I only use watercolor to paint in direct from life.

Victoria Olson Art – Watercolor, Egg Tempera & Oil

Brightening up Walls

Tag Archives: watercolor tips