My project for course: Painting Realistic Watercolor Landscapes

Thank you for the course, I learned a lot! Enjoyed every bit of it. It will only take time to be able to apply the learnt, as I need practice and practice and making these new connections :)

I decided to paint a dear memory from a mountain trip in a village with little houses hidden in the hills.
Here is the photo I took some years ago:

I made a charcoal tonal sketch, but added some extra paper, because I wasn’t happy with compoistion. I also wanted to add more sky to my painting. I wasn’t able to completely follow the plan, but I am glad I exercised!

Then, I added some charcoal to the watercolor paper:

I love linework, but I’ve never been good with building my values, so I was trying to “make them right” for a very long time…
Next, I did the first wash, but washed the paper in the sink on the next day, as I didn’t like the colors at all:

I thought to stop at the next picture, but wanted to check my values - I photographed the painting and made it black and white so I can see the values better… Oh, boy… Not happy again!

The second picture is the final result. For details, I used gouache.

Some of the things I evaluate as a room for improvement:
- better water/pigment control in the brush
- exercises for color mixing, I find my colors a bit raw…
- I find my watercolors getting thick and dark too soon. Losing the transperancy… I don’t know?
- looking for better reference photos
- working on using masking fluid and brushes; differentvtextures

I’d be more than happy to hear all comments and Richard Thorn’s opinion, advice and critiques!
@thornart2

Cheers! Looking forward to another course!!!

P.s. Did all the work in the late night hours, in the span of several days, when the baby was sleeping. :)