Painting Light and Shadow in Watercolor

"nothing rivals lawrence's teaching." —amazon review

William B. (Skip) Lawrence resides in Mt. Airy, Maryland. He was born in Baltimore in 1943, received B.F.A. at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland (1965) and an M.A. at Towson State University, Baltimore, Maryland (1971). From 1965 through 1972 he taught in Howard County, Maryland. After leaving the public school system to devote his time to painting, he was persuaded to teach part-time at Prince George's Community College, near Washington D.C. One evening watercolor class at his studio in Laurel, Maryland has grown to hundreds of national and international workshops since 1976, when he conducted his first workshop in Nags Head, NC. Today he conducts an average of 20 workshops annually. Summers are reserved for Maine and some painting time coupled with his popular summer workshops.Skip is a member of the American Watercolor Society, the Southern Watercolor Society and the Baltimore Watercolor Society. He has always been driven to paint, but his real love is fly fishing and golf. Any one of these activities provide enough reward and frustration for a lifetime.

introduction

Chapter One: Seeing Shapes, Not Things

How to Simplify What You See

Designing With Light

Number and Placement of Shapes

Building Patterns by Overlapping

Building Patterns by Connection

Demonstration: Using Light to Express Emotion

Chapter Two: Designing With Light and Dark

Seeing the Pattern of Shade

Seeing Sunlight as White

Changing the Value Contrasts

Keep Clear Goals

Demonstration:

Simplifying Complex Subjects With Patterns

Chapter Three: Value Organization — A Different Approach

The2 Against 1 Approach

Light and Middle Values Against Dark

Dark and Light Values Against Middle Values

Middle and Dark Values Against Light Values

Demonstration: Organizing Value Shapes

Chapter Four: Shapes and Composition

A Two-Dimensional Activity

Be a Shape Maker

Making Beautiful Silhouetted Shapes

Making Descriptive Shapes

Variety of Edges

Chapter Five: Composing With Spotlight or Floodlight

Painting the Light You See

Spotlight

Value Contrasts With Spotlight

Floodlight

Value Contrasts With Floodlight

Light From Above

Demonstration: Painting the Effects of Strong Light

Chapter Six: Making Color Decisions

“Seeing” Color Relationships

Light Next to Dark

Warm Next to Cool

Pure Next to Neutral

Hue Next to Hue

Applying Pigments

Dry Into Wet

Wet Over Wet

Wet Over Dry

One Stroke

Color Harmonies

Chapter Seven: Developing Contrast

Determining Contrast Levels

Value

Pattern and Texture

Color

Chapter Eight: Creating Moods

Expressing the Color of Light

The Actual Color

Expressive Color

“What If” Colors

Outrageous Color

Chapter Nine: Achieving Unity in Your Paintings

Think Big

Change Color, Not Value

Changing Value, Not Color

Intensity Shapes

Temperature Shapes

The Contrasting Elements

Practical Application

Demonstration:

Creating Unity With Dominance of Color

Chapter Ten: Designing With Light: Four Demonstrations

Demonstration:

Capturing the Light at a Specific Time of Day

Demonstration: Developing a Harmony of Color 

Demonstration: Painting the Light— Not the Place 

Demonstration: Catching a Subject’s Luminosity

Conclusion