How I painted a scene from west coast, Singapore

Two weeks ago, I forced myself to wake up early and caught the daily sunrise at various seaside locations.

"There's a sunrise and sunset every day. You can choose to be there for it. You can put yourself in the way of beauty." ~Cheryl Strayed.

Here's how I completed a painting in watercolor :

1) I packed all my top gears and arrived at west coast park, set up within 15 minutes and used only fresh pigment. Sunrise meant that I get to study very distinctive shadow masses ( at least, most of the time).  Essentially, I only have a 1-2 hours window for this. It usually gets too brutal hot after 9 and I didn't have an umbrella with me. I arrived at 7am. 

Plein Air within 2 hours. ( West Coast) . Fast study forces me to reduce things and pay attention to the essentials

 2) I realize halfway through my study that I can improve the composition. I stop painting right away. The painting was completed within 1 hour and 20 minutes.

A better composition prompted me to stop.

3) I took the morning study home and rework on a full sheet painting with the composition I like. I also took a few photos from the scene for reference.  

Sketch pf the scene on full sheet painting

4) I locked in a "Tea" layer wash. (a very thin wash of watercolor) and  used the opportunity to charge in colors that reflects the color temperature from my studies. This is usually the best layer for pigment to do its own thing. The best watercolor paintings are usually painted by "the paint" itself.

Allow watercolor to do its own thing while I cover as much terrain as possible

5) Since the washes are thin, they dry sequentially.. The sky section dried up faster than the sea section and I was able to paint on without delay. I built up the background with a "milk" layer ( A higher ratio of pigment to water layer) and paid great attention to the shift in color temperature, These temperature shifts were base off my morning study.

Building up the background with a Milk Layer.

6) I also sequenced  various "Tea" layers for numerous components in the scene. These included the bunkers and various cranes that I felt would need a "richer" and more complex color structure".

Variation of layer's density to create a more complex color structure for the entire painting

 7) Speeding up the coverage with "milk" layers while having a game plan with the sequence of layer's density and color temperature.  I locked in shadow shapes, never forgetting the complexity of color temperature. Often, I grant watercolor the permission to do its own thing :)

Locking in shadow masses with Milk layer

8) I wanted to retain a greater sense of transparency in the shadow for the waters. I also began to lock in the thickest layer (Honey) now. This is coming to an end. 

Locked in the transparency of the water with Milk layer while proceeding to the thickest layer ( Honey). Comparison of morning study against the bigger studio painting.

9) Finally,  honey coat with details added. Total work hours: (7 am until 9 pm)

Final painting completed