SPECIALTY PROGRAM

Painting Mood and Atmosphere

in Gouache
Foggy Churchyard

OVERVIEW
This assignment is to capture the effect of fog on the landscape and to project an uneasy if not forbid-
ding atmosphere. You will notice that the overall color is quite monochrome and that there are no
extreme darks–the moisture in the air has robbed us of them. Pictures of this type have little color
and no darks and therefore rely upon interesting shapes and silhouettes to carry the scene. As the haze
in a picture increases–such as with a blizzard, dust-storm, very heavy rain or smoke–the requirement
that silhouettes be compellingly interesting and completely explanatory becomes pivotal.
One of the characteristics of ground fog is that all objects appear to dissolve into nothing at their bases.
Once objects have been painted from darker to lighter at their bases (usually best done by adding some
clear water at their lower edges and letting the color dissolve into it). This is an acquired skill most
familiar to watercolorists but very useful in gouache as well. Once this has been done to the best of
our abilities and dried, a wash of clear water with a larger brush is painted on the entire lower area of
the picture and a light color mixture with some white in it is painted in long, careful strokes across the
scene at the base. Add strokes above and below it using a less chalky mixture as we move away from the
base and using repeated long, even strokes with the depleted brush to smooth out the gradation. This
is a technique that is best practiced on a single object that is much smaller to learn how the gouache
behaves. You can watch this in operation on the video and remember, don't panic if the results aren't
perfect with the first attempt. Much can be done to soften and repair gouache with just repeated
passes of clear water. Remember to wait for things to dry before continuing to fiddle with an area.

Preserving the Traditions of the Masters

© Watts Atelier of the Arts, LLC, 2013 www.wattsatelier.com 1
 SPECIALTY PROGRAM
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MATERIALS
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Preserving the Traditions of the Masters

© Watts Atelier of the Arts, LLC, 2013 www.wattsatelier.com 2
1
 SPECIALTY PROGRAM
Painting Mood and Atmosphere
in Gouache
Foggy Churchyard

Wet the entire taped image,

and apply a wash of Ultra-
marine Blue with some orange
and a bit of Alizarin Crimson.
It can stand to be a little darker
at the bottom. Notice the faintly
reddish cast to the wash. Much
of the trees and structures will
have this slight color tint on
through to the finish, though
they will become more opaque.

Before the sheet dries, apply the dull yellow-green (Cadmium Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, orange) wash to
the lower third of the image. A thin wash of Ultramarine Blue and orange (grey) and Alizarin Crimson will
now be painted over the church itself–not too dark. A mixture of this color with white added will now be
painted with long, sweeping strokes from left to right (or vice versa if left-handed) across the entire picture
at the base of the building to produce the beginnings of the ground fog effect. Note that this is running
slightly downhill, and the idea is a smooth transition from the dull yellow-green to the church color.
Long, gentle strokes with not too
much paint are the key. One thing
that can go wrong in this process is
if not moving swiftly enough (and I
totally understand), the board starts
to dry out prematurely. The remedies
are to use lots of water at the very
start, work flat on a surface, and if
any step takes too long, let it dry. Re-
wet liberally with a large, wet brush
in soft once-over strokes, and when
wet...continue with the unfinished
steps. Don’t panic!

Preserving the Traditions of the Masters

© Watts Atelier of the Arts, LLC, 2013 www.wattsatelier.com 3
 SPECIALTY PROGRAM
Painting Mood and Atmosphere
in Gouache
Foggy Churchyard

With a mixture of Ultramarine Blue,

orange, white, and a bit of Alizarin
Crimson (faintly pinkish-grey), paint
in the sky working roughly around
the trees and drybrushing slightly
over them. Be careful along the roof
edges, and add some white to the
mixture as we work to the left. Use
the mixture from above with much
less white and paint the roofs. With
a darker mix starting under the
roofs, paint solidly at first and then
as individual scattered stones as we
move down. Darken the windows
and fade to lighter going down. Paint a dark stripe under the roofs and add water for a second lighter
stroke working down. With the same color paint the larger trees. Lighten the color slightly for the distant
trees. With white and a tiny bit of Alizarin Crimson and some water, re-stroke the ground fog across all.
Paint the tombstones medium dark at the top and blot lightly at the bottom. Add the light olive bushes
at building base and blot.

Paint the chimney a dull, light red-orange. With a mixture of Ultramarine Blue, white, orange, and
yellow, paint the lower, lighter portion of the tombstones. Our intent is to have them fade almost totally
away, so blot or use a wet brush to
lighten–small gentle strokes. We must
next pull some light wash strokes from
these stones with a color similar to the
stone bottoms...subtly darker on the
ground and radiating as shown towards
us. From here forward we are adjusting
values for crispness or softness as
required and adding lighter and darker
accents. Use the photos for direction
and know that this is advanced with
some effects that will take practice to
master.

Preserving the Traditions of the Masters

© Watts Atelier of the Arts, LLC, 2013 www.wattsatelier.com 4