Aquarell ganz einfach: Der alte Leuchtturm

The old Sulina lighthouse on the Danube. Just before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, my wife and I treated ourselves to a wonderful Danube cruise to the Black Sea. From the ship, I took this photo of the old Sulina lighthouse at kilometer zero of the Danube – where the Danube flowed into the Black Sea more than a hundred years ago. It must be one of the quietest and most deserted areas in Romania. In any case, I've always wanted to paint this exact scene in watercolors. For this exercise, it was important to me to depict the scene relatively naturalistically without overloading it with too many details. I also wanted the colors to be a bit bolder. While painting, I knew I had to paint this scene again – this time using a completely different technique, but with a looser and more simplified approach. I'll do that in the next few days and also make a video about it. I'll do that in the next few days and also make a video about it. The most important mixtures for landscape painting (greens, blues, browns) with simple exercises for trees, bushes, and two quick sky exercises:    • Basic-Mischungen und Sträucher, Wolkenhimmel   As you probably already know, I'm a big advocate of the "reduced palette." This means you should try to get by with as few colors as possible. If you actually do this, the colors in your painting will always harmonize with each other. My free online watercolor course contains much more important information on this topic. Click here for the course: https://www.aquarellkurse.at I also strongly recommend that beginners use only *glazing colors*. So, no ochre, cadmium yellow, or cadmium orange. Experienced watercolorists can work well with these opaque colors. But for beginners, mixtures of these colors almost always turn out dull and muddy. And the vibrancy of the watercolor is lost. Remember! Colors Used: Ultramarine or Cobalt Blue (Dark) Prussian Blue Natural Sienna Pure Yellow or Indian Yellow Burnt Sienna Paper: Arches 300 g/m², Rough Music: Peter Baxrainer By the way, it's a good idea to practice painting the same subject several times. I always recommend this in my academy courses, as it builds confidence and, consequently, ease. Unfortunately, this is practiced far too infrequently… NEW: MY BRUSHES; MY PALETTES AND ACCESSORIES: https://www.aquarellkurse.at/meine-pi... MY FREE ONLINE COURSE (absolutely essential to learn the basics): https://www.aquarellkurse.at/ BE SURE TO FOLLOW MY THREE MOST IMPORTANT RULES: 1) Never skimp on paper! Ideally, use Arches or Saunders Waterford (both cold pressed) or other high-quality papers, as described on my website. Caution: Most inexpensive promotional papers aren't even suitable for practice. 2) Pay attention to the paper's moisture level. For softly blended cloudscapes, the relevant area of ​​the paper should be evenly moistened. However, if you want to create a granulated effect (rather unlikely with skies and clouds), the paper must be dry. 3) Constantly monitor the brush fill (the amount of paint in the brush). This is the most difficult part and can only be mastered through a lot of practice. Especially with wet-on-wet painting, too much moisture (or paint) in the brush very quickly leads to those unsightly "cauliflower edges." For soft, blended gradients in skies and clouds: Start with light, watery tones – darker colors are added to the still-damp paper in a creamy consistency. I described all of this many years ago in my free online course: These three points are unfortunately overlooked. Yet it could be so easy…