Realistic Watercolor Paintings: Grandpa’s Painting Tin
Painting realistically requires patience more than anything. The goal is to get as close to the look of the actual subject as possible. When you compare the painting to the actual object, you most likely will notice the differences relatively quickly, but my goal is that you do a little bit of a double take.
Martini and Shaker, Lynn Pratt Tutorial, 2022
If you are looking for an easy painting win, this is not the style I would recommend. My realistic paintings often take hours if not days or weeks to complete. However, I have found that this style of painting can be extremely meditative. You really have to slow down and break down the painting into sections, building up your watercolor layers very slowly. Sometimes I have to go over the same area in a painting a dozen times trying to create the correct depth of color. I have found that I love this methodical way of painting and it is not unusual for me to work on a realistic painting at the same time as other faster painting projects.
My most recent realistic painting project was of an object that is close to my heart. Among his many talents, my Grandpa, Daniel Ort, was a watercolor artist. He died when I was still young, so it is hard to separate memories from stories and family lore, but among the memories and impressions that stick out the most:
He was the man who gave me a microphone and an amp to sing as a little girl.
He would play A Whiter Shade of Pale on the piano and sing the words while teaching me the cords.
He was the man who told me that when you have ten paintings you should throw away nine of them and repeat that process over and over again. I’m not sure he actually followed that advice given the stacks of paintings that always seemed to be around.
I also remember his painting tin where he would keep some of his painting supplies. I’m not sure how often he used the tin or why he chose it or anything really about it. But this tin, his paint brushes, and his leather art portfolio are items that are extremely precious to me in his absence. The fact that it is a cookie tin was also very on brand since he had the world’s biggest sweet tooth.
When I was looking for a subject to paint, I decided that this tin would provide a nice challenge in addition to being a sentimental project to work on. It turned out to be a bigger challenge than I anticipated. Here are the steps I took from start to finish.
Creating a Reference Photo
I decided almost immediately that this tin was too complicated for me to sketch freehand. I photographed both the tin and one of my Grandpa’s paint brushes. Once my photograph was taken, I cleaned up the image in Photoshop to make sure the image was clear and crisp. Using Photoshop, I could also remove any distracting background. I would use this image as my reference photo.
Reference Photograph, Cookie Tin
Edited Reference Photo Using Photoshop
Transferring the Image to Watercolor Paper
I transferred the image to a 9x12 watercolor block using graphite paper. There is A LOT of detail in this tin. Sections that I knew would be the most difficult included:
The text. I am not great at lettering and there is so much text on this tin, not to mention text in different languages!
The texture and shine of metal, specifically on the paint brush.
The texture of the fabric. I’m not sure I really noticed how much folded fabric there was until I started to create the outline.
First layer: Text is added using a waterproof micron pen and then a light watercolor wash on top.
Adding Text First
Since my lettering is not the greatest, I decided to add the largest section of black text on the cover of the tin as my very first step. I knew that if I left this major section of lettering until last, I could ruin the entire painting in the final step. I used a .20mm Pigma Micron Pen, which is waterproof, so I could paint on top of the text afterwards.
Painting One Layer at a Time
Painting realistically is all about the layering and making sure that you start out very light and get darker as you go. I would say that the major sections of this painting, such as the red plaid and blue plaid, received upwards of 6-8 separate layers of paint to create the depth I wanted. Other sections, like the purple jewel I did in one sitting, but even that tiny section took about 45 minutes to complete.
Using Gouache to Finish
I spent a lot of time debating how I was going to create the plaid effect. One of the challenges of watercolor is that it is transparent. That is why you generally start out with very light or diluted colors and slowly build up to darker colors, particularly when using a realistic style. It is very hard (read generally impossible) to go from dark to light. I decided that I would use gouache to make the final plaid lines in white and yellow on the tin. Gouache is an opaque watercolor. You can use it right out of the tube and it will behave more like an acrylic or tempera paint. It ended up being a great way to add those finishing details at the end. I even used a bit of gold paint to add the BAKED IN SCOTLAND label as well.
In the end this painting took about twenty hours to complete. Yup, you read that right, twenty hours, but I am happy with the result. If you put the actual tin and the painting next to each other there are clear differences, but I think the likeness does the original justice. Completing this project also allowed me to turn a three dimensional object into a work of art. This tin holds some of my painting materials, but it is often tucked away out of sight in a drawer. As a painting, I can frame it and hang it on the wall, allowing me to enjoy the memories that it engenders.
What do you think? Do you have the patience for this kind of painting? Do you have a personal object or heirloom that you think would make an interesting realistic painting?
