Author: John_Lovett, Contributing Editor

Our subject for this demonstration is the weathered facade of on old building in Treviso, Italy. Rather than relying solely on watercolor, we will build up a texture echoing that of the building using rice paper and gesso. This combined with transparent watercolor, ink and pastel pencil will allow us to instill the mysterious atmosphere the subject evokes

MATERIALS Watercolor - Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Quinacridone Gold, Alizarin, Scarlet Lake and Phthalo Blue.  Brushes - 1" and 1/4" flat and #2 liner  Burnt Sienna Ink, pen and spray bottle of water Japanese Rice paper and PVA Glue Brown and Gray Pastel Pencil Gesso

Step 1 - Rice Paper and Drawing  Apply your rice paper with slightly diluted PVA Glue. Vary the Shape and Size of the pieces and use an odd number. 3 or 5 seem to work best. They need not correspond to any particular part of the subject, but place them on the paper to form an interesting pattern. Use your Gray Pastel Pencil to draw in the main shapes - don't be too concerned with detail. At each stage of the painting try to keep a balanced, finished look to your work - view it as a  complete composition rather than anything to do with the subject.

Step 2 - First Washes A warm wash of Quinacridone Gold and Burnt Sienna down the left hand side repeats the colour of the Rice Paper. The same mixture is intensified and strengthened with some Alizarin to paint the Terracotta pots (vary the mixture slightly from pot to pot to keep it interesting) Adding some Ultramarine to the mixture will produce the neutral gray for the door and window opening.

Step 3 - Adjusting Surfaces Quinacridone Gold, Burnt Sienna and a small amount of Ultramarine give us the warm brown/gray to wash over the inner wall surfaces, pushing them back into the painting. These can be varied slightly in tone - a little darker under the top balcony and around the foreground pots. Stirring a tiny bit of Phthalo Blue into this mixture will give you the color for the water at the bottom. While this wash is still wet a slightly darker mix can be dropped in to suggest reflections

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