The Hayes Snack Bar, Cardiff

The Hayes Snack Bar, Cardiff, South Wales.

I have developed below a simple step-by-step demonstration based on my painting shown in the watercolour section of this web page. These are free and you may print them off if you wish.

I suggest you read all the instructions before attempting the watercolour painting to familiarise yourself with each instruction, because watercolour painting is all about timing (If you see a clock face image; timing is essential here)

Click on the image for enlarged picture.

Where you see the clock symbol, read the instructions carefully, it’s all about the time?

Good luck with your painting and I hope these inspire you ?

Suggested colours and materials

Suggested colours, as follows:

To produce this watercolour painting I have used the following colours: - Lemon yellow, Ultramarine, Cerulean blue, Cadmium red, Burnt umber, Sap green, Lamp black and Burnt sienna.

To enable the artist to retain the white of the paper, we use the method of masking out. I used a ruling pen and masking fluid.

Sketch the painting

Step 1

Sketch the snack bar image onto watercolour paper. Mask out the white areas, with masking fluid. Leave to dry.(See image)

Watercolour painting technique.

Tree foliage, using a dry natural sponge and thick mix of watercolour paint technique. (See image)

Step 4

With a mix of Burnt umber and Ultramarine, paint in the dark areas of the windows onto the distant buildings (see image) and the pale outline of the statue. Leave to dry.

Step 6

Next, we are going to paint the tree trunks and branches, using a mix of burnt umber and ultramarine, let the colour get cooler towards the distance, by adding more of the ultramarine to the first mix. (See image) Leave to dry.

Step 8

Next we are going to look at the people in the street; these can be done in various colours from your pallet. The seating and tables, can be added using a light wash of lamp black and ultramarine. The only suggestion I can make is the person in the distance, on the left hand side, could be painted in Alizarin Crimson, to draw your eye into the painting. (See image)

Step 10

Now with a light wash of yellow ochre paint the facal boards on the building and on the side of the building. (See image) leave to dry. Then add another coat of the same colour to the left hand side , to darken the colour. Leave to dry.

Step 12

Finally we need to groud all the main items with shadows. Using a mix of alizarin crimson and ultramarine, to create a soft purple, add the shadows colour from the trees, lights, seating and people. ( See image) . Then using a natural sponge , add some dappled shadows of the leaves also to the pavement. (See image) you may want to add some darker tones by adding to the purple mix a slight dab of lamp black.

Brushes

Suggested brushes:

To produce this watercolour painting I used the following watercolour brushes: Medium flat brush, large round brush, small detail brush and small round brush.

Step 2

Wet the sky area with clean water, leave to go slightly damp then add Ultramarine, Cerulean, Lemon yellow to the sky and Burnt sienna to the building areas. Please see the image for further details. Leave to dry.

Step 3

With a natural sponge, add the tree foliage using lemon yellow, Sap green and Sap green mixed with Ultramarine, for a darker tone. Leave to dry.

Step 5

With a mix of Sap green and Ultramarine paint the snack bar building. There are also small areas, which are painted in Cadmium red. (See image) Leave to dry.

Step 7

Wet the road and path in front of the snack bar with clean water. Then while the paper is damp, add the following colours: burnt sienna, burnt umber and ultramarine.

Step 9

Once, the painting is fully dry, rub off the masking fluid. You now have areas of white which we will complete. Firstly the glass lamps, using a mixer of lamp black and ultramarine and a small detail brush plaint in the lamp posts, with a steady hand. You may want to practice on a scape paper before attempting your painting.

Step 11

Next is the signage on the building, which is - Bwyty Hayes Island Snack Bar. The letters are painted using a small detailed brush with alizarin crimson. It is up to you wheather you paint it so it can be read all of the words or that you just want to add marks for suggestion.( See image) I have done both!

Step 11

Step 13

Your painting is now finished, you may want to add more people or darken some of the elements. I hope you have enjoyed this exercise and can use some of the technquies in your other paintings?