Old Window
På SvenskaThis exercise is quite easy to paint, and only two colors are used, making the mixing process simple as well. It is therefore a good exercise for the less experienced watercolor painter.
The two colors used are ones that most watercolor painters likely already own—if not, you should definitely get them. They are two of the most essential colors in a watercolor palette, namely: French Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna.
Start with a precise pencil drawing. Every brick must be drawn individually. There is no room for a rough sketch—every single brick and windowpane must be carefully outlined. However, you can sketch the area outside the bricks more freely.
Step 1
First, all the bricks should get some color. In the photo, all the bricks have roughly the same color, but that would be a bit dull in a painting. That’s why I painted them all with a brown color, varying the amount of blue mixed in. The more blue you add, the grayer the mixture becomes.
To avoid mixing new paint for each brick, start by painting a few randomly selected bricks around the window with one shade. Then, add a little more blue or brown to the mix to create a slightly different color and use it for other bricks. Continue this process until all the bricks have been painted.
Feel free to use varying amounts of water so that some bricks turn out lighter than others. You should also paint some irregular stones outside the brickwork, especially above the window.
Step 2
If you mix roughly equal parts of French Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna, you will get a gray color. Use this mixture for the mortar around all the stones. There are no shortcuts when painting the mortar—you have to carefully paint around each already-painted stone.
Just like when you painted the bricks, it’s a good idea to vary the gray mortar color by using different gray mixtures and varying the amount of water. The result should look rough and uneven. Small unpainted, preferably dry brushed, spots here and there will help create the desired effect.
Once all the mortar is painted, the final step is to add a narrow, uneven shadow beneath some of the stones. This creates the illusion that the stones are not perfectly flush with the mortar but protrude slightly. I used a blue-gray mixture for the shadows.
Step 3
All the glass panes should be painted with a fairly dark color. Use different mixtures for different panes—if they all have the same color, the result will look dull. It’s a good idea to use a darker mixture for the upper panes and slightly dilute the paint for the lower ones. This way, the window panes will be darkest at the top and slightly lighter at the bottom.
The thin white edge between the glass pane and the window frame, as well as the muntins, represents slightly unevenly applied window putty. So, don’t paint a perfectly smooth edge—make each pane’s border slightly irregular. This will create a more realistic effect when the window frame and muntins are painted in the next step.
Leave the hole in the broken window pane unpainted. It must remain unpainted so that in the next step, you can create a thin white edge between the hole and the glass.
Step 4
Mix Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine in roughly equal parts with very little water to create a black color. Use this mixture to paint the black hole. Leave a minimal unpainted edge between the hole and the glass in the broken pane. The white edge should not surround the entire hole—only in some areas. Use the reference photo and my painting as a guide to get it right.
Also, paint a fairly soft shadow on the inside of the bricks, close to the window. Make it slightly more pronounced on the left side and at the top than on the right side.
Finally, paint the rusty muntins and window frame. Depending on the Burnt Sienna you are using, you may need to mix in a little blue. Many “earth tones” vary significantly between manufacturers, so depending on your specific paint, it might work as is, or you may need to tone it down with some blue. Apply the rust color unevenly, avoiding perfectly straight lines. Leave a slightly irregular unpainted edge between the muntins or window frame and the glass pane.
