Every Watercolor Artist has a plan!

I came across an insightful quote from Mr. Mike Tyson, the former heavy weight boxing champion, that I thought was rather appropriate to the watercolor artist. It goes something like this...​"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face"
For every painting concept that I come up with, I always arrive at the same starting point. A big, white sheet of watercolor paper punching me in the face.  Even though I can kind of see the finished painting in my head, actually arriving there is an entirely different matter.
Maybe its just a matter of experience, I’m not sure. I have plenty of experience but inevitably go 10 to 15 rounds with a piece until it succumbs to my vision.
I'll will walk you through my painting "Christmas Tea"  from start to finish and try as best I can to relay my thoughts on each step in the process. Lets see if I get knocked out or create a knockout piece!

"Christmas Tea" By Leo Kahl

Step 1: Occasionally, I enjoy doing paintings that actually look like my family or friends. In this case, I traced over an enlarged laser copy onto tracing paper. I rubbed soft graphite over back side of tracing paper then traced the figures using a ball point pen, transferring the image on to my Arches Rough watercolor color.  Additionally, I adjust the size of the figures to enhance my composition.

Step 2: As with most all of my paintings, I lay down washes of warm undertones, This wash will "push through" subsequent layers and add glow to my painting

Step 3: Now I get into the meat of the painting by adding rich middle values and hues. This layer utilizes varying levels of translucency, but not quite opaque just yet. I work from the furthest point in background towards the foreground.

Step 4: This painting did not involve a lot of negative space painting, something I normally focus on. At this stage, I'm adding lots of elements to the table along with soft, translucent shadows

Step 5: I finish the figures in foreground in a loose and unfocused manner. I want the viewers eye to be attracted to the pure white tea pot held by the host.

Step 6: I protect the majority of my painting with paper towels and splatter some light blue paint  (Cerulean Blue and some Chinese White) Adding a little Chinese white pigment will help the chandelier to look illuminated. I love the effect of splattering paint for certain subjects such as this.

Step 7: I use dark opaque paint for small details on the faces and elsewhere.

Step 8: This was a unique subject. I wanted to convey the beautiful white linen table cloth and plethora of specular highlights on all the crystal and glassware, this is what I remembered so strongly about this experience. This could have been accomplished in a more abstract manner using dry brush to allow hundreds of white specks of paper to show through. I opted for a more manual and controlled effect by adding white highlights to each item on the table.

Done!: I love peeling the masking tape of my painting when done. The white border acts like a matt board and isolates your image form its surroundings. 

Well, this is the finished piece. Is it what I planned?  Not exactly, but that's OK. I feel that I captured the atmosphere and mood of this annual holiday gathering with great friends. This  is what the word "art" means to me.