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Reflections in Water with Helen Van Wyk

Join Helen Van Wyk in this in-depth painting lesson as she guides us through the process of creating reflective surfaces in a calm, foggy water scene. With her signature blend of practicality and artistry, Helen shares valuable insights on how to manage reflections, atmosphere, and the balance between color and light. This lesson will transport you to a peaceful coastal landscape, while Helen’s clear, step-by-step instructions make it accessible for both beginners and seasoned painters.

Introduction –
Helen welcomes us to her studio and explains how painting can feel like a vacation from reality. She introduces the subject of today’s lesson: reflections in water, using boats and a foggy day as the setting.

Establishing the Scene -
Before diving into reflections, Helen demonstrates how to set the stage with boats and a foggy atmosphere. She emphasizes her philosophy of painting as both practically artistic and artistically practical.

Building the Composition -
Helen explains the importance of composition in outdoor painting, focusing on creating depth by working from the background to the foreground. She shares tips on how short strokes can create a more atmospheric feel.

Refining the Boats –
With boats already sketched, Helen focuses on adding light and shadow to the boats, explaining how to differentiate between light and dark areas using precise brushwork.

Understanding Reflections –
Helen delves into the core lesson: reflections. She explains how reflections in still water seem to go deep into the water’s depths, not just skim the surface, and demonstrates how to apply this concept to the boats.

Adjusting Colors and Shapes –
As Helen adds the reflections, she highlights the importance of matching shapes and adjusting colors. She notes that reflections might be darker or longer depending on perspective and light conditions.

Introducing Ripples –
Helen shows how to add gentle ripples to the water, which break up the reflections without destroying the illusion. She demonstrates how a ripple brush or filbert can help achieve the desired effect.

Final Touches and Reflection Corrections –
Helen steps back to review the painting and notices a mistake: the reflections are darker than the boats. Here is your chance to pause the video and come up with your own solution to the problem.

Bringing It All Together –
In the final steps, Helen unifies the painting with larger brushstrokes, calming down some of the color transitions and making final adjustments. She shares valuable advice on staying daring in the studio and addressing your own curiosity as an artist.

Conclusion –
Helen wraps up the lesson with a reflective note on painting as a vacation from reality and promises to teach either a new technique or “how to make soup” next time.

Subscribe now and join Helen on a journey to refine your artistic techniques and discover the satisfaction of understanding and using the basic principles in your paintings, ensuring you experience the fulfillment that comes from applying Helen's teachings.Dive into the world of oil painting alongside this legendary artist and instructor, Helen Van Wyk. Discover invaluable tips, techniques, and inspiration as Helen shares her wealth of knowledge. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned artist, Helen's timeless wisdom and contagious enthusiasm will ignite your creativity and elevate your art to new heights.

00:00 Music and Intro Graphics
01:08 Embedding in Fog
07:47 Painting the Reflections
15:00 Prepare for the Rippling
16:19 More Rippling Prepare
17:03 Perform the Rippling Effect
19:52 Help Helen Fix Her Mistake
22:15 Unify the Reflection
24:02 Final Thoughts
24:22 Outtakes