Here are 2 quick watercolor demonstrations from my last few classes. All of the themes of the lessons centered on focusing on the light of the subject and I kept most details away from the demonstration. If you are trying to learn to express something keep the painting clean and simple and just focus on the core idea. In these cases it was just to get the strong feeling of light.
12 x 16 watercolor on 300lb arches. I kept the roofs of the buildings the same value and color as the sky and this really emphasizes the feeling of light, and the simple shadow on the main building gives more meaning to the shape.
12 x 16 watercolor on 300 lb arches. In this painting I set up the composition with the foreground shadows and then pushed the viewers attention to the light on the building with the interesting shape of the sky. Remember it is important to analyze the major shapes in your subject to decide whether they support the movement in the composition.
Artist Studio
