“I stop a painting at about 70 to 80 percent,” says Amit Kapoor. “After drawing the scene, I wet my paper and work quickly to finish in under an hour. With eyes half-closed to see the values, I paint with a minimum of brushstrokes. Rather than pick out every leaf, I can make a tree with just one stroke. Since I’m only after an impression of the landscape, a rough-and-tough approach works. I want my painting to look like a painting, not a photograph, so not everything must be crystal clear.
“At the end of a painting, I add ‘noise’ — interesting calligraphic marks and lines. One way I do this is by including birds, which have the extra benefit of adding life to the work and providing a counterbalance to the busy landscape in an otherwise empty sky. A small bunch of birds, painted at different angles, ensures the eye has something to enjoy in every part of the painting.”
Paint alongside Amit Kapoor, Joseph Zbukvic, and other top watercolor artists at the Plein Air Convention in Reno/Lake Tahoe May 19-23, 2026.
