Finished!
What a nice surprise to actually have the opportunity to paint today. Now it is time to stop “nit-picking” this painting and put my brush down to call it “finished”.🎨
Tag: landscapes
Work In Progress…
9″ x 14″
This summer I have been concentrating on watercolor paintings – from very small to medium in size. This landscape is an elongated vertical format which highlights the shadows on the path as well as the morning light coming through the trees.
I have used illustration board, 300 Lb Arches single sheets, Arches watercolor blocks and currently am trying the Fabriano 300 Lb single sheets. I am actually a bit disappointed with how this paper takes the watercolor but am working through the difficulties. 
I began by sketching on the watercolor paper then started laying out my color.
I am now at the point of fine tuning and adding greater depth and contrast. Comments are welcome, especially if you have a favorite watercolor paper or board to work on.🎨
Sunrise At The Vineyard
8″ x 10″ watercolor on Arches 300lb. watercolor paper.
Is it the ‘norm’ to have a few paintings in progress as well as a stack on the side of your desk with many ideas for future projects? I also wonder how many artists have their entire day(s) to paint or try desperately to fit the time in here or there? My time is limited, so when I get a few hours, I turn my music on and shut the world out. Today I planned to take the entire day to paint, however, life got in the way. The first half of the day was taken up by “must do’s” so when I finally got home, it was an absolute pleasure to paint and finish up this small watercolor painting!
Stay cool with all this summer heat.
Shadow
No matter an artists’ style or choice of medium, there are many things that go into a great composition. I am working on a new series of paintings that make the “shadows” key players in the compositions.
Small Works
When cutting watercolor paper for paintings into larger specific sizes, I save the scraps and finally decided to try some fun little works.
What a great way to relax and see what can be created!
From Sketch To The Final Piece
It is so nice to be finished with a couple of recent watercolor paintings but they weren’t without their obstacles. I generally make a working sketch when a project is complicated but I did not examine my sketch of the “Ocean Painters” carefully enough to work through the difficult shade areas or take a good look at the “bench” when beginning the painting. Artists who have worked with watercolor know, once the color is down, it is difficult to make changes afterward. I took my chances and made some changes anyway and for the most part, it worked out.
The palm tree painting was straight forward but my “Ocean Painters” will need a bit of tweaking here and there but is basically done.
I continue to learn something new every day and definitely with these two paintings.
Working With A Deadline
Deadlines are so uninspiring but they do cause me to schedule my days to make the most out of the time I do have to be creative.
As a rule, I try to stay away from deadlines but I am working on two paintings for a show in Oceanside, CA – due date: June 30th. No pressure – HA! My watercolor paintings have layers and layers of color and right about this stage, I am having doubts and being super critical of my work. I have no idea why, but it’s a battle I have with each watercolor painting.
Here is the progress of both paintings plus another painting set aside until later:
