Cold Mountains

Here is a series of mountains, both with cold wintry palettes.  Below was done with Daniel Smith Shadow Violet and Rose of Ultramarine.  

                                 Watercolor on 140 lbs paper 9x12

Below is a picture in process.  I was experimenting with "blooms" by splashing water droplets on the wet paint.  The unpainted mountains have a distinctly ghost-like feel to them.

I had some extra granulating paint on a my palette and was just messing around and this happened (see below).  It is mix of Daniel Smith Phthalo Turquoise and Mayan Dark Blue.

                                Watercolor on 140 lbs paper 4x6

Light the Night

Tonight is the Light the Night walk.  Even though I cannot be there, I wanted to send my support.  I painted this piece to accompany our charity basket that raised money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

                                          Watercolor 6x8 on 140 lbs paper

And here it is without the lantern.

Creeping Tiger

Creeping tiger, hidden leg.  Just a simple painting of a tiger creeping. . .ready to pounce. This is the first painting using my new set of M Graham watercolors.

                                           Watercolor on 98 lbs paper 7x10

Black & White Warbler and M Graham Watercolors

Well, you win some and you learn some. I had a paint accident with an M Graham watercolor tube (the honey and pigment separated in the highland green).  I was able to mix it (mostly) but globs of it got everywhere.  You can still see wads of honey in the background.  Not one of my favorite pictures (it scans nicer than it looks in real life).

                                  M Graham Watercolor 14x10 on 200 lbs paper

                         Watercolor under painting with the elusive Ghost Warbler


M Graham Watercolor

Below is my new M Graham only travel box.  I have found that the Northwest blackberry honey that they use as a vehicle is not good to take to the Caribbean.  The honey-based paint liquifies and goes everywhere in your travel box.  Some colors never really dry but remain liquid (some colors below take up the entire bin while others have a sort of rough shape to them).  I will be using this in studio and will try them on a cold day outside.

• Row 1
• Bismuth Yellow
• Quinacridone Rose
• Scarlet Pyrrol
• Yellow Ochre
• Nickel Quinacridone Gold (large Pan)
• Burnt Sienna
• Row 2
• Cobalt Violet
• Dioxazine Purple
• Cobalt Teal
• Cobalt Blue
• Tartan Blue (limited edition
• Anthraquinone Blue
• Row 3
• Permanent Green Pale (large pan)
• Cobalt Green
• Sap Green (large pan)
• Highland Green (limited edition)
• Neutral Tint

Photo reference: Black and White Warbler; Living Bird (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) Autumn 2016; vol: 35, issue 4 cover (photo by Guillerno Santos)

St Martin 2018

We returned to St Martin once again for a September vacation on the Dutch side, which is still recovering from Hurricane Irma (much better than the French side).  This time we stayed at a resort on the Little Bay instead of Simpson Bay.  Little Bay is closer to Philipsburg but farther from restaurants.  

For this trip, I brought several turquoise and teal and blue paints so I could capture the amazing Caribbean waters.  Below is the view I had every morning (le sigh).  The small brown building on the top of the hill is the remnants of Fort Amsterdam.  The resort was almost finished up with its repairs and the orange-yellow buildings to the left had yet to open.

                              Watercolor on 270 gsm paper 11x8.5

This was a little rock alcove that separated our small bay within a bay from the main area.  It was very peaceful.  It was off season, so on more than one occasion I felt like we had the bay all to ourselves.

                               Watercolor on 140 lbs paper 6x4

The sea turtle of Tintamarre Island are just starting to come back and we did not see any on our trip.  So instead of snorkeling again, I stayed on the boat and did a painting.  I wanted it to be loose and airy to remind me of a truly wonderful day.

                             Watercolor on 140 lbs paper 6x8

Here is the view from the Fort Amsterdam overlooking Great Bay and Philipsburg.   Not my favorite in this series.

                     Watercolor on 140 lbs paper 6x8