Both paintings are from photos I took when we were in Colorado this past May-June for a HS graduation (but done back at home). For these two, I tried a wet-in-wet technique and mixed the watercolor paint on the wet paper, hoping to get more interesting color gradients. For the most part, I am pleased with the results.
Watercolor on 140 lbs paper 9x12
Another smaller painting from the same hike. I like the clouds and the foreground but the center piece rock out cropping did not turn out as I hoped.
Watercolor on 140 lbs paper 6x8
When we are visiting Colorado, we always try to do something active in nature. While there, we did a short hike in the foothills of the Rockies (Red Rock Canyon Open Space) as we did not have time to do some of the longer, higher trails. Even still, the views were spectacular, especially the skies. During the hike, the skies we clear blue with puffy clouds, however, as we heading back, the skies started to get ominous. By the time we were back at our hotel (~15 min later), the skies were black and it was a full on hail storm! Just another typical day I hear.
The epic vistas of Colorado were certainly inspiring. Pike's Peak was as impressive as advertised. However, it was far too cold (27 degrees F) and the stay far to short to paint while up there, so this is from a photo reference as we took the Cog Railway back down the mountain. This may be one of my most favorite paintings that I have done in a long time.
Watercolor 11 x 8.5 on heavy weight paper 270 gsm
Below is the view from the scenic turnoff on I-25 (right by the AF Academy). It was hot and dry (typical alpine desert weather). And much like Lugano, the water evaporated as fast as I put it down. I think I over-worked this one a smidge or two. This one is not one of my favorites. . .
Watercolor 11 x 8.5 on heavy weight paper 270 gsm
My father once told me, "you cannot show an Irishman a hill without him wanting to see the other side." I have come to understand the truth of this saying. Driving home from work I would often glimpse these grain silos, literally across the highway and through the woods. Finding them (and then painting them) became a goal. This is one of those spots that I might have to come back to in different seasons,especially in winter.
Watercolor 11 x 8.5 on heavy weight paper 270 gsm
I just got back from a two week business trip in Europe and was able to do a few paintings in my new Stillman & Birn softcover (Beta Series). I have been wanting to try it out for awhile and I must say it is pretty great. It lies flat and handles watercolor washes amazingly as advertized.
Both of these paintings were done in Lugano, Switzerland (although the first one is technically Cademario). The first is the view from the Kurhaus hotel, high up in the mountains. The second is down by Lake Lugano (sitting on a bench on Riva Vincenzo Vela). It was so hot that the water was evaporating in the watercolor pans!
Watercolor 11 x 8.5 on heavyweight paper 270 gsm
Watercolor 11 x 8.5 on heavyweight paper 270 gsm
Been trying to get out more on the weekends to go hiking to see the resplendent Fall foliage in NJ. Took some photos to use as reference pictures. This was as very loose painting. You can see how the paper buckled (the shadows at the bottom of the image) under they heavy washes.
Watercolor on paper
During our vacation in Seattle, T and I took lots of pictures. Some were happy vacation pics and some were photo references. Below is quick painting based on one of those photos from Whidbey Island in northern Washington.
Watercolor on paper
A quiet, little inspiring view to end the year.
Watercolor on 140 lbs paper, 8x10
I never really liked this painting when I finished it. I was still using cotman watercolors and had not come close to understand how to use them. The plan was always to either go back or try this picture again. Well, I decided to touch up the painting with my beloved Unison pastels. I did not do too much (further defined the rocks by adding yellow highlights and dark purple and brown shadows and making the clouds more wispy with a light blue plus the bit of angry clouds in the upper right).
All in all, I like it better.
Watercolor & pastel on 200 lbs watercolor paper, 16x12
One more early fall painting before winter truly begins.
Watercolor on 140 lbs block 9x12
Sailing to Anguilla was a great day. When we signed up for the trip, we did not realize it was such a booze crews (but apparently they all are). The rum started early (learned about a variant of a Dirty Shirley made with rum) and kept flowing all day. But that was not the highlight of the day. For me, painting while sailing (see below) was the true highlight (that and the after party).
Below is the picture of the catamaran I did after a lovely lunch of mahi mahi, jerk ribs, curried coleslaw and rice. It is my favorite piece of the whole trip. In fact, it might be my favorite piece I have done in the past year (this or the old stone bridge).
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 5.5x8.25
Below is a series of three small (postcard size) pictures I did while sailing to Prickly Pear and Anguilla. Despite all the rum, not many people were talkative. However, after I pulled out my watercolors and began sketching that all changed. It was a fun conversation starters.
These three sketches are rough and loose and just plain fun.
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 3.5x5.5
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Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 3.5x5.5
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 3.5x5.5
Vacation was relaxing and awesome. And incredibly productive. I did 9 painting/sketches of various sizes, including 3 while sitting on a catamaran (coming soon).
Instead of my normal Daniel Smith watercolors, I brought a new palette of colors by M Graham watercolors (Highland Green, Bismuth Yellow, Cobalt Teal, Permanent Green Pale, Scarlet Pyrrol, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Violet, Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Green, Alizarin Crimson, Quinacridone Gold and Burnt Sienna) specifically because of the gorgeous cobalt teal, which was perfect for the clear Caribbean water. M Graham watercolors are made with natural blackberry honey to prevent them from drying out. It was my first time really using these watercolors and they did really well, except for the Cobalt Green which never, ever dried in my palette and therefore leaked all over the place. Good thing I kept them in a zip-loc baggie.
This was the view from my room, looking out to the far right. I did have a view of Simpson Bay but could not see it sitting down.
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 5.5x8.25
View of the Caribbean Sea
We spent most of the time hanging on the beach or floating in the Caribbean Sea. I did a sketch of the view, sitting on a beach chair, looking to the right on the first day and the view to the left on the last day. Connecting them would give a full view of the little horseshoe bay where we sat most days.
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 5.5x8.25
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 5.5x8.25
View of Simpson Bay and the "Hills"
The view of the "mountains" were a close second to the sea itself. Not sure if these are Sint Peter Hill or Sentry Hill, but I enjoyed watching the clouds drift in the sky to make the shadows flows across these "hills".
Watercolor and pen & ink on 180 lbs paper 9x12
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 3.5x5.5
I finally feel like an urban sketcher. To my mind, rightly or wrongly, I feel that Barcelona is birth place of this little global movement (or at least one of them). If it is not, then it is certainly one of its centers. So to finally sit at a restaurant on top of Arenas de Barcelona and sketch the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya was a pretty cool experience.
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 5.5x8.25
I had this ambitious idea of doing one small picture a day (3.5x5.5) but alas, I only had the time and energy to do two. Below is the view from my hotel room. On the left, barely visible, is Sagrada Familia.
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 3.5x5.5
And here is where the magic happens. The mobile recording studio set up in our hotel.
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 3.5x11.0
It is a small world. While getting ready to paint in Highland Lakes, Tina's uncle told me I needed to visit the Expeditionary Art website because the artist, Maria Coryell-Martin, does some cool nature watercolors. I already knew about the site because T had bought me my first (and second) Pocket Palette from Maria. In addition, Maria was very generous with her time and expertise. She provided her insights and advice to me while I was preparing to buy artist grade watercolors (Daniel Smith). Here is my first painting using the Pocket Palette and new paints on site.
Why is it a small world? Well, it turns out T's cousin went on the same expedition as Maria. In fact, Maria even did a watercolor portrait of her cousin in watercolors (it is a really cool and unique piece).
Here is my sketch of small lake where T's aunt and uncle live using, of course, my Pocket Palette and Daniel Smith watercolors!
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 5.5x8.25
These are really small, 3.5x5.5 inches, even smaller than postcards (4x6) but make for good practice. . With these, I was trying a few things out. I wanted to mix colors directly on the paper (wet on wet), glaze transparent washes over dried washes (wet on dry) and try out my new Lamy fountain pen.
This is my favorite one of the series below. It is the only one using ink. Unfortunately, the Lamy ink is not water proof, so the ink bled (which did create nice dark washes). I mixed the sky and clouds directly on the paper and you can see more color transition and gradation than I am normally able to achieve.
Mosquito Creek, Olympic National Park, WA
watercolor and ink on paper 3.5x5.5
I was a little impatient with this one and the color from the baby moose bled into the background, making it rather blurry. I mixed the trees in the foreground on the paper and when I did let the water dry, did several glazes of greens and browns on top to try and create the illusion of more distance. I think this one was semi-successful.
2 Moose, 1 Blurry, Isle Royale National Park, MI
watercolor on paper 3.5x5.5
The above two pictures used photo references while this one did not. I was very heavy handed with the water and flooded the paper. However, I really like the flows of color and the pigmentation that occurred organically as a result. The sky, clouds and foreground colors were all mixed on the wet, wet paper.
Golden Sunset (or Sunrise?)
watercolor on paper 3.5x5.5
I did a simple hike in Washington Valley Park and for the first time brought tube paints along with my Pocket Palette (dried paints). It was crazy windy by the East Branch Reservoir where I set up but the sun was warm. With the wind whipping by, I had to work fast. The result was this groovy, abstract painting. I love the juicy washes in the sky and the evergreen trees using the tube paint. I can see why many Urban Sketchers bring tubes along with them on site.
Watercolor on 140 lbs watercolor board 9x12
Here is the actual photo. It was so windy that the clouds were constantly changing and moving by, altering the shadows they threw on the trees and water below. While I painted, several college-aged kids hop across the little rock bridge in the foreground that was partially submerged. None fell in.
Slowly, Spring is starting to return. The weather is trying to get warmer. More and more birds are showing up at our feeder. We see robins, cardinals, finches, chickadees, bluejays and a few others I have not yet identified. And they make great subject matter.
This painting is a departure from all the landscapes I have done recently. It is always good to try something new. Plus, it allowed me to do more drawing before the watercolors, which was fun.
Watercolor on 140 lbs watercolor paper 9x12
The name of this Triad is called Reflections (Blue Apatite Genuine, Deep Sap Green and Transparent Brown Oxide) and it is an apt name. What lovely granulating washes the blue apatite made for the distant mounts and the deep sap green is so lush I did use my favorite, verditer blue for the sky and water.
I like the haphazard washes and energy in the water and mountains. I also like how the sky and granulated blue mountains gives it a feel of a rainy day, which are perfect days for reflections.
Watercolor on 140 lbs watercolor block 9x12
And the title also follows the great tradition of similar titles and concepts.
This winter has been tough, even for those of us who enjoy the cold. I figured since Mother Nature was teasing us with an almost Spring day (it hit over 60 degrees here) before sending us more cold, I would paint something colorful. . .and warm.
Watercolor on 140lbs watercolor block 9x12
I used M Graham watercolors for this (I bought his Shades of Summer limited edition at a year end close out sale; highland green, bismuth yellow, cobalt teal, permanent green pale and scarlet pyrrol) instead of my normal Daniel Smith. I did supplement with DS verditer blue to create a purple for the sky (I thought I would get a purple from the orange-red scarlet pyrrol and cobalt teal, but that made a nice brown I used on the beach). Funny thing is, apparently MG and DS watercolors do not mix so well. You can see the granulation in the clouds (this also happened on my palette as the mix dried). That is too bad as I like these colors, perhaps I will make a MG only travel palette.
I like the layering of colors in the beach and the dunes, probably because I allowed the paints to fully dry before laying on additional paint. . .Ah patience, it is a virue.
Pastel painting is my true passion. While I am enjoying watercolor immensely, working in pastels is where I feel most expressive. Hard to believe it has been nearly a decade since I have painted a landscape in pastels and 2 years since this.
This is another Key West sunset, taken while on a Wine and Wind sailing tour. It was a great time and a perfect end to a wonderful day. I had debated about trying this sky in watercolor, but ultimately I felt I could do it more justice in pastels. Plus, my beautiful Unison pastels have sat neglected long enough.
What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.
TS Eliot
Little Gidding
Pastel on paper mounted on board 16x20
The room set up and photo reference. Since I have flattened my high school easel for my watercolor work, I am using a table top easel for the pastels. I like this new set up as it allows me to paint in watercolor or pastels, without wasting time finding my tools. If you look closely, you will notice the sky in the photo is different from the final, I felt the color gradation was too jarring and needed to be softened.
A detailed close up of the setting sun. I blended some of the colors in the clouds to give them a more atmospheric look while left the strokes in the water rougher to show motion. Notice how the grain of the pastel paper peaks thru in some areas, but not in others.
This piece kinda got away from me. While in the keys, I took several photos of beautiful sunsets, some with deep oranges and yellow, some with soft pinks and reds, all with the intent of using them as the basis for studio pieces. This is the first such painting.
I wanted to add a bit more color to the water and may have overdone it a bit. Not sure, I go back and forth as to whether I like this or not. You all can decide. I am pleased, however, with how the sail boat turned out.
This is one of my larger watercolors at 12x16 as I am feeling more confident working bigger.
Watercolor on 140lbs watercolor block 12x16
