Farm Hauler - watercolor

watercolor, 2015

available, 15"x22"

prints and gifts also available

      Another loose, impressionistic rusty truck. Pretty happy with this one. I'm finding that when I'm not happy with something it isn't always because there's something wrong with that spot; it's often because I haven't gotten my head completely wrapped around impressionism and suggesting rather than showing every little thing. Progress, maybe?

Sidewalk Sale - watercolor

watercolor, 2015

available, 9"x12"

      This is from a shot I took in Blowing Rock, NC. Actually, it's the same location as Daisy Shopping posted in July. I'm happy with several individual parts of this one, especially the scarves and bag hanging on the left. Overall, it's just loose enough, though I could have loosened up a bit more. But the rough paper gave me such a difficult time I'm rethinking my strategy for choosing rough over cold-pressed paper. I'll probably be using a lot more cold-pressed paper and reserving the rough stuff for very specific images.

Manila Fire & Rescue - watercolor

watercolor, 2015
available, 7"x11"

      Here's another one from the Philippines for this month's Virtual Paintout. I didn't include any of the surroundings for simplicity's sake. But I found it interesting that these are just parked on the side of the road across from the manual railroad crossing from last week. There's no building or station like we're used to in other parts of the world.

      Anyway, I'm pretty happy with how this one worked out. It's just loose enough and just tight enough. And, I did it with a three-color palette - ultramarine blue, raw sienna, and cadmium red light. I've been experimenting with limited palettes with my figure paintings, which I don't post here. This image all but screamed limited palette.

6th Street - watercolor

watercolor, 2015

available, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available

      This was done from a shot I took a couple months ago while walking through downtown Winston-Salem, NC. I'm very happy with this one. There are only a couple things I would change and they're pretty minor. It hits all the loose, impressionism notes I've been struggling with while keeping plenty of realism and detail -- another one on the road to loose realism.
      I've started doing small sketches of scenes and subjects before trying them at larger sizes. This is a technique I've known for years but rarely used. When done right it really helps. You get a good sense of the subject, how the colors you think you want to use really work together and can see how your focal point relates to the rest of the image. When I finish a sketch I scan it and print it in color or copy it on a color copier and then make notes about changes, color usage and other things I want to remember when doing the larger painting. With this one, for instance, I made a note to include more of the scene on the left. In the sketch I had cropped it at the No Parking sign. That placement seemed to restrict the eye and made the image seem cluttered with all the sidewalk stuff. With some open space on the left of the sign the sidewalk seems more open.

Manila Crossing - ink

ink, 2015

available, 8"x11"

      A quick ink sketch of a manual railroad crossing in Manila for this month's Virtual Paintout. It also fits for Inktober. I really should have planned a couple ink pieces this month. Maybe next year.

Reclamation Project - watercolor

watercolor, 2015

available, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available

      A lot of the grass and leaves are dry brush right out of the tube. I like that effect better than what you get from masking fluid.

Table Taxi - gouache

gouache, 2015

available, 11"x15"

prints available

      This is from another shot I took on my phone while wandering around an antique store.