Thursday, November 24, 2016

Wallburg Barn - watercolor

watercolor, 2016
available, 11"x15"

      I'm abstracting just a bit in this one leaning toward impressionism. But, not enough. I might need to return to this spot for more reference photos.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Apothecary's Shop - watercolor

watercolor, 2016
available, 11"x15"

      This is from a photo I shot in Old Salem, a preserved Moravian town first settled in 1766. I couldn't resist the shadows on the building when I saw it a few years ago. Even then I knew it would be a challenge to paint and this is at least the second attempt. I'm much happier with this one than with the first.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Gaggle - watercolor

watercolor, 2016
available, 11"x15"

      This is from a photo I took on the Dan River back in June and the second attempt at painting it. The first time I tried this one, I overworked the foreground shore multiple times. So, this time I left it white to vignette only the line marking where the water and sand meet. That didn't seem to work, either. It was far too bright. So, I added in the abstract color you see now. Maybe it's done now.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Moving Day - watercolor

watercolor, 2016
available, 11"x15"

      This was painted from a cell phone photo I took as we were moving my sister out of her house earlier this year. And, it's nice timing as we're in the process of moving my daughter into her first apartment.
      A moderate mixture of detail and looseness, I'm very happy with some spots, just "happy" with some others and I settled for a few spots. The biggest problem with this really was that it was painted on Kilimanjaro paper from Cheap Joe's. I don't care for that paper; it buckles much more than Arches and even the cheaper Moulin du Roi by Canson. The only good thing about it is the texture. The cold-pressed finish is much rougher than any other brand I've tried.