Wine Country

 

Wine Time (Red Umbrellas), 11 1/2" x 15 1/8" 

While touring through the Sierra Nevada foothills a few years ago, we stopped at Young's Vineyard near Plymouth, California. Enjoying their wines and their beautiful gardens offered the inspiration for this piece. This shaded terrace overlooking the vineyards was especially inviting. Over the years, I've noticed Adirondack chairs seem to occasionally be the focus in artwork, probably because of their interesting shape and their traditional white or bright colors. What I found intriguing about these was that they were unfinished weathered  wood, which reflected the character of the old barrels and also seemed to mimic the color of the dappled shadows. The combined effect was a pleasant feeling of tranquility, which I tried to capture.

Beautiful Boulders

 

Tahoe Shore 1, 11 1/2" x 15 1/8"

With this painting, I was trying to work more loosely and allow the medium to display it's fluidity - which is the true beauty of watercolor. This scene of granite boulders along the shore of Lake Tahoe was my first opportunity to experiment with gray hues. In reality the granite is a very even neutral gray value, but by mixing the grays using the primaries it created much more variety and interest in the way the colors interact. Dropping some color into the washes of the mountains created some subtle detail while still representing the imagery convincingly. To me, the ability to see the nuances of the medium itself is what makes watercolor truly distinctive and dynamic!

Watercolor No. 2

Turquoise Door, 15 1/8" x 11 1/2"

Happy Holidays, and here's wishing everyone an exceptional 2011!

After managing to not make a mess of my previous watercolor, I grabbed another photo and decided to venture forth again. As an absolute newbie to watercolor, I was trying not to get overly invested in the outcome and simply get my feet (brush) wet! I thought this image of a doorway in Hydra, Greece was interesting and this piece was really just another opportunity to practice putting some paint on the paper. I enjoyed experimenting with the various textures and added the cat to help bring some life and balance to the composition. I find the process exciting and it reinforces my interest in watercolor.

Venturing Into Watercolor

Greek Hut, 13 1/4" x 9 1/8"

Well, this was my first foray into watercolor. Actually not really the first, but the first in my more recent artistic endeavors - this was done about two years ago. As I've mentioned before, I'd primarily worked in colored pencil. I think that was in response to my years as a sign painter, working daily with oil based paints and solvents, which I then wanted to avoid at home. However, as much as I truly enjoy drawing, I found some of my pieces became very labor intensive. Lord knows I try to fight my artistic nature and loosen up, but somehow I keep finding myself mired in detail! For instance, just doing the background motif in "Pond Shadows", seen in my first post, took two days to complete! So, while the effort is often worth the result, I just felt I wanted a break from it and had a desire to pursue a new medium.

A beautifully done watercolor has a dynamic to it that I have always found intriguing. I think because it has that whole Yin-Yang thing going for it. While it can appear very spontaneous and fluid, it's also a challenging medium that requires control and planning. I thought it might be a good fit for me, in that it still allowed for some drawing but a more immediate approach to the coloring of the image - and I love the transparency and luminosity of it! Many of my earlier attempts at watercolor seemed to end up in a pool of muddy color, probably from my impatience and lack of forethought. This time around I decided to try to be a bit more deliberate and methodical. With that in mind, I grabbed an old vacation photo of a rustic building near Hydra, Greece and jumped in! This was the result, and I was encouraged that it actually came out somewhat as I'd hoped and it left me inspired to try some more watercolor!

Venice in Colored Pencil

Venezia, 13 1/2" x 8 3/4"

I did this one for my mother, from an old photo she had taken of a Venetian canal on a trip to Italy. The picture itself was very small and not very clear, which required plenty of interpretation with the drawing. Once again, it's colored pencil, using a fairly illustrative approach with a bit of abstraction thrown into the sky. I also softened the top of it with some lost edges and pushed some elements out of the frame which then lead the eye into the image. It ended up being kind of a fun result and for some reason, I always get a sort of "stage set" impression from it - not sure why, maybe it's the sky!

Pastel Pencil This Time!

Malheur Cranes, 16" x 9 3/4"

Here's another oldie! This time using pastel pencils instead of Prismacolors, but still utilizing the background color as part of the imagery. I had wanted to try the pastel pencils in an attempt to break away from the detail that I consistently gravitate towards in my work. Guess I figured I couldn't sharpen them as much as my colored pencils, which should translate to more looseness! Can't say as I was successful in that regard, but it didn't come out too badly nonetheless.

This piece was done after a trip to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon. It's a highly regarded bird watching venue and we were fortunate to see some Sandhill Cranes while we were there. The refuge is adjacent to Steens Mountain (in the picture's background), which is a dramatic fault block mountain with striking views overlooking the Alvord Desert and the refuge. It's a bit remote, but well worth a visit if you find yourself in the area!

Another from the Archives

Tropical Bird, 15 1/2" x 9 3/4"

This piece is another colored pencil drawing, with the addition of some watercolor in the background. I just started drawing a Bird of Paradise one day, without much forethought as to the final outcome, and this is where I ended up.

After finishing the flower, I decided that all it needed was a relatively simple background, maybe incorporating a Latin style architectural motif of some sort. After designing the geometrical tile element, I felt it was going to require contrast between the foreground and background, so I layed in a multi-hued wash of watercolor. As it turned out, the background then appeared a bit strident compared to the pencil work, so I outlined the edge of it with a light blue, and crosshatched it with a beige matching the color of the paper. That solved the intensity problem and also created, what I felt, was a rather interesting effect. Sometimes things work out, even if you don't know where you're heading at the beginning!