Evening Reflections

Evening Reflections, Watercolor on Arches #140 Rough Paper, 7"h x 10"w, 2016 #16

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Windy Hill & Cypress Hill Sunsets - Day Thirteen of the 30/30 Challenge

Windy Hill Sunset, Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 6"w, 2015 #15

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Day thirteen of the challenge -- this one is a little test of compositional elements for a larger piece. I really wanted to do a sunset scene today and used a combination of primary color palette -- Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow and Ultramarine Blue for the sky and clouds. Since the composition is overly horizontal, I tried to experiment with different elements of diagonal movements. In the first one I tried to add back-lid barren deciduous trees; in the second version I used wind-blown cypress trees, since I was working on a larger sheet of paper, and had more room to play with shapes:

Cypress Hill Sunset, Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper, 8"h x 11"w, 2015 #16

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I am quite happy with both version and think that I may go with the second concept on the bigger piece. But I may play with the composition just a bit more... We'll see!

The Perch - Day Twelve of the 30/30 Challenge

The Perch, Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 6"w, 2015 #14

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Day twelve of the challenge -- this is a little painting I did based on a previous plein air piece at the shoreline park of mountain view. In the untraveled back portion of this park you can often see raptors perched on barren deciduous trees that did not survive the invasion of salty water toward shore. Against the pink and lavender evening sky the magnificent bird seems truly free of any weight and terrestrial entanglements...

Day's End - Day Three of the 30/30 Challenge

Day's End, 

Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 6"w, 2015 #5

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Day three of the challenge -- one of the goals I have for this 30/30 challenge is to try using as big a brush I can manage and carry the painting to as far a point as I could, as I did in the last painting, "Woodland Fall"; a second goal I have is to experiment with non-conventional brushes and surfaces without the worry of "failing", i.e., not turning out a beautiful little painting in the end. 

For this 6" x 6", I used primarily a slanted 1" stiff bristle brush to lay in the soft sky and foreground snow on very wet paper, and added gradually thickened pigments to create the distant mountain with fir trees as well as to establish the general shape of the snow-laden evergreens in the foreground before the paper dried. The advantage of bristle brush is, they really can pick up and carry a lot more pigment (especially if your pigment is not fresh squeezed out of a tube) compared to traditional watercolor brushes, even the stiffer synthetic haired ones. Another advantage of these brushes is that they have very jagged hair, hence it is absolutely futile to try to get any detail out of them when painting. One is thus forced to pay attention to the general tone, color and overall silhouette of each value shape, and design the bigger picture before putting in the details (which would require switching to a different type of brush). 

I did eventually switch to smaller bristle brushes to establish the darker crevices on the rocks, the branches of foreground fir, etc., and used a small rigger brush to suggest some bare branches of deciduous trees as well as shrubs, but most of the painting was done with the big 1" bristle that at times made me feel very awkward and not knowing what I was doing. Overcoming that awkward feeling was very liberating, since I know I am going beyond my own comfort zone, pushing myself to learn more and grow as a painter. The results is not always as exciting as the process itself, but in case of this little painting, I am feeling quite satisfied...