Good Days Ahead!

Our Easter Sunday was cold and snowing all day.  We ended up getting about 5 inches of snow.  But today, we woke up to sunny skies, and it honestly was a beautiful scene.  Our lake is the most beautiful shade of Antwerp blue with the sky being cerulean blue, and the shadows on the snow are so striking!   The moral of this story is-  sometimes, we have to have some gloomy days, so we will appreciate the beautiful ones!  It got me to thinking about our present situation and how dismal it seems, but we have to hold onto hope that tomorrow will be a better day!  So, here's hoping you are having a great day, and maybe I can give you some inspiration to keep painting!

Easter weather on the left.    One day later, on the right!

I thought I would take photos as I progressed through an illusionary painting.  Hope it will inspire you to give this process a try.  I only used 3 colors throughout this painting.   I used quinacridone gold (DS),  Red Rose Deep (DaVinci) and Antwerp Blue (WN).  Watch for future workshops if you want more instruction.  This process is called Illusionary Painting and it is pure watercolor.  This image is 7.5" x 7.5".

Using your Camera as a Tool

Bay Preserve, Osprey, FL      Plein air painting
11" x 15"  Watercolor on paper

This is a painting that I did while in Florida, plein air painting.  That means that I painted it on location.  It was a beautiful sunny day.  I have grown to LOVE plein air painting.  I remember smells, sounds, everything about that day, just by looking at the painting, after much time has passed.  At this time of the Covid 19, I'm especially thankful for those times and look forward to good times ahead when I get to be with my artist friends again.  This painting is not actually done yet.  I need to increase the values  of the mid tones and put the darkest darks where I want the viewer to look.  Do you know how I discovered that?  I use a camera app called PencilSketch, when I am 3/4 finished with my paintings.  Then I turn it to "sketch" to see if I have a connection of my values, and a clear light pathway.  Below is the picture from PencilSketch. I like the grouping of values, but there should be darker darks to really add "Wow" to your painting.  Check out this app.  I LOVE it!