Some of the watercolors I've been working on this Spring
Normally, I post new work to my website once a year, when I'm in between painting sessions. But now that I have this blog, I can't resist putting up some snapshots of work that's underway. As I have gotten older, I find, because of the fumes, that I can't paint in oils during the winter months when the heating system is on and the doors and windows are shut. So I began to explore watercolor as an alternative. (I can't just "not paint".) This is my second year and I feel increasingly comfortable with the medium. You have to have nerves of steel to do watercolor and it wears me out much faster than oil painting, but I'm starting to get used to its demands.
All these are 22 x 30". Some are near completion, others not so. I always work in clusters and each piece informs the rest, so I won't consider any one of them done until they all are.
Click on the images to enlarge
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Wow, these are gorgeous. I tend to think of watercolor as being kind of wishy-washy. Your pieces are very strong. The last four in particular (in my humble opinion).I can't believe you've only been working w/ watercolor for 2 years!
ReplyDeleteI've never had much luck with watercolor. Actually, I haven't done enough, mainly because I don't like to plan ahead. I prefer to be able to change my mind, move things about, add and subtract.
Have you ever tried acrylic paint? If you haven't lately, they are much improved. I use Golden acrylics. I switched over years ago, because my studio was in my home and I didn't want to subject my family to the fumes. Nancy Reyner's book, Acrylic Revolution has great directions for using acrylic. She also gives dynamite workshops.
I find acrylic very versatile. Used correctly, they look very much like oils. Lots of mediums, including ones that slow drying time. Golden has just started a line of "Open Acrylics" which act just like oils. So they say–I haven't tried them yet.
Love the detail and time it must have taken.
ReplyDeletethese are stunning! such rich watercolors!
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