Brooding Sky

We have had some pretty stormy weather lately which inspired this watercolor. I used only three colors - burnt sienna, indigo and French ultramarine. Every now and then I am really pleased with a painting and don't nitpick about what I could have done better and this is one that I am rather pleased with. I also recently revamped my web site - after using wordpress for many years I decided to make the change-over to Squarespace with a more modern look. If you are interested in seeing my new site please click on this link.

Desert Sunset

Back to glazing again. I love painting layers and layers of thin watercolors to create a glowing effect. I also love painting sunsets, which lend themselves to this layering effect. I used new gamboge, transparent pyrrol orange and a new color for me, permanent brown, all of these are Daniel Smith colors. Permanent brown is actually a lovely deep red color. I painted this on Saunders Waterford cold pressed 140lb paper. I really love the way this paper takes color.

Solitude

This is a place in Cumbria, England called Grange Over Sands. The photo below is courtesy of a cousin. I liked the peaceful scene but wanted to change the colors to create a more atmospheric feeling to the place. Hope I achieved this. Artistic license is a liberating feeling.

Dreamscape II

First painting of the new year. Feeling inspired. Trying out new colors and textures - having fun. Painting is great therapy. It's my way to relax.  Just wish I was better at coming up with good titles for my paintings. Something I need to work on this year. For the trees in this watercolor I used transparent red oxide and for the grays in the foreground I used cobalt blue + aureolin yellow + rose madder genuine. I am pleased with the results. Trying to keep my watercolors loose.

Dreamscape

After spending the last few months creating my how-to painting videos I finally got down to painting again. I decided to try using colors I had never used before and see if I could incorporate them into a landscape. I think it worked for this imaginary landscape and I am pleased with the results. I used phthalo turquoise, transparent red Iron oxide and quinacridone burnt scarlet. Then while still wet, used some cling film to create the textures in the foreground. For sale on my web site at http://thewatercolorist.net/dreamscape/

How To Paint Loose In Watercolors

I am thrilled that my second watercolor course has now been published on udemy.com.  The title is, Painting Loose in Watercolors - Let Me Show You How. I do two demonstrations of thistles. If any of my blogger friends are interested in doing the course I have a special on the course for more than half off with coupon code PL12. In this course I do two demonstrations of thistles and three demonstrations of how to create texture in watercolors.  My intro video which describes the course can be seen by clicking on the course name in this post.

Fall Scene Video Course

I'm very excited that my video course on how to paint this fall scene now has more than 700 students enrolled on the learning site Udemy.com. Now I have to get down to painting again since I am running out of inventory, having spent the last six weeks doing this video.
https://www.udemy.com/paint-a-stunning-fall-watercolor-in-seven-easy-steps/

Blood Moon

Having fun with Schmincke's tro-col bronze dry gouache powder. We had an eclipse recently and I was inspired to come up with a dramatic piece involving the moon. I remember my old art teacher, Jerry Stitt, telling us it's never a good idea to have a large orb in your painting which the eye then gravitates towards. So the way around it is to create a cloud or two across the  circle which breaks it up and lets the eye circulate around the painting. I used indanthrone blue, new gamboge and perrylene maroon watercolors and sprinkled the Schmincke's dry gouache in pale gold over the wet watercolor and rocked it back and forth until I was satisfied with the pattern. I love experimenting with interesting materials to stretch the boundaries of watercolor. Schmincke has a few different colors in their tro-col-bronze dry gouaches. You can get some interesting results mixing them in with your watercolors.

Fall Glory

I know it's not yet that time of year, but I wanted to experiment with a combination of yellows and oranges for a course I am creating on the site udemy.com on how to paint a fall landscape. I am pleased with these particular color combinations and think I will go with them. It's paradoxical that fall leaves create such a beautiful site in their dying throes. I used Daniel Smith's new gamboge,  golden ochre, cadmium red mixed with new gamboge and French ultramarine mixed with burnt umber for the few darks in the leaves. For the ground area I dribbled sepia ink over the watercolors for texture.

Patterns In The Landscape

This is a small 5"x7" test piece I did to see if the colors would work together for a larger piece. Sometimes I end up liking the test piece better than the larger watercolor. Have not attempted the larger piece yet but will soon. I used Indigo, yellow ochre and burnt umber on Fabriano cold pressed watercolor paper.  The textures in the landscape were achieved using cling film. I like to create a semi-abstract section in each of my watercolors.