Shady Garden Revisited

As you could probably tell from my last post, I was not thrilled with my last painting.  The image was in my head while doing errands, in my sleep, etc.  There were a lot of things I liked about it, but, there was something that was bothering me.  So I just redid it today.  I was very happy with my pencil drawing.  I focused even more on drawing only the shapes of light and dark and connecting these shapes.  What made the biggest difference, I limited my color palette.  I am much happier with this color palette for this painting.

Thank you to everyone for your comments on the last post.  I truly appreciate your emails and your time.  Have a great weekend!

Found Some Shade

Tranquil Garden

11x14 watercolor

Here is a cool, shady spot to sit during this hot summer!  This is inspired from a patio in France in the Provence region.  When we lived in London, we would go to France a lot.  I took so many pictures.  Lots of blue doors and shutters as well as beautiful shady patios to enjoy dinner alfresco.

My camera broke so I am using a new camera.  The colors came out much brighter than in the actual picture.  The blues and the darks are more intense in this image than in the actual painting, too.  I am not sure about my painting style.  I don't know if I am subconsciously going in a different direction or subconsciously painting in my natural style.  My paintings are having the more loose look I have been trying to achieve, however, I am wondering if they are lacking in technical skill.  With this painting I recognized the shapes of light and shadow and tried to translate those shapes here.  My darks are more vivid vs. dark in the painting.  I did go back and darken them with the opposite call so that they would not be so bright.  I am happy with the translation of the shapes and composition, but, I think the colors of the flowers in the foreground are too bright even though I went in with blues for shadows and to try to dull down.  I will have to look at the painting over the next few days and see how I feel.  What do you think?  Any thoughts?

Flowers in the Morning Sun

Flowers for Sell

6x9 original watercolor

Of course I was attracted to this scene because of the flowers, but, also because of the awning and the shadows.  I took this photo in the morning in Paris long ago.  The flowers in the foreground are wrapped in cellophane.  It seems that every street corner in Paris has a flower shop.  I have so many photos of different flower shops all laid out right now. 

Sparkling City by the Bay

Shrimp Boats

11x14 original watercolor

This was inspired by a photo my aunt took in Corpus Christi, TX.  As I have mentioned before, my aunt spends a lot of time fishing and has plenty of tall tales.  She also is a photographer and takes many photos of the bay in Corpus Christi.  This Monday is her birthday, too, so Happy Birthday Aunt! 

One of the benefits of living in Corpus Christi is the fresh shrimp one can buy right off the shrimp boats when they come in at the T-heads.  I will explain T-heads in a later post.  Anyway, my aunt often buys fresh shrimp to cook along side her catch. 

This scene had a lot going on which I edited out if you can believe.  There were many more posts for the pier as well as many more birds.  I am not sure if those are pelicans or some kind of crane.  Behind the boat is the seawall lined with palm trees and part of downtown Corpus Christi.  Originally, I did not have the buildings in the background.  They are present in the photo.  I added the buildings after a day or so, just a hint.  The painting seemed incomplete without them.  I feel much more comfortable having them in the painting.  If you ever get a chance, go to Corpus Christi and eat some fresh seafood at any of the restaurants downtown or on the t-heads, then after, you must get a snow cone with a scoop of ice cream on top and walk the seawall!!!  The stories I can tell you that happen on the seawall.......

If you have already visited my website, thanks so much.  Please let me know if you see any improvements that can be made.  I am trying to decide if I should have a lot of paintings or just a few select.  If you have suggestions on a strategy, I am happy to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for visiting.