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?