drawing for watercolor 45
2:33 PM: i went ahead and painted watercolor 45. it’s essentially the same composition, drawn from the same photo i shot on our april 29 trail walk up cottonwood creek. it includes a bit more information than the smaller one i made earlier, while maintaining the same spirit of spareness . they both differ from the previous 44 watercolors in that spareness and consequent absence of detail. from a distance; right now i’m gazing at them from about 18 feet, or 6 meters, they carry more than the previous, more detailed ones, with the exception of a few more recent ones. and those exceptions are due to the fact that i was slowly finding my way, rediscovering what i once knew from years of painting in watercolor, mostly plein air, where you can’t afford the time to get caught up in details.
1:36 PM: i’m at work on watercolor 45. while taking a toast with feta break i made this little study of a matisse drawing in colored pencil on tan paper, BELOW LEFT
watercolor 44, 10 x 13”
12:35 PM: so i deactivated my fb account because i got tired of the likes, etc. but now every morning i go to my squarespace analytics page to check how many visitors i had the previous day. same thing really, except for the fact that i’m far more interested in how many people visit my site and read this blog. i’m sure there’s a way to increase viewership, but i can’t spend the time figuring that out. being seen is a big deal for most of us, especially in times like these. but i’m honestly very interested in having people, especially people who know and love the arts, see what i’m up to, and whenvever possible, let me know their thoughts. after all, how many artists do you know who are this transparent and open about their process of creating art, as well as sometimes showing you what they made for breakfast? so if you’re a regular visitor to my blog, let a few friends know. direct them to my site. who knows, it could catch on! and by the way, thanks for taking the time to have a look every day. i deeply appreciate it.
that said, after handling a few logistics this morning, i launched into the drawing for watercolor 44. under that 13 x 20” piece of watercolor paper i had placed a smaller one, 10 x 13”
study of a matisse drawing i made during a snack break
i like to trick myself into doing something that circumvents my scheming mind, so once i was finished with the drawing, i shifted to the smaller paper and launched straight into making a watercolor without doing a drawing in pencil. this is the result, which is more in alignment with what you might call pure watercolor. no picky details. no while gouache color to highlight the bubbles & waves in the water. just pure spontaneous watercolor. refreshing, no?
now i’ll move on to the larger format & see what happens. i’ll post as soon as it’s available.