Bubbling Brook

To paraphrase Forrest Gump, watercolor is like a box of chocolates--you never know what you're going to get. I think that's why I love it so much. Today, I coated a previously gessoed MDF board with Daniel Smith watercolor ground to see what would happen. It was an interesting experiment but wasn't appealing to me that much until I was nearly finished and gave it a squirt of water here and there. Holy moly! It was just what the painting needed as the water lifted off paint and gave the stream some bubbly action.

Falls Sketch

While the weather is cooperating, I'm investigating the paths and ponds around my neighborhood. I'm trying to talk myself into painting a series of this small waterfall scene throughout the coming seasons. That's the plan, but knowing me I will chuck that idea when the temperature drops even another 5 degrees. So we'll see...

Fall Reflections

Bright enough for ya?  :)  I can see my new Chinese watercolors will need some taming, but for today I enjoyed putting the pure color down to catch the blazing red and orange leaves on the tree reflected in the pond near my house. 

Putz

Meet my little friend, Putz, who is entertaining me while his mom and dad are on vacation in Hawaii, lucky dogs. err... In addition to spending time with him this week, I have been playing with my new toys, Chinese ink and Chinese watercolors. From what I have read, Chinese watercolors are a cross between watercolors and gouache, only not as opaque as regular gouache.  They seem to granulate more than traditional watercolors, an effect I really enjoy, and the ink was great fun to try to capture Putz' markings.

Smokestacks

Another month, another country, and this month we're off to New Brunswick, Canada.  Normally, I spend a lot of time, too much really, looking around for the "best" spot to paint. But I discovered this harbor scene right off the bat and was instantly drawn to the smokestacks.  I know, weird, but I enjoyed the challenge.