Farmland in Monochrome

Watercolor always scares me due to the apparent finality that comes from contact between color and paper. There is no way to retrace steps once brush meets paper. Yet I have seen videos of watercolorists who seem to effortlessly correct "mistakes" and produce beautiful pictures. As a result I have played with watercolor more and am finding that accidents can be turned into unanticipated creativity.

That was not the case with this farmland picture, but the challenge I set here was to produce a watercolor picture with a restricted -- almost monochromatic -- palette. I used only burnt sienna, raw sienna and ultramarine blue. The effect is a rather pleasing dusky scene that is so reminiscent of the American midwest.

Farmland in Monochrome, Watercolor on 300lb paper, 9"x12", Not for sale

Red Shuttered Mystery

Closed shutters on windows instantly evoke the sense of a warm sunny climate. At the same time (sort of like a wrapped package), a curiosity springs to mind about what tableaux of daily life might be going on behind the shutters. What joyous, ordinary or painful experience might the shutters conceal?

Red Shutterred Mystery is a simple piece of work, though it did take a bit of time especially in creating the sketch and masking off the highlights. Putting in the color was the easier step!

Red Shuttered Mystery, Watercolor on 140lb paper, 4"x6", $30 (unframed)