The Light of Spring

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

I have been working on this watercolor on and off over the last two weeks. I wasn't sure what color to paint the actual house. I was leaning towards white or off-white, like a traditional colonial home. This would offer a nice contrast with the sky. I had left this area of the picture unpainted, so that everything else in the landscape and sky had color, but the snow on the ground and on the entry roofs blended in and became lost. So I ventured to paint a blue-green which would not be overwhelming to the architectural details and shadows, yet harmonize with the dark evergreen on the left. 

The perspective, to me, gives reverence to the building, with the subtle upwards view. I like the warmth of the deciduous trees. Also, there is a stillness to the picture which I particularly like. Usually at this time of year with southern exposure, at least in Brattleboro, the snow has melted and broken up a little with some rich, exposed earth coming forth.

I used a very minimal palette, which includes paynes gray, cobalt and ultramarine blue, sepia, and phthalo green.