Summer squall

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

When I was preparing for my colonoscopy last week, I had to drink a lot of Miralax over a three hour period, which eventually makes you visit the bathroom way too much. As a divergence, I started this watercolor so I could focus on something else. I was forced to paint this picture in a very direct manner, with a simple color scheme and abstract shapes as I would have to run off to the bathroom for a while, frequently before a wash would dry.

This is a ubiquitous summer scene in the fresh water ponds, lakes and inlet coves of the state of Maine. Often you will have a beautiful summer day, when all of a sudden these dark clouds move in quickly, the breeze picks up and all signs of life disappear momentarily. You will hear birds squawk in the distance, waves lapping against the shoreline while whitecaps build out on the open water and then before long it all passes and their are breaks of sun again. At least this is an experience I retain from many summer visits to Maine since youth.

I introduced raw umber into the sky to create warmth and variation. The water is comprised of indigo, ultramarine blue, payne's gray and ivory black. The warmth of the rock formations on the shore is from yellow ochre. I added birds to dramatize the event and provide a sense of urgency, as a result of the conditions.

If I were to take this scene further, which I might at a later time, I would reduce the amount of water in the foreground and increase the amount of sky, thus making the viewer feel diminutive. I do like the dark foreboding quality of the water in the foreground, which immediately sets the mood.