On the Avenue

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

This is a watercolor I have been working on over the last couple weeks with some interruptions from our kitchen remodeling. I had not painted a house in a while and was eager to get going on one. What appealed to me about this scene is the backlit landscape, the patterns of snow on the roof and the warmth from the sunlight on the hardwoods in the foreground, to the left.

I do not feel the photograph does justice to the painting. Days like today with heavy cloud cover and low light are challenging to attaining a good photograph. I have learned it is best to take pictures of my work outside in indirect light, when possible. The rainy day made this impossible.

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

If I have learned any great insight in painting it is that the subtle transitions of color from one element to another can have great impact. Color can communicate temperature, distance, and mood in relation to other colors, depending on how you convey it. In the above detail, from this watercolor, the stripe in the road is of significance. Some lines will divide a space into two, but this one just subtly directs the eye into the picture.  The opaque yellow complements the dark gray. The stripe for me adds some warmth to the pavement yet dissipates pleasantly into the shadows. To get the technically challenging
straight line, I used a ruler that was raised above the paper (supported by three pennies I taped underneath). I felt like it was too easy to mess up the painting if it was not convincing in its execution.