On the move

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

This is a picture I started this past week. I was really taken by the composition of the natural landscape in the background against the individual and the definitive snow line at the bottom. I have found by expressing subtle variations of value in paint, the background develops greater depth and character. As a result, your eye is drawn into the scene in a more pleasing manner.

The post in the foreground with it's faded red color I find fascinating as it echo's the man's skin tone. The snow was painted with both ultramarine and cobalt blue. To give the snow in the foreground some warmth I added a drop of red. 

Reflecting on the pictures I did this past year, my progress has shifted  in many ways. Now I use a greater variety of pigments in my mixes as I almost never use a color straight out of the tube. I have been doing larger watercolors and am eager to do even larger ones. I seem to prefer simpler compositions yet am ambitious in taking on more complicated color schemes such as found in and around reflections etc. Also, I have an increased desire to put figures into my landscape paintings. For some time, I have been drawing figures and dogs in my sketchbooks, until I find the right situation where I can put them into a picture.