Spring Landscape

                                                                                      (C) 2021 Dale DiMauro
 

After a month of developing paint swatches I feel like it is starting to pay off. The sand color in the foreground I would not have come up with a month ago. It is not that I wouldn't have arrived at that color so much as my thinking about the palette is much broader now. When one can intuitively draw upon a color combination it is much more satisfying. When working outside painting with clear direction is important.

I just started this painting this afternoon, during the heavy rain, but am excited in the direction it is going. It is best, I find, when a watercolor moves along sequentially, at a decent pace,

The subject of this landscape is the lower field area of the Harris Hill Ski Jump in Brattleboro, VT.

Thoughts & Reflections on Painting Watercolors

                                                                            (C) 2021 Dale DiMauro
 

Watercolor I find is the most versatile medium for experimenting. One can scratch the surface to remove pigment or build up layers of paint and achieve subtle or strong value changes. In addition, you can paint freely or very exacting. Not to mention all the textures waiting to be expressed.

Arches watercolor paper is my preference to paint on. I have evolved from painting on blocks, to full sheets or painting a quick study on the back of a random sheet. In fact, I tilt the paper in all directions and watch gravity direct the pigment as I see fit.

This watercolor is one of those test sheets that gets my juices flowing before I dig in on a painting. It is best not to think too much and let your intuition thrust you forward.

Browns & more Browns

                                                                                       (C) 2021 Dale DiMauro
 

Brown may not be a color we think of when painting watercolors. However, when I am on walks in the spring I notice many browns along with shades of green in our river valleys and lowland areas. 

There is such a range of brown from reddish pigmentation all the way to heavier sepia coloration. Browns can really set a mood in a picture which are unmistakeable. Also, some browns can add a naturalistic and calming feel to the landscape. For this sky I mixed an unknown red someone oozed onto my palette with sap green. For me, this image has attained a mid-summer-like quality with it's lush foliage and rather dry, deserted beach. A storm may even be brewing in the distance.

John Singer Sargent used lovely browns with a warm feel to them in his Venice canal scenes which I greatly admire.

South Pond: Quick Sketch

                                                                                      (C) 2021 Dale DiMauro
 

Today was my first day on the water in a long time. The heat of the day drove me to South Pond. Even though the docks weren't out yet, there was much activity on or along the pond.

There were many paddlers in kayaks, on paddle boards and in those light weight canoes, made by the Hornbeck boat company.

Along the shore there were quite a few fisherman. While paddling I saw many colorful fish which I usually don't see and they let me come quite close to them.

I have already missed several scheduled paddles with the Brattleboro Outing Club because I am not yet fully vaccinated. However, it was great to be on the water again.

Painting in the Rain

                                                                            (C) 2021 Dale DiMauro
 

This is what a watercolor may look like after you are caught painting in the rain. Earlier this afternoon I had a good start on this watercolor. I had established good edges on my watercolor washes with much variation - a desired state when painting in watercolor.

I had set-up my stuff at a picnic table in a local park and the picture was developing quite well when big drops fell out of the sky. It was still sunny out and there was a blue sky above with some clouds moving about. Well, this shower kept up for a good half hour when I heard a distant thunder making itself known. At this point the whole watercolor block was wet and the paint was no longer drying. By now I decided enough was enough and headed out. At this point, the park had become pretty much empty of people.

When I got home I did some more brush work which will bring the watercolor to a finished state. However, all those dots in the foreground I have no control over. 

When painting outside I have learned to keep things simple from my supplies to my work approach. Also, it is important to be flexible as you do not know what may come at you. However, this kind of experience tells you to cut your losses and move on. Ninety percent of the time I can make due with the circumstances but this was not one of those days.

Greening Up

                                                                   (C) 2021 Photograph Dale DiMauro
 

The landscape is starting to become green. After a dry period, the plants are becoming more lush by the day. In fact, I can't believe how green the natural environment has become in the last few days. 

Over the weekend I climbed Black Mountain, a local hiking area with my wife. Along the hike the trees in the woods were all a yellow-green haze. Now many of these trees are starting to become a blue-green as more trees leaf out.

These observations are important as I often seek to paint the colors I see out in the natural world. It makes me question which colors I would mix to arrive at a given color. At this time of year I have observed many browns and greens particularly along the local rivers.

This photograph was taken on the edge of one of our many fields bordered by volunteer trees and overgrown stone walls.

One-Pigment Landscape

                                                                              (C) 2021 Dale DiMauro
 

Every time I work with watercolor I learn something. Actually, I learn a lot. 

This imaginary landscape reminds me or even is inspired from the Maine coast. In essence, this is a one-pigment landscape. The other colors were pools of pigment on my mixing dish which I drew upon to strengthen the perspective. In many instances it doesn't take many layers of paint to convey a landscape. 

I am even beginning to look at the white of the paper differently. The lack of pigment on the paper is one 'layer' of the painting and the whole paper doesn't have to be covered in paint. In the above watercolor, the horizontal bay reads as water without any paint on that area of the paper. 

That is the thing with drawing and painting. You begin to see more clearly the more practice and better judgement one acquires.

Quick Sketches

                                                                            (C) 2021 Dale DiMauro
 

Quick sketches really get the juices flowing. When an artist is unsure what they want to work on next it is a valuable exercise to simply put something down on paper. Before long this sketch evolves into a stronger and more simpler composition. 

For quite a while I have been breaking down paintings in my mind, into thirds, horizontally and vertically. During this process I decide if I want a high or low horizon. Likewise, I determine whether the focal point is on center or off to the side. These value studies help determine how the foreground, mid-ground and background are represented.

This process of sketching and resolving the composition on paper prepares me for the upcoming painting and how I want to proceed. The clearer the composition the quicker it moves along. 

Living Memorial Park

                                                                              (C) 2021 Dale DiMauro
 

Last year during the COVID-19 shutdown I spent more time than I ever had at Living Memorial Park during the summer season. I started to realize there may be some good subjects to paint around the grounds and in the woods.

So I painted a couple plein air watercolors, one above the upper softball field and the other towards the main field where the ski tow sits. 

This watercolor I started from a photograph I had taken at the end of winter. In warmer weather it is good to perch on the Shakespeare Stage and paint looking across the fields with the distant mountains in the background.

I don't consider this watercolor complete but I have made good progress on it lately.