Warm-up Sketch

                                                                           (C) 2023 Dale DiMauro
 

It is a good practice to do a warm-up sketch in watercolor. This way you can practice some brush strokes before getting serious about your painting. Also, I find my relationship with the paper is constantly changing. I see things I didn't notice before or a different approach may emerge which makes a lot of sense.

This practice gets me inspired to paint while calming me down at the same time. Basically, it is a form of meditation which has my utmost attention.

This watercolor is an imaginary landscape. However, it has all the elements of landscape painting. It has a sky, land and water. It even has a tree so I am loosened up and ready to paint in earnest.

Cadillac Mountain(Bar Harbor, Maine)

                                                                         (C) 2023 Dale DiMauro
 

Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine certainly is a beautiful place to visit. However, I have lost interest in the quantity of people swarming the island in the summer. In addition, there are parking meters everywhere now, which makes it difficult to find a place to park.

On the other hand I love the landscape with all it's variety and textures. The rock formations weathered by years of exposure to water has endlessly fascinating patterns and markings which draw my attention.

These are some of the characteristics which inspire me to paint the landscape. I started this watercolor without any preliminary drawing - just started painting from the start. 

Several years ago with family we had  driven up Cadillac Mountain and I took some photographs as people do. I have looked at these photos from time to time and considered painting some landscapes.

I see these as studies for a larger landscape, one that can draw you into the picture. 

Watercolor Sketch

                                                                                       (C)2023 Dale DiMauro
 

With what seems like a sudden change of season which of course it is - I have had my painting routine interrupted preparing for the colder weather. So it was rewarding to paint a little landscape in my Arches Travel Journal.

I am excited that Arches has returned to market their Arches Travel Journal. Years ago I had purchased several and then they no longer were available for purchase. It is hard to find good quality watercolor paper in a book form.

In the Winter months these journals are great to take when traveling or even to a local cafe to capture people or for little landscapes.

Land & Sky

                                                                  (C) 2023 Dale DiMauro
 

The beautiful fall weather has been a relief from the humid, wet summer. However, the vibrant fall colors are yet to be found here in southern Vermont.

All the landscape elements in this watercolor are well defined. I like the clear colors in the watercolor. They provide a clean and clear quality to the overall character of this scene.

Capturing the qualities of the above canopy is always a challenge. How much of the foliage should you include and how dark to make them? Lately, I have been experimenting with sepia and sap green for my canopy colors. What do you think?

Color Saturation

                                                                           (C) 2023 Dale DiMauro
 

Color is a powerful thing. It can make a painting look hyper-realistic, artificial or gaudy. On the other hand it can make a painting come alive.

Recently, I was doing work outside in southern Vermont when I experienced this late day sun which made this field come to life. I grabbed my camera and took a picture as this light was going to change rapidly.

I put many washes down on my painting as the color saturation was so rich to emulate.

The photograph does not do justice to the richness of color in the watercolor.

Fall Falls on the Local Landscape

                                                                              (C)2023 Dale DiMauro
 

Time seems precious at this time of year as the leaves fall off the tree before you know it. Also, the length of day fades fast. Yet we have had some beautiful days lately and I feel obligated to get outside and paint.

Local fields are as favorite source of inspiration for me to paint. Much of it can be attributed to the light and shadows of this time of year.

In this watercolor I like curve of the woodland edge on the upper right. A few days ago it seemed incomplete and artificial so I tweaked the contour of the field, added darks and increased the height of the trees.

This was painted on 140lb coldpress Arches watercolor paper. I have always enjoyed painting on their watercolor blocks as they are portable and tight as a drum.

Watercolor in sketchbook

                                                                                       (C) 2023 Dale DiMauro
 

Landscape painting is rewarding no matter the season or subject matter. Along the way my brushwork continues to improve. I am less hesitant over time and can achieve more with less brushstrokes. 

This picture is more a result of practicing my brushstrokes as a way of limbering up before I start painting in earnest. It is exciting when the paint runs a bit as the colors blend with each other unifying areas of the painting.

I am forever finding new pigment combinations and then experimenting with them. While painting this watercolor rapidly I kept thinking about this other combination: quinacridone gold and Winsor violet. I learned this paint combination makes a lovely neutral and am eager to put it to use.

The Brattleboro Common(Plein air)

                                                                             (C) 2023 Dale DiMauro
 

In southern Vermont we certainly have had lovely weather lately. It's refreshing after a summer of high humidity, rain and poor air quality. This has fueled me to get outside and paint when possible.

I don't usually paint outside in the early morning but on Monday I did. Often my plein air painting happens in the late afternoon. At this time of year, with the morning light and fog, the landscape is quite captivating. I don't know if this photograph captured the colors but they are quite rich and varied.

The view here is looking toward the Retreat Meadows from the Brattleboro Common with a little spit of water in the distance. This was done in one sitting from the seat of a picnic table. As I painted this watercolor I began to notice the color change of the deciduous trees before my eyes.

My Favorite Local Field

                                                                       (2023) Photograph Dale DiMauro
 

In all my travels this year I come back again and again to this local field. There is such drama in the vast open space of this field. The color change in fall, verdant green growth in spring and snow in winter all play out to such great effect in this field.

Today, a farmer was cutting down the corn stalks with his tractor. He looked very small in relation to the space. However, I like to observe whatever changes occur when I pass by whether it is birds flittering in the distance or changing shadows across the landscape.

These ephereal effects are the very thing watercolor is great at capturing. The ever-changing atmospheric qualities such as mist rising off the cornfield really capture one's attention when we are observant and tuned into the seasons.