Calm and Peaceful

                                                                                   (C) 2024 Dale DiMauro
 

The more I paint the more I see browns and blues everywhere out in the landscape. This winter I have observed more browns than I can recall. I think that is due to a lack of snowfall or at least a minimal base than in years past.

This landscape was completed yesterday. I like the stillness which seems to be reflected in all the landscape elements. Plus, the tree conveys such reverence and character.

Also, I realized this was painted with a limited palette. The pigments used include: ultramarine blue, burnt umber, new gamboge and Payne's gray.

Narrow Paintings

                                                                                            (C) 2024 Dale DiMauro
 

Painting on any good quality watercolor paper feels good. Even if it is on a scrap or remnant of a sheet. Often painting little doodles gets the juices flowing and I learn much along the way.

That's what led to these watercolors. I had started a plein air watercolor on the front but due to a time crunch it remained unfinished. 

As I have mentioned in previous postings I have learned to appreciate the importance of leaving the white of the paper. The white of the paper or the patches left absent, of paint, lead the eye into and around the painting

Every mark left on the paper is important and communicates much towards the final result. These marks can communicate color, texture, movement or seasonal and atmospheric affects.

Brown in the Landscape

                                                                                       (C) 2024 Dale DiMauro
 

One really notices the browns along the river beds in early spring, at least where I live, in southern Vermont. This is before most of the growth has re-emerged and the ground is bare. At this time of year the water in the rivers is all stirred up with the rains and snow melt.

However, finding a rich, lively brown is a challenge in watercolor. Most of the browns I have come up with are dull, weak or flat. This brown has got me excited. It is made by combining sepia and burnt umber. 

An earthy brown says so much about the landscape. In this little sketch it frames the background but is also seen as the soil, the trees and the downed limbs which float in the river and litter the shoreline.

Watercolor Practice

                                                                                                 (C) 2024 Dale DiMauro
 

It feels good to pick up a sheet of watercolor paper and see what I can do with it. Sometimes that is on the backside of an incomplete watercolor I had started. It doesn't matter how thick or what type of surface it is. Whether it is rough or smooth paper I love to experiment with different techniques.

This practice keeps me going forward and reduces my stress at the same time. This is very satisfying particularly with the state of politics in this country and beyond.

Today I went cross country skiing and took mental notes of the colors I saw in the landscape. The snow and shadows clarified what I was seeing. The blues, yellows and browns I saw may end up in a painting soon. If not in a full painting at least in a watercolor study.

Yellow Sky

                                                                                  (C) 2024 Dale DiMauro
 

The landscape carries a ton of associations in our individual memory banks. We have all kinds of memories from childhood which we carry with us throughout our life. A sense of place is rather important to our existence on this planet.

I think that is why I was struck by this combination of new gamboge and permanent rose, as seen in the sky. When the sky has a stunning glow to it whether it is pink, yellow or purple it just captures our imagination.

And then the reflections and shadows across the landscape are simply stunning. Is that water or snow in the foreground? The natural patterns left by the atmospheric conditions are extraordinary.

Watercolor Sketch

                                                                                       (C) 2024 Dale DiMauro
 

Painting with watercolors offers a huge range of subject matter, techniques and opportunities to experiment. People who I come in contact with, say I paint with a wetter brush than most of the people they know. Yet, other artists paint with a drier and more controlled manner. Each person has there own approach to the medium which makes watercolor painting interesting.

I started this watercolor because I wanted to experiment with the combination of new gamboge and Payne's gray. Artists have mentioned to me that this pairing makes a lovely, yet, vibrant green. Some of this green even bled into the sky.

While I am always interested in any new greens I come upon, browns are a fascination unto themselves. As browns, out of the tube are rather unexciting, like most pigments, a rich and varied mixture is some thing to take note of. The browns under the trees came from a pool of neutral colors sitting on my palette from a previous time painting.

Maine Landscape

                                                                                       (C) 2024 Dale DiMauro
 

For some time I have been eager to paint a series of full sheet(22" x 30") watercolors. Now to be clear I have painted this size before. However, I am after fluid watercolors with relatively simple subject matter. That requires painting with a larger palette, bigger pools of pigment and a large brush.

This watercolor is closer to that size. This picture is 14" x 20". I like the start of this landscape. It has bolder brush strokes yet has a simplicity to it.

The elements of the Maine landscape are so universal that they pretty much speak for themselves. Evergreens, coastal water and rock outcroppings define the sense of place like few other landscapes I have experienced.

Local Frog Pond

                                                                                   (C) 2024 Dale DiMauro
 

Back in the early fall I drew out a picture to paint in plein air. However, as I was recovering from an eye infection and rain was moving in, I figured it would be painted at a later time. Meanwhile, it sat on my watercolor block until yesterday.

Basically, this watercolor was painted from memory. But I am okay with that. I learn from every watercolor I do.  It is important to finish watercolors I start even if they are not my best work. The discipline of following through I believe has value.

There was a bit of underpainting done on the tree and foreground which added some textural qualities and richness to the scene. In addition, I like quality and quantity of the shadows.

Retreat Woods

                                                                            (C) 2024 Dale DiMauro
 

This is a watercolor inspired from a couple of winters ago. During the winter I often walk through the local woods and fields. In the past I would have to put on layers of outerwear(gloves, jacket hats etc.), including snowshoes. 

These days you don't usually need all of that stuff. Hopefully, the snow will come back and stay for a while. In addition, there is a whole community of people I see only in the winter who like to play in the white stuff.

In the meantime, this watercolor is a reminder of what were missing. I love the sunlight and shadows cast across the snow and trees during these winter months.