Landscape Painting

                                                                                      (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro
 

Nothing inspires me more than painting the landscape. The changing natural light and seasonal color can be endlessly fascinating. There are a limitless amount of techniques to adopt which can make your paintings evolve.

However, painting fast in watercolor is a thing. This approach is more about putting down pigment, minimizing detail and not fuzzing about.

This painting was done in about forty minutes. It was painting rapidly and very satisfying in execution. There is a directness and freshness which I like about this approach.

Test Sheets

 

                                                                                       (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro

In a post years ago I wrote about the value of test sheets. An artist can test a color combination, develop a value sketch or refine their composition on a test sheet. These are all important steps in the painting process. 

These small watercolor books purchased at my local coop provide a similar service for me. They are great for on the go or painting outside in warmer weather. They are just so portable. 

However, they are equally good for testing paint mixtures and compositions etc. They become a great reference to return to when painting a watercolor. Also, these books are great for painting studies or just putting down on paper what you observe out in nature.

Without hesitation I paint right on these sheets of watercolor paper. Often, I don't sketch at all on this paper.

P.S - I have been recovering from a respiratory illness and was not able to post last Sunday. Out of routine I try to post on Sunday and Wednesday's with very few exceptions. However, with all the sneezing and coughing the last week has been a challenge. Hopefully, I am back on schedule.

Monadnock Table Cover Art

 

                                                                                     (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro

For the months of January/February(2025) I am the cover artist in a local magazine called Monadnock Table. Inside the cover some other watercolor paintings I have done featuring the winter season are displayed.

A writer from the magazine based in Keene, NH, came over and interviewed me earlier in December. Overall working with the folks from this magazine has been rewarding but little did I know it was going to be fourteen below as it was at my house last night.

I think the cold temperature displayed in the above watercolor is quite indicative of the winter season we are in the midst of.

Dark Greens

                                                                                                   (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro

After years of watercolor painting I just learned how to mix a dark shadowy green which I like. Mixing paynes gray with permanent sap green offers up a cool, rich green. I only learned this by constantly experimenting with different techniques and paint combinations.

However, it makes a huge difference when painting landscapes where you want to convey a sense of depth in your picture. Also, it helps brings out all the other rich colors in your painting.

The paintings above were really improved upon by adding that cool, shadowy green in the foreground. It provides the foreground with a solid footing for the landscape to emerge from.

It's not that there aren't other greens out there. There certainly are. It's just that when you mix a lively combination the page comes alive which no store bought pigment can compete with.

Sketchbook Studies

                                                                                                  (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro
 

Using a sketchbook on a daily basis is critical for artistic development and in sharpening your observation skills out in the world. This sketchbook is made with watercolor paper which is a real plus.

By trial and error I learned that this paper is great for lifting paint. Lately, I have been experimenting with the skies I paint. I wanted to emulate the skies above me which had these white streaks cutting through the blue sky.

It was so easy and intuitive to lift the blue from the paper. Also, I applied drops of water to the damp paper and it created cloud-like forms which was real encouraging.

By the way, the paper used here is: Elseware 300 lb cold press watercolor paper.

Winter Landscape

                                                                             (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro
 

After dealing with some eye issues it feels good to be back painting. The dry heat in my house has given me some dry eye issues. Dry eye therapy drops have helped but there is still irritation. Getting outside every day helps a lot, too. 

With limited snow on the ground it has not been an inspiring winter so far. I miss the snow blanketing the landscape and all the neat light patterns that come with it. The freshness of snow with it's drifts of accumulation along with reflections across frozen water and in windows has been a distinct regional characteristic.

This watercolor is painted from memory weaving many experiences cross-country skiing in the local fields and hills of Vermont. It has the dense evergreens in the distance buffering the winds and the small frozen ice pond in the foreground with it's windblown surface and scraggly growth on the shoreline.

I like the under wash of alizarin crimson showing through in certain areas. Also, the varied light I find interesting

Winter Landscape

                                                                                 (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro
 

The more experience I gain in painting with watercolor the greater understanding of what I can do with the medium. I continue to appreciate leaving the white of the paper when I can. The dry brush texture in the middle and the contrast with other colors makes the white of the paper sing.

Recently, I came upon the combination of alizarin crimson with burnt umber and ultramarine blue. This creates a soft black in the photograph, above as, in the distant hills. It came off the brush as a fresh dark which felt great to work with.

This watercolor has winsor violet in it which provides a cool feel to the overall scene.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

                                                                                 (C) 2024 Dale DiMauro
 

Over this holiday period I have been reading Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek and the Reinvention of Seeing, by author Laura J. Snyder. At one point she references Vermeer painting color into his shadows in one or more of his lovely interior scenes in contrast with some prior painters primarily using black or dark gray. 

This thought has lingered in my conscious over the last twenty four hours or so. In the past I have been encouraged by various art instructors in go back into my shadows and describe with color and texture the feel of the landscape and its contours. 

This above landscape, has a different feel, to me simply because of the use of winsor violet. Winsor violet is a color I use sparingly, except yesterday, as it is featured in this picture. It makes a nice dark when combined with burnt umber. Mixed with raw sienna, winsor violet makes a lovely tree trunk color as can be seen in the above watercolor. Also, I used it in a color mixture for painting the distant hills.

I like the cool color temperature of the colors here and in the shadows, as it is reminiscent of some of the hollows I walk through in our local woods. In particular, the stretches of winter when the ground is absent of snow cover.