NEW PIGMENT COMBINATION(Burnt Umber/Alizarin Crimson/Pthalo Blue)

                                    New (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro

It is always a delight to discover a new combination of pigments when painting with watercolors. What to do with this new information is another development unto itself. I find preserving the white of the paper, in watercolor, in some areas, to be rather important.

This entire painting was done with three pigments: burnt umber/alizarin crimson/pthalo blue. I think of the values here to be a warm dark as compared to a cool dark.

The colors here remind me of the colors of fall when the days start to wind down. This watercolor was actually painted in less than ten minutes once the pigments were combined. Sometimes the best paintings take the least amount of time. It is best to take the mind out of painting and have fun with the pigments and experiment. I think this allows you to have a growth spurt even if you have a busy day with little time available to paint.

Flying Mountain(Bar Harbor, ME)

                                                                                                (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro
 

One of my more favorite hikes of recent memory has been of Flying Mountain in Bar Harbor, ME. It has lovely views of Somes Sound and ends along this lovely protected cove. In nice weather people gather and explore the sandy but rocky beach. Often, many boats anchor off this beach and come to shore on their dinghy's. 

When my wife and I hiked this trail in July the colors of the water, beach and forested ridge were alive and vivid.

I look forward to painting the shoreline of any body of water but this one is particularly is descriptive with it's large boulders, dense tree growth and alluring water. In addition, I like the feel of the shadow in the foreground, it's not too heavy yet refreshing, on a hot day.

Plein Air

                                                                                 (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro
 

Yesterday I walked through the woods knowing I would not be able to get much exercise later in the day. During the hike I realized I had not walked through any local woods and fields in quite some time. 

Once out in the sun I had to acknowledge it was a glorious morning and promptly opened my plein air set and painted this watercolor along the edge of a meadow. 

I even lifted pigment to capture some of the lighter colored branching in the distance trees. The burnt sienna color among the grass I have been seeing more and more of as fall advances upon us.

The sparkle amongst the vibrant grass adds much to this scene. It was all there on my hike that morning.

Ft. Dummer State Park(Quarry pond)

                                                                                (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro
 

Fort Dummer is the closest state park to where I live in Vermont. Years ago stone was removed and as a result this natural looking pond remains at the foot of these stone plinths. It is a hidden pond which makes it a little eerie but has a spectacular landscape, nonetheless.

This summer with the drought I have never seen so much shoreline. However, I find it an intriguing subject matter for a plein air picture.

Still, I painted this picture at home because it was so dry and dusty by the water. This picture was painted on The Masters' Choice paper which has a lovely bead to it's surface. At least the rough surface has this shimmer to it when the paper is wet. 

I believe the colors are fairly accurate to what I saw outside.

West Brattleboro Park

                                                                                              (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro

We have had some glorious weather lately and this was one of those days. After a recent dental appointment I was able to paint a quick watercolor in West Brattleboro, VT. 

There is a lovely park for painting outside with several picnic tables and dappled shade. It is adjacent to the fire station.

In this picture I like the rich foliage again the blue sky. It felt good to quickly put pigment to paper and run with it.

 

Fall Landscape

                                                                                      (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro

This fall landscape was painted last autumn. It was very dry as we headed into last winter. Now we are in a similar period.

This makes me wonder what kind of foliage season we will have in the coming months. Some people tell me it's going to be a mild winter with the impact of an El Nino, while other people say we are going to receive more snow than usual. 

Who knows. One thing I have observed in my travels is that under large specimen trees where there is lawn there are large dry patches. The roots of these large trees are simply absorbing as much moisture as they can while the grass has turned into straw. Birds seem to like this straw to peck on as they search for food.

I think the muted and limited palette in this watercolor make the composition of this picture stronger and more unified. Without a strong contrast in light and color the washes seem to travel across the page and merge with other pigments.

 

Paintings Done on the Go

                                                                                                (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro
 

Often, I squeeze in some painting during the day when I can,. This is one of those situations. 

I painted the watercolor on the right. Then by accident, the watercolor book closed upon itself. When this happened wet pigment ended up on the sheet on the left. So I did what I could - and turned that page into a landscape, too.

I learn something about painting or the way the pigments move around the page every time I play with them. As a result, I find the painting process very stimulating. 

May your painting process take your practice to uncharted territories.