Happy Valentine's Day

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

This is a watercolor I started a few hours ago. I wasn't sure which way I was going to go with this picture. Was it going to be a study or a finished picture? I have been eager to paint a watercolor portrait as I have done several pencil portraits lately. Part of this thinking reflects the extreme cold we are experiencing here in Vermont and the other factor is that I am recovering from rolling my ankle playing racquetball last week. So I guess it is a study since it is not complete. 

During the painting of this picture I experimented with color mixes new to me. Since there are many warm and cool grays in this picture it was fun coming up with the colors that I did. The shirt was done with a combination of burnt umber and ultramarine blue. The shadows on the shirt utilized burnt sienna and ultramarine blue. Some of warm grays in the hair are the combination of raw umber and cobalt blue.

The dark area to the right of the face has speckled pigment of ultramarine blue. This is called granulation when colors separate after being mixed, providing a grainy, textured appearance. I also like the texture of this paper which I don't use that often. This paper is called Stephen Quiller watercolor paper.

Stonewall Jackson

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

I recently finished reading Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson by S.C. Gwynne. When I first signed this book out from the library, after my injury, I was not sure I would read it because I could not hold a book open with one hand. However, as I got into the book it became fascinating to learn some of the events of the Civil War, in particular from the Confederate point of view. Also, on a personal note, I had ancestors who lived in Virginia and fought against the Union. 

Jackson graduated from West Point with some of the generals whom he would fight against in the Civil War. He also taught at a military school in what is now West Virginia. Many of the students who would become soldiers would end up fighting for him. He was known for getting his Confederate troops in fighting shape in short order and winning many battles against a much larger Union Army with limited resources. When he died nearly two years before President Abraham Lincoln, it was considered the first national mourning for a fallen leader in United States history.

This is not the best painting I ever created, however, it is essentially a watercolor sketch done rapidly without too much fuss. It is based on the cover photograph of S.C. Gwynne's book, taken over 140 years ago, which has the top of his head cropped off. This picture is not intended to glorify Jackson as he had a reputation for wearing tattered clothing and was wanting in appearance.