"Mineral Water"

 

8 x 11" watercolor

Tower Bridge

 This took me just about as long to prep as it did to paint. After gridding out the photo, I do the same onto a piece of vellum. In this case, my gridlines were enlarged by 50%, and then I (somewhat tediously) put down all the linework that allows me to know the structure. This isn't a process that I dislike because while I'm gridding out the painting I'm strategizing about how to approach the painting. Do I paint the background first? Is the background a flat color because the structure itself is so complex? How much or how little detail do I want to indicate when I paint? I attempt to answer all those questions before the brush hits the paper. 

It's the transferring of the drawing to the watercolor paper that's pretty tedious. But the reward is around the corner when I get to paint. In this painting, I chose to do the sky last. 

Tower Bridge

16 x 21" watercolor

"Sweet Peaks"

 

10 x 10"

watercolor

I am on a never-ending quest to make the perfect meringue. Even if I don't ever accomplish that goal, I will always love how they look before they go into the oven: miniature clouds of glossy mountain peaks.

"Nature's Combs"

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10 x 15"

watercolor

Time for a confession: this isn't my favorite painting of all time. I didn't capture the roundness of thistles well. I loved the backlighting but didn't get that secondary detailing of their volume. Ah well- that's how we learn.