Autumn Poplars. Acrylc 18 by 24

My Challege to Myself

Because I am a bit of a masochist I have set a challenge for myself.. To paint two small (6 by 9 inch) watercolors per day in addition to anything else I will create. I want to continue this for at least a month. The goal of this experiment is to force me to treat my traditional subjects with new eyes and to push me to explore other ideas and subjects. Here are two of my first attempts. The idea of one summer and one fall painting came from Jack.

The Blog rises again

Kottenay Light Watercolor 9-12 inches Its been a year since we moved to Nelson and I feel ready to post some of the work I have done. It seems that I have to learn how to paint again. The colors and the atmosphere is so different from the coast. It is so much more vibrant and varied.

Poppies Three Ways

There are many ways to approach a painting. Using a poppy as subject I explored three of them. These are all quick sketches, 9 by 12 inches. The first watercolor is done alla prima, directly painting the subjects as positive shapes. This yields a strong and vivid image that grabs your attention. It doesn't have much of the transparency of traditional watercolors though. The second painting was done by painting the space around the poppy, using the background to "draw" the flower. This gives a more ethereal and transparent look. The third painting is a hybrid of the two approaches with the use of underpainting. painted a warm area where the flower would be and used cool colors for the rest of the background. The flower was then defined using negative space and then painted with stronger colors.

Quattrocchi Art

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