WINTER SOLSTICE

Most of my recent postings have been watercolor paintings so I thought that this time I would show something different. This painting will be part of my solo show at Caulfield Gallery (http://www.caulfieldgallery.com/). The show runs from April 3rd to April 29th with the reception being on the 5th. The gallery is in the historic town of Washington VA, next to The Little Inn in Washington (directions are on the website). While not a very large gallery, it is none the less quite lovely inside and is very professionally designed and run. This will be my second solo show there and I hope you will take the very enjoyable drive through the rolling hills of Virginia to join us at the reception.

Winter Solstice was conceived some time ago while out walking in the reserve nearby. I did a smaller study of the painting then but didn't paint the larger version as I usually do, at least not until now. This is one of my favorite types of winter scenes with bare trees, tawny grasses and an evening sky. I am continually inspired by the strength and color of the evening light contrasting with the darker land mass and have done a number of different variations on this theme. This oil is 14" X 18".

THROUGH THE ARCHES

I saw this wonderful scene while in Cairo last year. Days were spent strolling through the hot dusty streets exploring where I could, all perfectly safe. I chanced upon this unusual Mosque one morning and was enthralled. I spent a few hours alone within the central square looking at many different points of view, sketching and photographing. Back in the studio, I first did a smaller study in oil then tackled the larger watercolor. I found this painting difficult to finish and worked on it over the period of a few months (in fact I still feel the need to do something more to it!). Anyway, I was quite pleased with the finished painting and was thrilled to have it accepted into the 32nd Annual Exhibition of Transparent Watercolor hosted by the TWSA. Luckily, this painting was one of only 85 selected for the exhibition from over 900 entries! As the society's title suggests, only transparent watercolor is accepted with not even the slightest inkling of gouache allowed. This suits me fine as this is my preferred method of watercolor painting anyway. The show runs from May 16 to July 28 and is in the Bloomington Art Center, 1800 W Old Shakopee Rd, Bloomington, MN 55431. Web sites are: www.BloomingtonArtCenter.com and www.Watercolors.org (Transparent Watercolor Society of America).

Other news is that Barn Window (see Nov 27 post) has been accepted into the Baltimore Watercolor Society's 2008 Mid-Atlantic Regional Watercolor Exhibition. Slightly better odds here as my painting was one of 100 selected for the exhibition from 428 entries. Still, I feel honored and the show runs from April 27 to May 27 in The Mansion at Strathmore, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda, MD 20852. I will be at Strathmore on the 27th and hope to see you there. Since early December, I have had a good run of watercolors but now feel the need to get back to some oils so expect to see some of those next. The size of 'Through the Arches' is 22" X 15".

AFTERNOON LIGHT

And finally, the completed painting. You will notice some more work done to the walls as well as a little more texture. The shadows have been brought to completion and of course, the bottle has been finished. I had a choice of a few different colors here as mostly these kind of bottles are shades of pale ochre but this one had a reddish-purple tint that I thought would add a little more color to the scene. Generally, apart from the bottle I only used three colors for the whole painting so I think in this case it seemed a good idea to go with a colour that differed from those. I was pleased with the outcome and have certainly not reached the end of this series. I do have yet another painting planned (only in my head at the moment) that will hopefully bring together the best of two different worlds. The completed watercolor shown here is 22" X 15".

DEMO - PART 6

Almost there now!. I have spent some time working on the walls, adding more texture and creating a little more interest without taking away from the window itself. The light and shadow on the sill is becoming more defined as I sort out this area but realise there is still a little more to do. Most of the time, I have been carefully looking over the painting for areas which need more work and cleaning up some of the highlights. The window panes have been completed with some diffuse greens, yellows and browns worked wet-into-wet to suggest foliage bathed in light. I'm pleased with how this area came out as I managed to add these details without losing the effect of bright sunshine outside the window. Although this photo is a bit blurred, if you click on it, you will get a better idea of what I mean. I'm also happy with the shadows of the bars and how the reflected light is bouncing around the scene. Now what to do about that bottle? After much thought, I decide to give it a go and if it doesn't look right, I should be able to scrub it out and patch up the area. Next, the finished painting.......

DEMO-PART 5

A lot more work has been done at this point, mostly darkening the walls with washes of Sepia with some Raw Sienna. The darker washes on the smooth paper has resulted in some interesting textures but I'll be creating more. The tones of the window and bars are about correct at this point and I have started to work on the shadows on the inside sill. Other areas of reflected light get more washes of the same mix and also some darker strokes for visual interest. I'm careful to not make it look too dirty though as although the window is very old, I still want a clean and clear look to the painting. If the washes are not left to dry properly, the result can be a muddy look which is obviously something to avoid. I still haven't decided on the bottle yet, usually at this point I would have done quite a bit of work to it bringing it along with the rest of the painting. With the darker washes added, there is an even greater impression of strong light outside the window which will be toned down a little later on as I add some barely visible tree branches and leaves.

DEMO - PART 4

After yet more washes, I am feeling a little happier with the direction this painting is going. Adding more color has served to deepen the tones further and create more depth. There is certainly more of a sense of 'looking in' to the painting at this stage although the scene itself is pretty much two-dimensional. I don't plan on adding a landscape outside the window as this I feel would be a distraction - there will be plenty going on as it is. The sense that the painting is lit from the outside is becoming more apparent also and this is mainly due to the reflected light, the shadows (more obviously) and also light falling on some of the smaller objects such as the spider webs etc. I have continued to deepen the green of the window frames and bars which has also brought up the highlights of direct sunlight. Shadows are subtly diffuse as the window panes are slightly opaque and cut down on the sun's intensity. I'm still not decided about the bottle at this point so try to ignore the white space as I look a the painting from time to time while I go about other things in my studio. I am enjoying the painting process so far but don't want to rush it at this point and have to try to undo any mistakes.

DEMO PART 3

Here I have continued by adding more washes of the same colors slowly building up tonal values taking care not to go too dark as it is very difficult to lighten up a watercolor without damaging the purity of previous washes. Quite a lot of time has been spent working on the window frames and the bars, again taking care with the tones as this area will be the center of interest. The sun highlights on the sill are becoming more apparent now along with more of the reflected light and further washes on the inside wall have created more contrast and depth. The sun-lit webs and other highlights are beginning to take on the correct intensity without detracting from the main focus of the painting. I have also started working on the shadow on the right that is cast from the central bar but realise at this time that it has to go quite a lot darker (as has the whole painting). By working slowly and adding many thin washes as opposed to heavier ones, I am more in control to orchestrate the painting the way that I want. It also saves time as it enables me to work without creating too many problems along the way. All along, I keep looking at the painting from time to time searching for problems that may develop and the odd tone out of place. There will not be a lot of color in this work so I'm mainly concerned at this point with getting the values correct. There is also not much texture either but I'll be working on that closer to the completion of the painting.