Although I have been painting with oils for many years, I had never really given any thought to trying watercolors. I only knew that I had heard it was a difficult medium to use--especially without training. On a whim, sometime last year, I bought some watercolors and paper. I put them in my studio and pretty much forgot about them. Recently, I found some extra time with nothing planned. So I dug out the untouched supplies and decided to try to learn how to use them. I have now completed three pieces. While I am still not totally comfortable (or very knowledgeable) with them, I think the pieces are presentable enough to be seen. I will slip them into a bin at the gallery that contains original unframed pieces and see what kind of reaction I get from customers. The first I titled Old Barn. Based on some old barns that you might see in the country down south, I was going for the weathered, peaceful look of a barnyard with a few chickens scratching around.
The second one I attempted was based on a photo I shot while vacationing in Europe a few years ago. Quiet Harbor spoke to me with its lack of activity and the orderliness of the repetitive shapes of all the boats tied up at the seawall.
The last of the three is from a photo I shot some years ago on a trip in the Caribbean. I painted it in oils then and called the painting Island Transport. The new watercolor version I titled Island Freighter. If you have time, you can go back through my blogs and compare the two.
