Daily Painting

I love colors that work well together. I like to pre-choose any combination of colors that I think will go well, and apply them to a composition. It amazes me to think that scene could be made up of other colors entirely! I am learning to do this slowly. I am only just beginning to realize I can.

I love funky vehicles. While I am driving, I stare at concrete mixer trucks, the light falling on a simple sedan [the F of light, as I explained to my son], cranes, and how the lace of their trusses in the sky seems so delicate and elegant. There is so much to see, and so much more when I focus on how the light hits all the surfaces, where the shadows are, and where the whites are. And it changes so quickly depending on viewing angle, and as the sun movies across the sky. Constant drama provided by nature.

This is from a photograph of Udaipur. It was done a bit quickly. I need to slow down... and I find myself choosing blues and purples for all water scenes :-(

Value is more important than color. I am finally beginning to understand. This is my first watercolor portrait -- of Kabir as a baby at less than a year old. I am encouraged by this [even though the nose is a bit high!], and will continue my hand at portraits.

I read somewhere that you should focus on painting what drew you to the scene in the first place. I had lunch at Reem's at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market in San Francisco with my husband and kids this past Saturday. Then, while they went into the Ferry Building to satisfy their sweet t(ee)th by getting into various queues for dessert, cupcakes, and ice cream, I decided I had enough time to paint this scene. What drew me was the overlap of the trusses of the crane with the trusses of the lower level of the Bay Bridge. I wish I had focused on that. I ended up painting most of the Bay Bridge, which reduced the impact of the overlap that attracted me to this lovely view in the first place. Cropped, this should have been what I painted....