Daily Painting

After all those studies, I attempted The Painting. This is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph in downtown San Jose. A stunning building from 1877. Before starting, I told myself it is yet another study, just on larger paper. Just a study. But a study. Only a study. I like what Frank Webb says about having a fresh stack of watercolor sheets being akin to more tomorrows. The studies can continue....this isn't the end. I tried to use more water than normal so my color looks more transparent and not so pigmented. I am fairly pleased with this but I think it needs some punch - some spots of dark. I'll let it sit for a couple of days while I attack another study [-ies] and come back to it. I do need to step back more often during painting and evaluate it as a design on the paper - where it's off balance, where it needs more of a certain color, how it sits on the sheet, etc. P.S. Despite the blooms, this isn't really a floral study.

A small loose painting to show just the essence. I added the "sparkle" as Bill Dunn says - it really makes a difference. Less is more.

Still continuing to explore color palettes and leaving more white. Not there yet, though I do love the juxtaposition of the orange and purple in the palm tree in the first painting below. I need to leave more whites like Mr. Reid.

I'm finally starting to get values and value patterns....now I truly understand the importance and all the theories about passage, linkage, focal point, using the reference material as a starting point and no more....is all beginning to make sense. The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are coming together, with fewer missing parts. The aspect ratio of the final painting matching that of the value study - so important. I knew that but disregarded it every time, and stumbled along, making the same mistake over and over and not understanding why the painting wasn't working. I am getting it now.....a strong value pattern is really a jigsaw puzzle in black and white. The initial work is in the silhouette, not in the details. Jigsaw puzzles have popped up at different points in my life - and had several metaphorical meanings. Now, in hindsight, I can connect the dots and understand the importance of the various pieces. Isn't life a jigsaw puzzle? So many parts - seemingly unrelated, bu...

I read about Direct Painting - painting directly without a drawing in one pass, with no layering - in two different places just days apart, so decided to give it a go. What looseness ensued! There were no pencil lines to imprison me or the paint, and it was good to see the colors run. As long as the big shapes are there, the eye fills in the rest. It was a liberating experience.