Well, here is the finished (first) watercolor layer. One more iteration is needed, as much as I am ready to move on to the next project.
Contrast and shade and shadow, ink and lineweight, and perhaps a layer of color pencil for texture. What I am looking for is for these homes to ‘pop’, and come alive – just as the first house on the left begins to do; perhaps one more targeted watercolor wash is needed (just on the areas of shade and shadow), perhaps just going over with ink. Perhaps more art, less architecture. I am proceeding with caution as there is a hair of a difference between a watercolor and a muddy mess. Somewhere in between there is a rendering that satisfies. I will keep you tuned.
Speaking about the Impressionists in class last Thursday, we discussed how they believed that an object, painted in a different light, becomes a different object altogether, imbued with a changing feeling, a changing ‘impression’.
Perhaps we, as viewers become different people too.
As I was completing the watercolor I met Wanda, a neighbor, who kept me company for my plen-air session. I told her how Monet painted the same cathedral and haystacks about a hundred times, and we pondered how much persistence and dedication it would take. Would familiarity become comfort after a while, a sort of therapeutic, zen-like activity?
Good progress. I can’t wait to see your final painting.
I think Monet (and others) painted their series under different weather and light conditions to show how much diversity these two brought to the impression of a subject. No two were ever the same!
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Yes, of course, it is incredible to see the whole series of Haystacks, and his Rouen Cathedral (s). I am in awe of the constant showing up to the art, to the same subject.
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[…] the last iteration I refined ground and sky, went over the watercolor with Prismacolor pencils to give the homes some […]
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