Walking on the Wild Side

Walking on the Wild Side
Watercolor on paper, 7x5

Well, its official - I have lost all restraint with my watercolors!  Today, I let the color have it's way with me and am simply following the whim of my brush!  With reckless abandon, I stroke on juicy bits of paint - dropping more pigment into those strokes, allowing the colors to mingle.  I do not mix my colors on the palette before putting them to paper, as I do with all other mediums.  With the water as my vehicle, I drop in the pigments I wish to mix - and let them do their own thing.  Fun, exhilarating, and yes, a little crazy! Loving the freedom of the medium on this, my 580th painting in a row.

Sailing Lake Michigan

Sailing Lake Michigan
Watercolor on paper, 5x7
Purchase Information

I am again playing in the watercolors today!  This sailboat was turning off the coast of Sister Bay.  I always have my camera handy - so I was able to get three good shots of his maneuvers.  The sun was dropping, and reflections of the sky skimmed along it's surface.  Painting the surf in watercolor is so much different than in oils or acrylics!  I masked off some highlights first, then went in with some loose, wet color - allowing it to move and spread.  This is hot-pressed paper, and so it leaves it's own mark with the pigment.  It is so exhilarating to experiment with this new medium - just like getting to know a new friend, whom you KNOW is already a kindred spirit!  Such an adventure!  I am just getting to know boats as well, I have not spent much time around large bodies of water.  I think I need to invest in some wonderful watercolor brushes, too. I am basically using one brush - which is now starting to show some wear.  At the rate of which I am painting - I will be going through them like crazy!  All of Door County, Wisconsin is full of scenes like this - it really takes me back to this place to put it to paper in watercolor.  Painting number 576 in 576 days :)

Fish Creek Sailboats

Fish Creek Sailboats
Watercolor on paper, 7x5, $100
FIsh Creek Harbor, Wisconsin
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Along the coast of the Door County Peninsula, sailboats of all kinds can be found.  In every town we stopped to paint, these gently floating beauties called out to me!  With all of the paintings I did create, I still wish I could have worked more of them in watercolor.  Until now, I have not sketched anything on my watercolor paper.  With the boats having such specific lines, I did lightly mark the masts and body shapes.  I am also working on hot pressed paper for the first time.  The paper lends an interesting, grainy texture to the color.  Up close, it adds sparkle to the masses. New colors on my palette today - antwerp blue and cobalt teal blue.  One by one, I am trying out some of my newfound treasures - and it is SO fun to experiment with new colors!  This painting makes 575 in 575 days - perhaps I'll work on another sailboat painting from my many new reference photos!