Daring Watercolor #11

 

Out and early to the river I go! I love walking this trail and especially when the light is just coming around the canyon. I had to include several more pictures of my hike to where I was going to paint because it was so beautiful, enjoy these photos…….

Alright then, back to watercolor.

My first scene was quite the challenge because it was so beautiful and yet I got lost within the green/yellow of the drying out moss. I decided not to include it because I wanted to focus on the three other watercolors that were more successful.

#1 on top and #2 on bottom 4.5 x 6.5 inches each

And then, my final painting….

My final painting 7 x 10 inches 

I really enjoyed painting the last one but my problem was that the water working its’ way around the rocks didn’t show up to be water as I had hoped. Just to give you a little information, my scene was on the embankment of the river where the water flowed around the rocks and the water from the creek combined and then on down to the river.

The water in actuality was the dark green color that you see here, but my rocks are very similar in color as well. I think in the future I need to be careful to have two separate (or color palette) choices to make sure I delineate the elements….to give the viewer a better reading as to what they are looking at.

The rocks on the North Yuba are very unique in that you will have black, burnt sienna, ochre, blue and even green in the rocks. But…..even so, I need to have a clarity in my painting.

• When I was painting my first scene (not shown) I was starting to freak out and I could feel my confidence start to mount a wild mustang and take off! I calmed myself down and told myself….just do it!
• Don’t think so much about how I am going to do it because once my brain starts wondering “how”, my confidence level goes down.
• Trust that I’ll find my way, it takes a while for the brain and hand to marry up and get into a rhythm.
• Trust the process, my life is not on the line if I get it right or not.
• For goodness sakes, relax! Being tense will show up in the painting and it affects my confidence and doubt sets in.
• Doubt kills!
• Remind myself values! learn your values! If I am to think about anything at all, think values!

Now for  fun to lighten up the load of all these things to learn….on my way home I had to stop and take a photo of this garbage can that has “NO BEAR” written on it. I am wondering if the lady (I know her) had hoped that by writing this on her garbage can, bears would leave it alone? I always wanted to ask but felt awkward about it. Maybe the local bears are smart and they can read? Any ideas? Have a wonderful weekend.