Saturday, January 29, 2011

Where did january go?

The month has flown by. I've been occupied with preparations for next summer mostly, cutting mats for our prints, building this and that, trying to get things out of the way before gardening season. The mesclun lettuce mix I planted a month ago under lights is outgrowing it's tray so today I transplanted these babies into the earth bed in the greenhouse. Beautifully warm in there with the bright sunshine streaming in, a perfect antidote to january's deep snow.
The leeks started at the same time are looking good, and four types of onions seeded last week are unfolding themselves from their trays.




I got started on a watercolor painting at last. First I wet the paper and gave it a wash of  dilute yellow ochre because I was thinking of the scene being in early morning warm light. I sketched out the scene and covered the light areas that will be the highlights, with masking fluid. Then came wet sloppy colors that were alowed to blend and merge.
When all was dry, stronger but still loose and wet colors were applied to the background.


Next came the shadows and local colors of the wharf and the boats.
Then I rubbed off the masking fluid, tidied up the edges and deepened shadows. I lifted off color to create the third building in the background and added some foliage texture. I hope to finish this in a few days, adding seaweed and rocks to the foreground and reflections on the water.

3 comments:

Shelley said...

Wonderful of you to remind us that summer is coming Kathi! Oh my but where did January go?

Daphne Gould said...

I have to say with all the snow we had I'm happy January is about to leave. I hope February is kinder, but usually it isn't.

I love the look of my onions unfolding. They seem about the same sizes as yours.

Unknown said...

I hate the snow!
I really prefer summer.
In my Buenos Aires apartments there is no snow, but the summer here is pretty hot.