Sunday, March 31, 2013

Spring at the Old Mill

It was a beautiful day to paint with the group at the Old Mill, El Molino Viejo, in San Marino.   The last time I painted there was in October and the pomegranates were ripe.  I painted the trees from the Pomegranate Patio, posted in "The Pomegranate Patio".  It's such a lovely place to paint and was one of my first plein air painting experiences with the group.  I posted two watercolors in "The Old Mill" in September.

On our recent plein air painting day the pomegranates were gone but the yellow Lady Banks rose covering the rustic gazebo was in full bloom.  I'm adding a photo below of it.  I had planned to try painting it but changed my mind.  I settled on a view of one of the old entrances to the mill with the dramatic trees behind.  Just to the left of this corner of the building are some stairs up to the rose-covered gazebo.  While waiting for my watercolor washes to dry I decided to try a smaller (5x7") gouache piece of the view of the yellow roses through the trees.  The gouache dries faster than transparent watercolor so my plan worked well.  The Garden Club of America was also visiting at the mill so it was a busy morning.

8x10" watercolor

5x7" gouache






  

8 comments:

  1. Just found your blog through Vandy Massey, and I must say your plein air work is beautiful. I love the above two paintings, the colors, and sense of sunlight. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

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    1. Hi Sophia, thank you for visiting and such a nice comment!

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  2. Your watercolors are really beautiful with such vibrant colors...especially the second one really left me in awe, gorgeous !

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    1. Thank you Jane I really appreciate it! I haven't tried too many gouache pieces so I'm still learning a lot on those. Ha, not to mention the others!

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  3. Exciting and dramatic contrasts in each painting, Sherry. You are getting quite adept at gouache, and I think that painting is just fabulous! What a good plan to do another painting while waiting for washes to dry on the other!

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    1. Thanks Terry! It's a little stressful to have two paintings going, especially using different techniques, but the gouache goes pretty fast.

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  4. Your paintings are beautiful. They are so vibrant. How do you like painting with gouache? You're invited to visit my blog sometime, www.barbararoth.blogspot.com

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    1. Hi Barbara, thank you! I'm enjoying my gouache attempts. Still learning how it behaves. I'll check out your blog.

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