Albany Painted Lady (watercolor 11 x 14) $175

Passing through old downtown Albany, Oregon, I was struck by the bright morning light on the Victorian houses.  I stopped to photograph them.   Some of the houses are the National Register of Historic places.   This one is the Ralston House, 1889.   But it’s not the history, its the beautiful shadows cast by the brickenbrack that caught my eye.

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Watching the Photographer (10 x 14 watercolor) $200.00

I took the photos for the painting on the same Sunday I took the pictures for The Three Choppers. The alley is about a block east of The Book Bin on Court Street. My husband and I refer to this as the alley with the archway to nowhere because of the freestanding brick archway leading to more alley.

I had taken photos of the alley earlier, but the young woman photographing the plumbing caught my eye. It was only after I’d snapped the shot that I noticed the gentleman watching her curiously.

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216 (9.5 x 13.5 watercolor) $175

This is the same alley I painted for “Alley Shortcut,” but on the opposite side of the street facing the other way.  Once again I’m looking into the sun as it peeks out from the clouds.  This time it’s afternoon sun and it strikes the alley at an angle so the back lit effect is not quite so pronounced.

I must admit I like painting alleys.  There’s something sublime about making trash cans beautiful.

Painted in multiple transparent washes.  Most of the painting has at least five or six transparent layers of paint.  The palette is brown madder, quinacridone rose, cobalt blue, phthalo blue, cerulean blue, and raw sienna.

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The Sun Peeks Out at 2nd Street (10 x 14 watercolor) $250

Once again the sun on wet pavement caught my eye.   But this time it’s mid afternoon and threatening to rain again soon.  The light was spectacular.  Sunlight streaming from between the clouds always seems so much brighter.

The street is the Corvallis street I know best, SW 2nd looking south toward Art in the Valley and The New Morning Bakery.

The palate is what is becoming my new standard: phthalo blue, cobalt blue, quinacridone brown madder, and raw sienna. I painted conventionally working from light to dark in multiple transparent layers. The “blacks” are phthalo blue and brown madder.

Available through Art in the Valley, Corvallis, Oregon.  Or purchase a print through Fine Art America.

Alley Shortcut (10 x 14 watercolor) $200

I drove into Corvallis a little early a couple mornings ago and spent the extra  time before opening the gallery taking pictures of downtown.  The sun was out, but it had just recently rained and the streets were still wet.  The light was gorgeous.   This little alley is just a couple blocks from Art in the Valley.  The reflected light running up the damp pavement caught my eye.

I used a limited palate, but not as limited as my last cityscape: cobalt blue, phthalo blue, raw sienna and quinacridone brown madder. The vast bulk of the painting is brown madder and phthalo blue.

This painting is currently available through Art in the Valley, Corvallis, Oregon.  Or purchase a print from Fine Art America.

Afternoon on SW 11th Street (watercolor 10 x 14) $200

This is downtown Portland about a block south of Burnside.    The little building peaking out on the left is our Portland mecca, Powell’s Books.  But it’s the bright old fashioned brick building lit up by the sun in contrast with the glass and steel building behind them that caught my eye.

I simplified the buildings considerably, taking out much brick ornamentation.  I eliminated a few street lights and lamps too.  I also moved the shadow forward a little to encompass all of the foreground cars.  Before I made the change, the closest left-hand car stole the show. The pedestrian was on the  on the scene, but not where I’ve placed him.  My applogies to the Joyce Hotel whose name I removed from their canopy since it drew too much attention to itself.

The palate is simple, cobalt blue, phthalo blue, quinacridone brown madder, and raw sienna.

The Shady Side of the Street (watercolor 9 x 13) $200

I redid my Mexican Cafe from scratch and I like it much better.  I used the same reference photo and the same palette.   The real change is the composition.   This time the shadow leads the eye right into the diners.  And I eliminated much of the detail in the building to keep the eye there.

I took it to my critique group yesterday and it got rave reviews.  Someone pointed out that the  composition works so well that it even looks good upside down as an abstract painting.  Now, if only I could figure out how to do this every time.

An Abstract?

This painting is currently for sale on line at my Etsy shop. Or purchase a print from my print gallery at Fine Art America. (Fine Art America offers many prints of fine watercolor paintings).

Mexican El Fresco (watercolor 10 x 13) $150.00

Another cityscape from downtown Portland. The day and the palette are the same. The light and consequently the painting couldn’t be more different.

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10th and Washington (watercolor 11 x 15) $200

Last month, my husband and I were out and about in downtown Portland, after having spent the early afternoon at Powell’s Bookstore. Stephen patiently followed me around the hot pavement as I photographed street after street. The sun was brilliant after a cloudy spring, and the light on the streets and buildings almost blinding.

Here’s my first attempt at the heat and glow of that afternoon. I began by giving the paper of light wash of quinacridone gold. After the wash dried I very carefully sketched out the scene. Then I washed the sky with cobalt blue and the pavement with a mixture of quinacridone deep red rose and gold. Next, I masked a very few small light details.

With the paper ready to begin painting in earnest I began with the shadows and the lamp. The shadows are phthalo blue and deep red rose. The lamp is the same plus some burnt sienna. I painted the man in the window next and then glazed over him and the window multiple times. Then I loosely dropped in the tree and the background foliage at the end of the street. After that I worked up and down the buildings washing in the light and building up the darks.

In the end I think the shaded part of the building on the right takes up too much attention, but I’m not sure. I’ll try something similar again soon.

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The Sunlit Porch (watercolor 13 x 17) $225

I’ve always been intrigued by houses half hidden by trees.  They arouse all of my worst instincts.  The very fact the house is hidden makes me want to spy. I don’t of course, but I want to. The feeling is contradictory in any case because I want a house like that, private and treed. And I certainly wouldn’t want anyone else peering between the leaves.

The house I painted was particularly appealing because of the way the sunlit picked out the front porch. The tree sheltered privacy is an illusion though. And no private person’s privacy was injured by painting it. The house is one of the remaining officers’ houses at Fort Robinson Nebraska. Nor do the trees completely shelter the house, they merely screen it from the parade ground. From the porch one would have an unobstructed view of the northern bluffs. Not a bad thing that.

My painting methods were conventional. I began by tinting the paper with burnt sienna. Then I sketched the house and trees. I painted the house first working from light to dark. Then I added the trees beginning this the trunks. I painted the trees loosely working very wet. Then I scrubbed the edges to soften them and lifted color with a tissue.

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