So, I cribbed a page from David Lobenberg, and tried a long and narrow format. Yes, it's imitative, yes, it's unoriginal, but I was inspired by his post of watercolor sketches he did in this remarkably long sketchbook, and by this cool (long thin) painting on Moments of Clarity.I don't have the actual long format sketchook that David used, so I drew a thin rectangle on my little moleskine watercolor book, and used little, tiny brushes. This thing's about three inches (7.5cm) wide and seven or eight inches (23cm) tall.
Since I'm a noob at all this, I've not tried anything larger than the moleskine yet, but I'm beginning to get frustrated at the size of the page. Yes, they are very convenient for: a quick sketch; schlepping your gear around the countryside; and curtailing those feelings of excessive grandeur that might arise from having a great big sheet of paper to despoil (if said feelings aren't pre-empted by anxiety about despoiling a great big sheet of paper... but let's give oneself the benefit of the doubt, and assume one can approach the prospect with confidence.)
Joking aside, I was also led to the composition by the landscape in front of me: clustering clouds, springing up in the humid afternoon air over the mines in the distance. I wanted to do a panorama, but my locale (and time of day) didn't lend itself to anything dramatic. The colors were beginning to wash out and the sun was approaching noon, which made the shadows on the mountains flat. The most interesting thing to me was the sky, so I figured I'd feature that.
4 comments:
Oh, I tried, I really did--to comment on this the other day. The blog was giving me a difficult time. Wanted to say that your tall watercolor is lovely. Makes me want to buy a mobile home and some land and move to Globe. Your focus on the clouds and sky is exceptional. I'd like to see you upload another photo of it. The clouds look a bit too photoshop-adjusted. Maybe it's the site, maybe it's the photo. What do you think?
Hi Edgar, Thanks for your visits to my blog.
This is my first time here. I like your style of painting and your attitude.
This long format is fun. I agree, if you can't do a panoramic, it has to be a pretty good sky or it's a tough one to pull off.
Love the tall painting -
Frank, it's a pleasure to have you visit. Thanks for dropping by.
Cara, Thank you for the feedback. I really enjoyed the challenge -- I'm sure I'll try that again.
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