Forest Spring watercolor 9″ x 12″. Click on image to view larger.
texture enhanced with rice paper collaged on top prior to painting
I truly enjoyed capturing the logs and rocks in vibrant dark colors in this view of spring in the forest. It was done rather quickly, playing with darks, and then tweaked a bit later to pull out some rocks. This was from a class taught by Marie Siegrist in Las Cruces where we randomly placed sheer rice paper along the foreground and then painted on top. You can see the threads and textures of the rice paper more in the closeup. The darks help make the light greens and pale sunlight pop. I believe I will enter this in the Colors of Spring local show.
Painting makes all kinds of daily activities interesting, even the mundane driving of kids back and forth to school and other activities. I find myself looking at trees and bushes and seeing how sometimes the branches appear in front of the foliage, and other times behind it. Another thing is noting how much of the sky shows through the foliage…and then thinking about how I would paint what I see. And have you noticed that the lightest part of the foliage is usually at the top, because it is nearer the sun? but sometimes the section of the bush protrudes enough so that light hits the top of it even if it is in the middle of the height of the bush. Fascinating how painting has opened my eyes!
I hope my thoughts will make your drives and walks more enjoyable. Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to share or comment!
Rachel Murphree Watercolors 
I love the rock strata, I can smell the fresh air. Fantastic piece, very worthy of a place in an art show 🙂
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Oh thank you! I really appreciate your encouragement!
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This looks very difficult to do!! Your classes seem interesting. Makes me wonder if I should try. I tend to always prefer working alone and totally independently, with the help of books. But I wonder if that’s wise.
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Laura, I’ve found it definitely mind opening to take classes. I think I’ve progressed much more than I would have working alone with books (which is my normal mode too) it’s neat what sometimes one kernel of wisdom sticks in my head after a class. and it made it worth the effort. It can’t hurt to sign up for a class to see if you like it! the ones I’ve done are a 6-10 week period, once a week. One thing that I had to get used to was painting while people around me are socializing which sometimes happens. but I’ve gotten used to it.
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Good advice. Thank you, Rachel. Keep up the great work!
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