I don’t ask to take breaks at work. I like what I do. But break time is mandatory and they tell me when I have to leave for 15 minutes. Don’t get me wrong, I love going out in the sunshine and exploring the environs, which consist of a parking lot and a restaurant that has surprisingly good jazz piped to the out-of-doors.

Today’s watercolor experiment:

On one of my breaks, I found a nice scene that beckoned to me. It was just a fence with two partially painted areas. It had a nice foreground and trees above it that hung over the top of the fence.

Reference Photo

There was just something about this scene that attracted me from across the parking lot. It was the two painted areas across the horizontal span and the layers of the parking lot, the curb, the space between the curb and the fence and the foliage across the vertical span.

I used the same composition as in the photograph, for my watercolor. It was a pretty straightforward transformation. I used a flat brush, the width of the fence slats, and Payne’s gray for the non-painted areas. Charcoal gray mixed with titanium white colored the painted areas. I didn’t use much water for the painted parts of the slats, so that portion looks a bit dry brushy.

Break Time
9″x12″ 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Block

Comment:

Sometimes, when I take a photograph for reference, I have a watercolor painting in mind: something I could create myself. For example, a sunset inspires me to create a similar beautiful combination of colors. Today’s composition was different. I am satisfied with it as a photograph. The only thing I could add would be something to change the mood.

I must say that today, I merely transcribed from one medium to another.