Today’s watercolor experiment:

I took the photograph below near the West Village in 1989, as I recall (where 6th Avenue curves around). The little house was so cool. I tried to imagine buying it, if it were indeed for sale. Somehow I think the sign was advertising to sell something else. The bare wall of the building adjoining my little house had, at one time, supported another building. It stood now, supporting the homes with the red brick facades, still adorned with the colored walls of the occupants of the apartments that were destroyed, and the black shapes of structures with which it was previously connected. I even imagined that there was a little cone-topped wooden water tower there at one time.  This little corner held a lot of mystery for me.

Oh yes, there is a bit of hand-written graffiti on the right side of the wall. I do consider the pastel colors to be graffiti as well even though they may not have been made by the hand of a graffiti artist.

As with most of my watercolor sketches, I began with pencil, outlining the important areas. There were no real surprises. Most shapes were regular except for those on the blank wall, which gave me the opportunity to let my watercolors flow where they wanted and mix to produce some of the colors of a sunset.

I am very happy with this sketch even though the perspectives of the roadside curb and the red brick apartments do not match. The right part of the wall above the house can also be a bit confusing until one realizes that it is on the same plane as the rest of the wall. I like it the way it is, however.

Sunset Graffiti
6″x4″ 140# Mixed Media Paper

I like the photograph as well. The photograph has a blue cast, which reminds me of that cool evening when I captured the scene.

Sunset Graffiti – Reference Photo