The myriad of possibilities opened with yesterday’s post, condensed today with the completion of my watercolor.  I decided to try my hand at a campfire, since I could imagine it filling up the spaces I left vacant.

Fire by the Lake
12″x9″ 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Block

I created the space that reflected the fire light with the underlying quinacridone nickel and dabbed in shadow green and Van Dyke brown with a fan brush and a Japanese soft-bristle brush.  I scrubbed out a place for the red and yellow flames and the smoke. I painted the flames and some of the water with water-soluble oils.

All in all, this is a coarse work, especially the water. But it works as a whole and I am pleased with it as another step forward for me in landscape painting.