‘Gex House Front’ Watercolor Painting

DweezelJazz — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:09:13 +0000

I mentioned in the last post, Summertime Activities, that as soon as I’ve finished the drawings, I’ll start painting scenes for a book. In preparation, I’m doing a few scenes that I don’t intend to put in the book so that I can play with style, color and atmosphere. Here’s one I did last weekend for just that purpose. All of the photos in this post can be seen larger by clicking on them.

'Gex House Front' watercolor painting by Nat Wildish

There are many beautiful houses dotted all over the Pays de Gex in France. One house front in the town of Gex caught my eye and inspired this watercolor painting. The delicate touches, such as the fine ironwork on the front door, demonstrate a sweetness and finery without showy gaudiness, that I really love about France.

Monochromatic study in progress of 'Gex House Front' by Nat Wildish

I started ‘Gex House Front’ with a monochromatic study in sepia tones. I really enjoyed doing this and liked the outcome. My best friend and very talented artist, Shannon Ryan of ‘Shannon Ryan Art’, gave me the hint that sepia has black pigment in it and can darken a painting, and can even make the watercolors turn somewhat muddy when other colors are added on top of the sepia. I probably won’t use sepia all that often in the future, but I had great fun experimenting with it and will probably use it in small amounts here and there.

Here’s the monochromatic under painting, which is kind of neat all in itself – like one of those old tattered and faded photographs from long gone days of the past. The house has probably also been there long enough to merit such a photo, and maybe there is one somewhere.

'Gex House Front' monochromatic watercolor painting by Nat Wildish

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‘Gex House Front’ Watercolor Painting