I finally finished my latest watercolor painting! I began painting this piece back in December of last year. It is entitled Autumn Welcome and is based on a photograph my daughter took last September, in the Stockade area of Schenectady, NY. It was a sunny day and the neighboring trees created beautiful abstract patterns along the historic homes. I took photographs of my piece as I went along, as a journal of my work.

To begin the painting, I sketched a simple outline of the building. This painting is a large one (17” by 20.5”). This sketch and the transfer to watercolor paper took several days.

I then painted in some of the large blocks of color. Giant pieces of white paper can be intimidating when you begin!

From this point on, I worked one section at a time, beginning with the focal point of the red door. I painted the windows first with the reflected trees in the windows’ warped glass and the autumn spray.

Next I painted several layers, to create the warm red door and its shadows.

To be continued…