On My Back Door-Step #7

Red Osier Dogwood Branch (#7)

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Watercolor on paper 11in x 15in

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It was another rainy day, and in order to do today's painting indoors, I picked a branch of Red Osier Dogwood, a bush with pearly white berries and flashy red stalks, from my back door-step and I put it into a jar as my model.

I was still penciling in my drawing when I realized what was happening. My still life was withering in front of my eyes. Leaves were flipping over and showing different colors, and stems were curving down with gravity. Negative shapes kept changing, and I had to work really fast to fill in color areas and keep my original composition.

I added a flat dark gray layer to isolate the branch from its background, and I realized effective watercolor sketching means that I need to be able to work very very quickly.

And to do that I need be able to do a lot of visual problem-solving on the run!

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