Birches and their Neighbors - Day 1

Frost on Squashberries
- a process of satisfaction 

I love photography – I love how it happens. 

First I find something that catches my eye. Then I work through what I consider attractive about it, and then I look at it again through the camera viewfinder, and if it still looks good, I take the photograph.

Afterwards, when I look at the image to edit it, I may be seeing what originally caught my eye, or I may find something completely different. Maybe what I find is better than what I wanted. Maybe I can enhance the image in the editing process.

In the end, making a good photograph is a process of satisfaction. At each step of the way, I have to be satisfied in order to continue working on it.

And so, looking at the finished photograph is also an experience of satisfaction, for me the photographer, and also for the viewer who I hope enjoys what satisfies me.

On My Back Door-Step #8

Berries and Leaves (#8)
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Watercolor on paper, 11 in x 15 in
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It was a bright sunny afternoon after several days of overcast skies and rain, a bit windy, but there was nothing in the weather to interfere with a great painting session. I was ready for it, and I settled in to enjoy myself.

The sunlight was dappled all through the trees, and throughout the afternoon the masses of leaves I was painting shifted in color from luminescent yellow-green to inky blue-green and back again. The hill in the background did the same in tones of olive-greens and sepias. I was working back and forth to depict what I was seeing at the moment. And I was mixing colors on the fly to match the changes.

Well, now that this painting has dried, I find the colors thin and, well, yes, watered-down. I realize now that I would have had a better results if I had mixed larger quantities of the main colors I was seeing at the beginning, and simply dipped into each batch as the light changed throughout the afternoon.

This is part of preparedness, having enough containers and enough surface area to mix colors comfortably and efficiently. And also having the foresight to bring enough clean water to keep my paint from getting muddy. Oh and paper towels to blot up runny wet splashes that go in the wrong direction.

We learn from our experiences.

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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