I WISH YOU A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR, AND WELCOME TO LANGLEY, B.C.

Rolling hills, beautiful and lush farmland, forest and fields.  A few weeks ago, Maggie and I went out walking here. I'd like to do more of this, now that I am not encumbered by an unhappy hip.

Maggie doing some exploring.

First washes, using more muted greens made of quin. gold and cobalt blue.

Brighten up field on left with phthalo.  green, deepening colour on right, and adding line of trees with indanthrone and quin. burnt orange.

Final painting - framable size is 20 x 25 cm.
Landscapes are not my forte, but I want to start doing more of them. It's all just a matter of "seeing" and interpreting. This was a record for me, painted in a day. it's not great, but I am happy with it, and happy with the fact that I am actually starting to feel like painting again after several years of BLAH. I picked up a book at the library recently by Gordon MacKenzie called "The Watercolorist's Essential Notebook". I had taken it, hoping to find ideas for my watercolour classes this year, and found it also inspired me to start trying different things with my painting. I really needed the kick in the ass!
Beyond this, I am finally able to spend more time outside, playing with Bruno and the dogs. It feels GREAT!!!

Once again, thank you so much for dropping by!

Having to Prove to Myself that I Can Still Paint ...

Reference - I am still fascinated with dried hydrangea.

I wanted to capture the shapes and translucent overlay of shadows.

My palette is cobalt blue, quin. gold and quin. pink.

I am fairly satisfied with the depth of color and shadow. Now I must decide whether I want to be really fussy, and include the veins in the flowers, and how to represent the shadow below the arrangement.

Suffice to say that it has been a rough couple of weeks. I haven't felt like painting much, and when I do, I don't like the result. So I thought to do something smaller, easier - simple and attractive to me. So far, so good - I LIKE it!

I appreciate your dropping by, and always welcome comments and critiques.