Dawn and Dusk Watercolor

Dawn and Dusk, watercolor, 17"h x 13"w.

My latest watercolor is a luscious combination of the climbing rose 'New Dawn' and clematis 'Etoile de Violette' that grows on the side of my porch. I started working on this two years ago, developing the drawing from a set of photos I'd taken that spring--my drawing is a bit on the sloppy side with many unresolved areas, but I thought it was enough to get started, and worry about developing it more fully as I got into the painting.

Pen and ink drawing for tracing.

The idea was to try to convey the lushness of the two intertwining plants in a composition that spilled in a rambunctious fashion over the entire sheet of watercolor. I started applying some under painting to the central clematis flower when I realized that the Permanent Rose and Cobalt Blue pigment combination I was using was too opaque for the desired effect.

Dawn and Dusk - early stages.

I put the painting aside for two years, searching for more transparent pigments. A number of workshops I took in the intervening years helped me to develop other techniques and find the transparent pigments I was looking for: Quinacridone Coral and Brilliant Blue-violet. I scrubbed as much of the early pigments as possible and started again, this time with happier results.

Dawn and Dusk - later stage.

The illusion of perspective is created mostly by the change in size of the flowers and leaves, as well as light and dark areas. A bit of redesign was necessary to hide a couple of paint spills that happened along the way--I don't always cover my painting to protect the white areas because this makes it difficult to see the entire painting at one time. That's a risk I'm willing to take.

At this point I'm trying to decide if it's finished, or if it needs a few more leaves and/or buds or a little more drybrush in places to bring out the edges of the pale roses. I'll let it sit on my easel for a few more weeks now and think about it before I decide. There's no hurry, as there are no art shows in my schedule anytime in the future.