Deciding temperature

A painting should make up it's mind if it's going to be warm or cool, not half and half. It should lean one way or the other. Most of my architectural snow paintings have leaned fairly cool. But something about this subject matter and the delight of the wonderful snow-filled trees overpowering the house, spoke to a warmer painting. And perhaps the influence of the title I had already chosen as well: "The Day Before Spring". So a sunrise was born with glazes of aurolin yellow and rose madder genuine and a touch of cobalt blue.

I am taking a lot of license with the painting now...dropping off the neighbors house and balancing it with another pine tree (that may or may not actually be there...hard to see in the snow.) There was a lot of "masking" as all the snow is actually the white of the paper.

In my dreams last night I was designing some of the shadows that would fall forward in front of the house (not available in the photo, of course). I pulled out my white acrylic ink which I think I will use to add more tiny white branches later and to use for touch ups. I relate to the lovely big tree in the front yard..reminding me of my big old oak back in Wisconsin that got sold with our house a year ago last September. Down here in Florida when the live oaks get that old, the branches sweep down to the ground like a ball room dancer in a heavy gown. Then the old branches touching there re-root into new trees.

Watercolor on Arches cold pressed 11 x 15.

The aprons say it best....

While visiting the Bradenton, Florida museum shop one day last winter with our friends the Holts (also of Bradenton) I came upon these aprons in the museum shop.  All these wonderful works of art for sale and I pounce on the aprons!  "Born to Paint" says one, "Almost Famous" says another.  Or "So Many Colors, So little Time" and "What Part of IT'S NOT FINISHED Don't You Understand?"  

They make you smile but also nod your head.  It reminds us not to get too self-important...that's for sure.  And that art can inspire humor and laughter for another.  Our own and others!  I keep thinking about that when I put together ideas of paintings.  What about laughter?  I'd like to paint a whole string of paintings that inspire at least a big smile or a chuckle.  (Paper Hands Flowers was one of those...and I think because the image is so small it might be hard to get the joke? Ya have to click on it and enlarge it.) 

The reason for a painting is always of importance to me.  And there can be unending reasons to paint, of course, artists LOVE to talk about their motivations which range from none (just practicing a skill) to the deepest feelings that humans can have.  I think it would all do us well to think more as we begin to sketch out a composition and begin to choose the colors, values, and mood of what it is we really want to convey in the art we are about to embark on.  I think sometimes this purpose does evolve as we paint as well.  But we need to come back to this centering over and over.