"Getting Married" 11"x 14"

After completing an oil painting of the this same subject a few months ago, I was approached to do a watercolor version. The difficult part was the oil painting and reference photo were in a cool blue palette and the lady commissioning me wanted more warm colors and less blues to go with her home decor. Unfortunately, the church is too far away for me to paint it plein air, so I  was forced to paint from photos.

I was not able to locate any other photo references that helped me out, it seems the church is always in shadows. I ended up working from the same cool photo as before and just changed it in my head as I went along. I was confused on what to do with the sky so I ended up just de-emphasizing it. You would think painting from your mind would be easier, but for me it is very difficult and I realize why I prefer to paint on location.

In the end she was pleased and that was my top priority.      

Colorado Watercolor 8" x 12"

I was recently approached to do some watercolors of various locations in Colorado. It has been several years since I have attempted this, but I gave it a shot. This was my second attempt after a very non-transparent first attempt. Non-transparency is something you definitely don't want a watercolor to be. I feel much happier with this one and actually find myself looking forward to the next one. It's weird to go from painting dark to light with oils and do the opposite by going from light to dark with w/c. 

Painting is painting and that's something I enjoy.