Last weekend I sketched a scene in watercolor and gouache on coldpress watercolor paper. The view looking out over the Richardson Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay is always interesting from this elevation. It was amazing as the Blue Angels were flying by for Fleet Week while I was painting. My mind was contemplating the slow moving watercolor washes while the hum of loop to loops danced above me. I of course dropped everything to climb up a park slide ladder to get a better view of the jets. Sort of distracting for painting, but darn entertaining. The hills of Sonoma dissolving in the far distance had a pink grey quality to it, which I used to unify the piece. The size was just under 12x18 inches. About two hours was the time line in creating the image - then things were getting a bit dark as the sun was sinking behind the hills.
P.S. Thanks to everyone for their thoughtful feedback on previous posts for this blog. I will try and keep it going with more sketches now and then.
- Erik
19 comments:
Love this piece Erik-The colors in the background work.I think you captured the hills really well!
I did catch the fleet week-along with the blue grass festival down at golden gate park.It was Teriffic!Everyone was high!haha
keep the good work going.
best wishes~
s
Great work Erik, nice to see some traditional painting on your blog. I did enjoy the paintings from life below. Its something i have to try rather than shooting my reference/inspiration then later working on the digital paintings.
Inspiring stuff.
What a beautiful painting. I have just moved away from the Bay Area. Your painting reminds me of all those times I tramped along the bluffs over the ocean, with the trees stunted by the wind. Thank you for sharing it.
insane
Very nice piece of work. I stared at it for sometime trying to work out which bits were watercolour and which bits were gouache - but couldn't decide.
I hope to see more
Awesome color passages and edges...
Nice!
Didn't realize you had a blog.
Looking forward to more.
-Joshua
Really great stuff here Eric, I'd love to get some crits from you sometime. your understanding of color is so inspiring, glad to see you posting ona blog.
~ Clayton
You've certainly created a lovely piece in just two hours. The tones are perfect and your brushstrokes are very expressive. I also like the way that some areas have more detail than others.
Great visual depth in this piece sir! And excellent color observation.
Erik, at the risk of sounding like a screaming 12 year old, I'm a HUGE fan of your stuff. Ever since I discovered your website a few years ago, I was inspired not only to try painting in gouache, but also to dig deeper into colour theory. Please keep posting!
i'm one of your works fans.
i'm speechless.
....sigh....so nice! I love the shadows on the tree especially.
your work is awesome! The colors are just wonderful! Great work
hi erik
happy to see you opening a blog.
i have been an adept of your colors and style for so long now. it's a pleasure to see even more than what we see in the books.
sparth
www;sparth.com
how do you do it. you're amazing on both levels, traditionally and digital. Very nice work as always. thanks for the inspiration and keep'em coming.
just accidentally found your blog.
your work is stunning, like one of the old
masters working on the computer
very sargent like! truly a watercolor master! beautiful!
Beautiful work Erik, a great inspiration to get out there and just paint!
Post a Comment