P3 - Exercise Subject Choices

Deciding on a title as part of the preparation for painting outside, helping to figure out the focus of your painting.  The title here is 'In full bloom' cherry tree in the back garden that once in blossom looks it's best for a few day before blossom withers and falls of the tree.

Using the darker colours of the objects in the background to help define the mass of cherry blossom.

'Spindly Geranium'

P3 - Exercise Inside and Outside

In this exercise we are painting a view from within side a house and then moving outside to paint the same view.

Here I am painting the view from my in-laws kitchen window initial drawn to view by the roof line of the houses at the back of the garden but as I started on the painting it was the weeping willow that became to focal point.

The kitchen window frame acted as view finder albeit a static one which limits your options, no 360 degree range.  As such the foreground of in-law's garden was obscured put this was little concern as I had already decided on focusing on the roofline in the middle distance a decision no doubt dictated by what I could see standing front onto the window.


View from inside:

Moving outside to paint, the view was already decided by the brief of the exercise, i.e.,  your capturing the same view.  That said there was nothing or interest in the foreground so didn't feel the need to change the objects that I was focusing on.  One thing I have noticed I have more of a panoramic view in the two paintings produced outside.  There is a looseness to all the painting both as result of the timings applied to the exercise and how I like to use watercolours, possibly more looseness in the outside paintings.


View from outside 1:

View from outside 2:

In this one I am trying to strength the colours, better sense of a shadow being cast across the lawn from the fence on the righthand side and deeper colour of the brickwork.