Something Purple

I’ve moved on to the next lesson in David Bellamy’s landscape course, and it’s taking me back to somewhat familiar territory. The lesson is about two things:

• Using graduated washes
• Tonal values

I’ve done several monochromatic watercolors before, and I did enjoy them, so doing another was a project I looked forward to. Instead of using the gray color shown in Bellamy’s illustration, I opted to go with a differet hue. Purple…or violet as it’s usually called in the watercolor world.

I’m calling it purple and one of the reasons why is because of the old song, Deep Purple. It was definitely in my head as I was painting. And, by the way, I’m not referring to the rock group, Deep Purple, but to an older song.

Growing up, I always loved the deep purple shadows that fell across the back of our house every evening. For me it marked the end of the day, a time of transition from the busy afternoon to a quiet night. That was the mood I hoped to convey with this painting.

The painting challenged me a bit not only in tonal values but in painting another little cottage — one with a tree in front of it.

Overall, there’s a lot wrong with it. The graduated wash on my distant hills…well, I didn’t manage that too well, and the tree in front of the cottage looks more like an indefinable blob of color. The house was also supposed to have a chimney, but it got lost in the wash.

I did manage to save the pathway at the front of the house, and I’m happy with most of the trees. All in all, it was a good exercise, and I hope in some way it might serve as inspiration for others.