Sunday Sunshine – Karen Winters daily painting

Sunday Sunshine – 6″ x 6″ – watercolor with colored pencil accent
SOLD to a collector from Texas

Rather, this is the sunshine we WISH we had right about now. It’s been cold, wet and lightning is promised tonight. But I really can’t complain because this sort of weather is such a rare event and the gushing streams and wildflowers that follow will be glorious. In the meantime we’ll just snuggle up with an extra comforter and umbrella and wait until the sun breaks through.

This afternoon I painted this to remember the warmth of spring days yet to come. The lemon is from our tree and is presently full of new buds (if the rain doesn’t knock them off.)

Doing a painting like this is an entirely different experience from some of the bolder more expressive things I’ve posted recently. I’m not abandoning any style at the moment, I’m just exploring a range of techniques and looks. Painting something like this is a very quiet, meditative experience – using a smallish brush and taking quite a bit of time. Painting something like “Tumbling Down” for example, is an invigorating emotional experience, using a large brush and painting impulsively in a short period of time. They’re just … different experiences and sometimes one fits my mood more than another. You think maybe it has to do with caffeine? Hmmm … now there’s one to think about.

Edited to add: an art friend asked how I got the spotted effect in the lemon and how I did the edge of the lemon where the white of the paper is the bright spot.

The lemon was painted with multiple glazes of transparent watercolor – up to 5 layers, if I recall correctly. (Sometimes I forget when I’m in the flow of the moment.) The final glaze was a very pale orange and the uppermost spots were touched in with the tip of a small brush. The rougher spotty texture (toward the bottom of the lemon) comes from using a very light layer of colored pencil in the darks. The edge at the top of the lemon, where it meets the crystal, was just “painted around.” No masking was used.

Comments

  1. Jenny
    January 28, 2008

    Beautiful! The detail in the crystal is amazing, yet it does not overtake the other elements. It fits right in.

  2. Don Gray
    January 28, 2008

    Positively aglow–nice work, Karen.

  3. Cathy (Kate) Johnson
    January 28, 2008

    Gorgeous, Karen! You really have the sense of that strong, bright light and the gloss of the lemon…

  4. Ann
    January 28, 2008

    I love the sense of light in this! This one really sparkles :)

  5. Lynn
    January 29, 2008

    Simply stunning, Karen! That crystal is exquisite. And once again, I appreciate you sharing your techniques, I always learn from your explanations.

  6. Christy DeKoning
    February 20, 2008

    I love reflected light – the luminosity of the glass reflected onto the edges of the flower…gorgeous.

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