Woody Creek Color Study 5 March 2013

Earth tones watercolor painting, inspired by spring in our home town of Woody Creek, CO.

When our kids were small I didn’t have time to sketch when we were traveling or at home, but I could take notes of the colors I saw in a small notebook –everything from laundry lines, to bird plumage, to colors on a wall — and then I would lay down studies after they were in bed. This was the most effective visual journal I could muster and it turned into a valuable tool to increase my color literacy. We all register the impact of landscape in many different ways and mine begins with color. I finally realized these notations, these studies, are maps of a sort. This color study painting was painted on 5 March 2013, just northwest of Aspen, CO. This palette shows itself every year beginning in March, and is present throughout April and May in my garden.

Original watercolor on watercolor paper, unframed.

3.75″ x 10″