Harbor Sundown, 20″ x 16″, Pastelbord

Watercolor underpainting with graphite added over top

I’m continuing working on a series of 20 x 16 paintings for the Hamptons. This second one was originally a horizontal that I cropped into a vertical. It’s Rockland, Maine around sundown. I really liked the colors in this picture and the shapes of the buildings in the harbor. The boats were fairly distinctive so I spent a lot of time drawing and painting them.  I did a light layer of watercolor at the top so as not to completely lose my initial drawing. Then spent a lot more time putting in several coats of watercolor at the bottom.  You’ll see from the underpainting that I redrew the buildings and boats after putting on the wash.  The flowers are something you see in Rockland. They aren’t Joe Pyeweed nor Queen Anne’s Lace. A friend tells me they are poisonous!  But I liked the shape and the pink tint to them. While the picture is clearly about the foreground, the background is pretty important as well and I like the way the flowers lead the eye up to it and to the building with light and shadow near the top.  The mountain is the hill behind Camden.  I really liked the added depth that it gives to the painting.