Plein air artists are the first to tell you that you can go
back to the same site over and over again during different times of day and it
is like being in a whole other place. Light does that! It can turn a bright and
sunny scene into a murky and mysterious place when it is taken away.
Dean Mitchell is especially skillful at creating a sense of
daylight. His colors are muted for the most part, which allows his whites to
seem very crisp, although they will veer from the more chilly whites of winter
mornings to the white heat of a hot summer day.
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Southern Tobacco Barn by Dean Mitchell,
watercolor painting, 15 x 9. |
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When I think of Christopher St. Leger's work, it's his
lustrous haze of color that stands out. It's almost like when all the heat and atmosphere of a day hovers right above the horizon
and you seem to see everything through a prism. But that assessment is a bit
deceiving because St. Leger has, in fact, a strong sense of bright white
highlights in his work as well.
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| Anbar Drag by Christopher St. Leger, watercolor painting. |
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Susannah Hart Thomer is at her best during those times of
day when the lights and darks are at their most extreme. But while they are
extreme, her lights and darks are not stark. Instead, they are juicy, burgeoning with color and depth. I love that her darks have hints of red and purple; her
lights tinges of green and orange.
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| Early Riser by Susannah Hart Thomer, watercolor painting. |
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With a Watercolor
magazine subscription, you can delve more deeply into the watercolor painting
techniques that lead to expressive and energized paintings of any time of the
day you'd like. In every issue there are articles that are relevant to what you
want to do in your own practice--from turning an on-site plein air painting into
a large-scale studio work to understanding the power of complements. And that's
just what I gleaned in my first pass of the latest Summer issue. It is sure to be
the same for you. Enjoy your subscription!
P.S. What's your favorite time of day to paint? Leave a
comment and let us know!