Watercolors by Celia Blanco

Sunflowers watercolor on cold pressed Daler Rowney paper 10" x 10" / 25 x 25 cm.   I always wanted to paint sunflowers, it's funny how we put certain things off... Well, these sunflowers were growing as high as a house, screaming to be noticed. I wish everyone a great weekend, thank you for stopping by!

  Glossy Leopard watercolor on "Fabriano Artistico" paper 5"x7" / 12 x 18 cm My oldest daughter, Sabrina, turned 17 this weekend. She had asked me to paint something for her room a while back. I thought her birthday would be a great time to make good on my promise. Blue has always been her favorite color even when she was a little girl. She also loves leopard print and make-up is her creative side. I combined all these things into a painting for her and surprised her on her birthday. She recognized the items I used. It's hard to please a 16 year old... a 17 year old maybe is worse!

  A Room with a View watercolor on p aper (Daler Rowney cold pressed) 18 x 13 cm/ 5 x7 in.  “One doesn't come to Italy for niceness," was the retort; "one comes for life. Buon giorno! Buon giorno!” ― E.M. Forster , A Room with a View   Sunday morning a fishing competition forced my husband and I up river to kayak. There was no place for me to sit nearby so I ventured into the town of Subiaco to plein air paint. I have always wanted to paint a portion of this house which I have been infatuated with for years. I was also very attracted to the old style street lamp and the flowers blooming on the sill. This home looks over the Aniene River and has a beautiful mountain view. The owner of the house is very kind and came out to see what I was doing as did many of the friendly folk walking by. Being accustomed to the colder ways of the big city, I appreciate smaller towns where people take the time to  greet each other, even strangers. "Buo

work in progress, I have little to show for, this week. I dedicated a good amount of time to a painting that I just ended up tearing to pieces. It  feels good when you know it's not working. I get a little upset but I also move on. I began working on a sunflower painting yesterday. I have never painted one and hope the sunny colors will bring me better results! This time I've gone back to my normal cold press paper, I'm taking a break from hot press for a while. The lesson I learned this week: when trying new things, don't try too many new things at once or it will lead to frustration. When trying new paper, buy the smallest size available so you are not stuck with too much unwanted paper like I did. Better photo of last weeks painting, I took this in the morning as opposed to the afternoon. The colors are closer to the original.

"Watching the Grass Grow" watercolor on paper 25 x 18cm. It has been a beautiful day to be outdoors. Tomorrow it will probably rain, I wanted to do a plein air painting of the grass that has gotten high because of all the precipitation we are having. It is fun to watch the grass grow! Incidentally, the Daily Paintworks Challenge this week is to paint grass, so I will enter it there. Thank you for stopping by!              

Plein air sketch of kayaker Sometimes I'm not sure whether or not to show certain works on my blog. They are not intended as definte works but as studies through which I try to progress and improve. I started this blog with this purpose in mind. plein air value sketch I did two plein air studies by the river this week. The first being a value study because I wanted to try and elimanate all the colors and see if I can work on getting a nice midtone in my paintings. The second sketch, has the same vantage point, with color. I wish I hadn't included the kayaker, I need to simplify when I'm out there. I feel there are a thousand things I should include: the beautiful light, the glistening colors on the water, the dreamy foliage...it all only leads to mental overload. Something to keep in mind. Another note, I have a nice tip that was passed on from reading  Julie Ford Oliver 's blog. I have word verification in my comments installed. I know how time consumi

Plein Air  20 x 30 cm watercolor on paper ( Cartiera Mangnani hotpress) I was able to paint plein air this weekend in the countryside by the Aniene River. The very first signs of Fall are starting to show in the landscape. The best thing is, of course, all the fresh water to paint with. Thanks for stopping by! my painting on location... lots of fresh water nearby