Watercolors by Celia Blanco

Sycamore Leaf  watercolor painted on Daler Rowney paper 10" x 7"/  25 x 17cm.  Fall is coming slowly but I loved this dead leaf I found lying by the river bank surrounded by moss.   I started this painting plein air and finished working on it at home.I build up the layers over my wet into wet sketch. I used salt in the background  and negative painting in order to try and recreate the effect of the moss.  Work in progress drying in the sun.  I like to work from life as much as possible, the colors are always more vibrant. My photo reference, I love the bright moss color against the earth tones. Thank you for stopping by!

  Sweet Treat watercolor on Daler Rowney paper 10" x 7" / 26 x 18 cm. My blog is celebrating its first year. I  never dreamed of finding so much support, generosity, friendship, inspiration and encouragement. I am still overwhelmed when strangers take the time to wish me well and follow my progress. I have found I have received more than I have given and I am truly grateful! To celebrate, I thought I would share some cake ... what better cake  than "Confetti Cake." I've already taken a bite, as you can see. How can I resist it!

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!