Watercolors by Celia Blanco

I love the beach but have never painted a beach scene. It is my first and it’s a great time of year to be thinking back on summer days. Ugh! Winter hasn’t even started. I drew the preliminary drawing on site back on a beautiful October morning then put it aside for a while. I finally got around to finishing it this week. It was funny, my kids asked me where this nice place was. It is only the shack we see as we enter the beach, we must have gone by it a hundred times! I mulled over this landscape the whole summer. I love the play of the sun on the weathered wood and sand. It turns it into various shades of gold making the shadows look so rich against it. The blue boat thrown on the side ready to be taken out, the flora in front. Whoever lives here must really enjoy this. A true beach lover, with bleached hair and tanned leathery skin, ready to set sail at a moment’s notice. Someone like me, having to lug everything from home, has to be benevolently jealous.

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” ~Marcel Proust 

To all those celebrating Thanksgiving today, may you be blessed with the quality of gratefulness today and forever. Happy Thanksgiving Day!

This painting is based on the farmer’s market in my neighbourhood. I love this place especially for its vitality. If you are depressed on any given day, walk through this small stretch set aside only in the morning and you quickly forget your troubles (besides never walking out empty handed!). It is a feast for the senses with all the local produce that abounds. In the early morning, the warm glow of the Roman sun hits the stalls and slowly illuminates the day’s offerings. I strive to capture this feeling in my work.
The painting challenged me primarily because of the strong contrast of light and the sharp perspective. I tried to harmonize the work as much as I could through color, trying not to make it appear too busy because of all the various mounds of fruits and vegetables. I also had difficulty with my reference photo because so much of it is in shadow. For larger areas, I normally use masking tape to protect the whites - this time the tape really stuck to the paper. I’m not sure …