Watercolors by Celia Blanco

DAY TWO   Cheers watercolor on FABRIANO Artistico paper 12,5 x 18cm/ 5" x 7" DAY THREE   Summer Daisy watercolor on FABRIANO Artistico paper 12,5 x 18cm/ 5" x 7" I had to stay up late to paint both of these paintings. I hope to be on a better schedule next week. I found a cork, remnants from our New Year's Eve party while cleaning up. I thought it funny that  my initials are on it. I love the texture of the cork and originally had  set out to paint only with sepia but ended up adding other colors. The daisy is from a reference photo file. I take many photos at my inlaws' beautiful garden especially during the summer months with their garden is at its peak. I love the play of light against the dark of this composition. On a great note, today I received an e-mail from Ken Bromley Art supplies. Earlier in December I volunteered to test their website. They awarded me £50 for helping, awesome gift! I can't wait to buy much

DAY 1   Little Darlings watercolor on FABRIANO Artistico paper 12,5 x 18cm/ 5" x 7"  €30,00 unframed I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! I signed up for Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. It is my second time around, I think it's a great way to begin the year. Last year I signed up the day the challenge started, I am more prepared this year. I don't have a theme, I rather just paint what I enjoy and can create within the short time frame of a day. Additionally, I plan to post my daily work on my Facebook page and my website (which I finally started !). I will blog every few days, showing my progress with a few paintings at once. Last year's first painting was a clementine. I thought it would be fun to see how I have progressed over the year by choosing the same subject.  I thank everyone once more for the support and kindness you show.  I hope this year will be one filled with much color and creativi

Nature's Hope watercolor on paper 26 cm x 18 cm   Legend has it if you hang a red Cardinal on your Christmas tree it will bring good luck to you and your family throughout the year. I have a few on mine... and on a wreath, I can always use "extra" luck. It is my favorite bird. What I love the most is how it cheers up a cold wintry day even once the holidays are past. As always the month of December just flies by. I can't believe Christmas is already next week: as usual, I still have lots to do. I promise myself every year to be more organized. I wish all of you peaceful and happy Holidays! -thank you to Paint My Photo for providing the photo reference

Inspired Serenity watercolor on paper 9".5 x 9".5/ 25 x 25 cm. Water lilies give a sense of serenity sitting on the water … of course you can't think of them and not think of Monet. I thought of him often while I painted this. I used a photo I took as reference of a water lily from a visit to a botanical garden. I love the play of light on the water, the contrast between the leaves and pale yellow flower. I had a bad cold last week and didn't feel like painting. When I don't have time to devote to painting, I love to draw “one line contour” drawings. It is a great way to learn to focus on observing a subject without getting caught up with a lot of rendering. They turn out rather funny but in a charming sort of way. I used some student grade Canson sheets and then added watercolor...well I couldn't keep away completely. I wish everyone a wonderful weekend!

  Down the Road 7".5 x 11"/ 18.5 x 28cm. watercolor on paper I painted two separate plein air paintings over the last two weekends. The first was a sketch of a country road. As I was sitting nearby, an old Fiat 500 came out of nowhere and drove into my painting view. I always have my camera at an arm's reach, I managed to get a couple shots of the car driving into the distance. I love the retro feel of the image. I used my plein air sketch as a color guide, combined it with my photo reference and took various things from both. plein air sketch 5"x 7" watercolor on paper   I wanted to keep the energy I feel I have in my sketch by working in one sitting, mostly wet into wet. I have been looking at Joseph Zbukvic's work lately and loved what he says "painting precise locations is irrelevant; simply keep the character." plein air sketch 5" x 7" watercolor on paper My second plein air sketch was painted a

  Autumn Still life watercolor painted on Strathmore paper 11" X 15"/ 27.9 X 38.1cm. Now that we put our clocks back an hour I am more in autumn mode. That means shorter days, but there is something cozy about fall as well. I welcome slowing down a bit after the busy days of  summer.  I bought the squash and pumpkin for Halloween decor. I love to bake and will use the pulp for pies and other baked goods typical of this period.  This pumpkin is a different variety than the one's we use in the U.S. for Halloween. They sell them by the slice or whole at the market and it has a delicious flavor for anyone who enjoys eating pumpkin.  I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and find fruits and vegetables are always providing me with inspiration. Not only do I take many reference photos at my local market, I like the "kitchen counter feel" to things I bring home. I set up this composition on my kitchen counter with the hope of transforming it into a paintin

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!

"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!