Watercolors by Celia Blanco

CLOUDS AND SEA watercolor on paper 29cm X 21cm I had the oppurtunity to paint plein air at the beach this weekend. I know many people speak about art for its therapeutic effect. Now that the summer crowds have left, I really felt that way. Thank you for the visit!

"Pushed by the Wind" watecolor on paper 8" x 12"/ 20 x 30 cm I was back painting plein air at my favorite beach spot this weekend. I tried to narrow down the focus on the enormous clouds and the water. The kitesurfers were out trying to catch the waves, driven by the wind. It's a very daring sport. I threw the surfer in at the last moment while he stood still for a moment.There are a lot of varying colors in this landscape. It always makes me think back to my painting teacher's lessons. When painting landscapes,  avoid the sky is blue, grass is green approach. Painting what we think we know but not what is actually in front of us. I saw every part of the landscape was the color it was not "supposed" to be. The ocean, for instance, had an array of colors. In the distance there were turquoise and blues. As it came nearer it changed to purples and the browns-reflecting the sand below. The sky seemed yellow and violet, the sand green. I tried to fi

Beach day plein air sketch I was able to do a plein air painting at our local beach recently. These works are in order to help me improve and increment my landscape painting skills. I wanted to catch the mood of the morning which was somewhat overcast and despite the ominious weather there were a  few people out on the water enjoying the sea. What I find the most challenging about landscape painting is trying to pick out what is important and dealing with the landscape constantly changing. With a medium like watercolor it can be daunting because you need to plan things in advance. I like the way this approach pushes me to be quicker and to prioritize in order to have the important bits down as I observe what is in front of me before it changes. when I was getting ready to leave, the beach was filling up in spite of the bad weather I dropped my pallette in the sand :(

 I would like to share with you some sketches I did this morning. The beach is not  far from my house and we enjoy going there as often as we can. We were out early to try and beat the crowds and found a lot going on.  I didn't bring an eraser with me in order to force myself to draw and avoid trying to get the drawing just right. I often end up spending more time erasing than drawing! I wanted to capture a moment and challenge myself with a moving subject. I have difficulty with people moving, which they do especially when caught up in activities like fishing or enjoying a family day at the beach. There was a fishing contest and I tried to capture the fisherman in action. This family came out for a playdate. If you get  far away enough you don't bother them, obviosly people don't always take so well to being subjects of someone drawing them.