Watercolors by Celia Blanco

 Clementine watercolor on paper  20x14 cm.   I am very excited to start off the new year because of the opportunity to focus on what lies ahead. My  goals for the coming months include many positive wishes!  I have written out a physical list for the first time in my sketchbook  to be able to draw a balance at the end. My first painting of the year is a clementine. The contrasting colors and the long shapes of the leaves  are always fun to paint; the fruit's taste is definitively delicious and brightens the dreary winter. I wish all of you a joyful, creative year! Happy 2015!

 Pansies with Lemon  watercolor on cold pressed Daler Rowney paper  10" x 10" / 25 x 25 cm.  Available I wished to paint the happy faces of the pansies I planted earlier in the fall. They are hardy plants, lasting through the winter on my balcony. Soon I will have to pull them out and replace them with petunias or begonias, but not for another month. I love the different shades of purple and had fun mixing my own. I hope everyone is having a nice week!

"Citrus Garden"  watercolor on paper 38 x 28 cm. I found the inspiration for this painting in Greece, walking by an orange juice bar. Baskets, beautifully filled, a lemon tree planted in a little garden and grapes growing on a vine. It is both an invitation to stop and smell the sweetness of the citrus and walk in and quench your thirst with freshly squeezed juices. The person who thought of this was trying to attract our senses: it worked … the bar was packed with tourists. The background being rather busy, I tried to eliminate as many details as possible to highlight the baskets. I also simplified my palette in the hope of tying the painting together at the cost of digressing from the photo reference. I wish everyone a wonderful weekend, thank you for stopping by!

WIP 38 x 28cm. watercolor on paper   WIP I would like to update you on my art endeavors for this week. I am painting a still life from a photograph taken during my recent vacation to Crete. It represents an orange juice bar. I love the lemon tree, the grapevine planted behind it and the citrus leaves in the orange filled basket. It is citrus heaven! I was only able to get one shot because I needed to keep up with the group. Otherwise I would have exploited various angles and lighting situations. It is hard to conciliate keeping up with a schedule and photography. I am slowly building up the layers but don't have much to show for. I am reading an excellent book, Making Color Sing, by Jeanne Dobie . I am trying to put into practice some of the numerous suggestions in the book about mixing color and making them work well against each other. I finally ended up working from a black and white reference photo I made because I wanted to make my own color choices. I'm worried...

" A Different Perspective" watercolor on paper 7.5 x 11 in./ 18.5 X 28 cm. my first painting in the challenge, 30 days ago This is my thirtieth painting-taddah!!! I titled my painting "A Different Perspective" because I feel I have a new perspective on life after having completed this challenge. Thirty days ago, I threw myself into this with the hope of sharpening my skills and improving, in some way. I can paint every day but the  challenge for me was to complete a painting everyday. I feel I've gained speed all around and am more confident . I've gainded a better understanding of color choices and know exactly what color will produce the effect I want. I feel I'm gaining in the ability to control the water. Once you get your creative juices going, you just want to keep going! I know this is just a drop in the bucket and I have still a long way to go in gaining skill but I feel I've learned an invaluable lesson. I started out with a c...

"Citrus"  15 x 6 in./ 38 x15 cm. watercolor on paper I changed paper size in order to accentuate the composition for this still life. I have much citrus fruit around, it abounds this time of year. My mother-in-law gave me many freshly picked lemons from her neighbor's tree, which I plan to paint in the near future. This is day 25, I really plan to take a little break when this challenge is over.