Watercolors by Celia Blanco

" 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...

"A Cool Pear" watercolor on paper 6 x 4.5 in./ 15 x 11 cm. A pair of pears painted with two different color palettes. At night, using only a limited cool palette consisting of: lemon yellow, alizarin crimson, cyan blue, pthalo green, coeruleum blue and vandyke brown. My daytime pears instead I used only a warm palette consisting of: cadmium yellow, cadmium red, ultramarine blue, burnt umber, permanent green and yellow ochre. I worked the colors using mostly wet into wet technique. It is very difficult for me to limit myself to only six colors. I have a "the more the merrier" approach to color and hope this excercise will, at least, teach me to be more selective and to think more about color properties. Day 28 and 29 can be checked off! "A Warm Pear" watercolor on paper 6 x 4.5 in./ 15 x 11 cm.

"Can It" watercolor on paper 5.5x 7.5 in. / 13.5 x 18.5 cm.    I was drawn by Carrie Waller's beautiful paintings of glass and especially her Ball Mason paintings to attempt to mimic her work. I am in awe of the beautiful darks she achieves in her paintings and the strong contrast with light in her compositions. It's a great practice to try and learn from artist we admire. I also am a huge fan of Ball Mason jars, I take great care of mine and have had them for years.

"Rainy Day Primrose" 6 x 8 in./ 15 x 20cm. watercolor on paper It's a rainy Monday and I thought that painting some flowers might cheer me up. I tried a looser approach with a bigger brush ( size 20 ). This is day 26, only four paintings left. See the other artists who are participating in Leslie Saeta's painting challenge by clicking here

"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.

"Fancy Whiskey" 6x7.5/15x18cm Nothing like having a glass of whiskey in a fancy glass. This was a wedding gift and something that gets used seldom. With all its cuts and reflections, this would have been easier to do from a photograph and I can see why watercolorists prefer that. Our eye reacts to color so much more in reality than in a picture, it's good to have a balance between the two. This is day 24 of 30, see the other artists who are participating in Leslie Saeta's painting challenge by clicking  here.

"Feelin' Blue" 6 x 7 in/ 15 x18 cm. watercolor on paper I'm feelin' blue, blue, blue...this is day 22! See the other artists who are participating in Leslie Saeta's painting challenge by clicking here

"Different but the Same" watercolor on paper 7 x 6 in./ 18 x 15 cm. These two pieces of fruit are different but the same, pretty obvious. What I also mean is I tried to work the two fruits at the same time, not just individually. I was thinking back to my art school days and remembering a lesson about not just focusing on one piece of the painting at a time but to work on it as a whole. As I used one color on one piece of fruit, I would also work on the other, trying to unify the painting.  So nine more to go...

"Blue Watering Can"  8x6in./20x15cm watercolor on paper This watering can is a favorite item of mine. I painted it already last spring (shown below, have I improved since then? ) and was happy to do a solo portrait this time. I seem to always get behind on the weekend.  I should be on day 21 today and this is yesterday's work finished only today. I feel a little slow but decided to take my time nonetheless, enjoying the process. This is my twentieth painting, painted from life for the 30 paintings in 30 days Leslie Saeta challenge. "Watering Can" 8x11 watercolor, painted last April 2012

"Little Carnations"10x15cm/ 4x6in. watercolor on paper   My last piece of postcard paper,finally! I'm happy because I normally don't like to work small. This is my last study of these little carnations. This is day 19 of the 30 day challenge.

watercolor on paper 8x11in./ 20x28cm. I wanted to try something out of my comfort zone and decided to approach this watercolor in a new way. I began painting with a large brush(#20) on a larger piece of paper than I've been using( the postcard size). No prelimanary drawing, just painting. This is number 18 out of 30 in the challenge.

"Little Carnations"  9.5x6.5in./17x24cm I'm just going to keep it short. I decided to work differently and experiment with my artist pen and watercolors. Hope you have a nice weekend! See the other artists who are participating in Leslie Saeta's painting challenge by clicking here

"Bromeliad" 10x15cm/ 4x6in. watercolor on paper I love Bromeliad plants because of their easy care and tropical feel, they make me think of Hawaii- a place on my bucket list (I would love to be there today!).  I am presently focusing on various greens and trying to create contrasts in the shadows. I have commited myself to painting a painting a day for the month of January, this is day sixteen. See the other artists who are participating in Leslie Saeta's painting challenge by clicking here work in progress

"Cyclamen" watercolor on paper 10,5 x14,8cm cyclamen pot on my terrace I'm finally all caught up and on day ten! Have a great weekend!:)

"CHARTREUSE" watercolor on paper 10,5 x14,8cm work in progress  This is my day nine painting. A bottle of Chartreuse Liqueur. I want to paint this before it disappears, I love the greenish color and want to capture it before the contents are drunk. It is a very strong liqueur to drink but great when you have a soar throat!   See the other artists who are participating in Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge by clicking here