Watercolors by Celia Blanco

  From My Garden watercolor on paper   8" x "8" Here are the last two paintings part of the gift to my parents. This is the final bloom from my Hibiscus bush, it is hard to believe it has kept blooming as far as December. The pink tones have a bluish hue in the autumn light. "August Window" is from a photo I snapped during the Italian holiday of Ferragosto , celebrated the 15th of August. It is a very hot part of summer, it is very uncommon to see an open window in the midday sun. I attempt to convey this feeling from a special, rather quiet time of year.   August Window  watercolor on paper 8" x 9" This is the final project: what it will look like on display.... all lined up and finished ! M y friends, I wish you much joy and happiness this Christmas !

 IF LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS watercolor on Fabriano Artistico paper 30 x 23 cm available Now that it is summer, Amalfi lemons are in season at my local market. They are grown on the hills of the Campania   region, around Sorrento and Amalfi. They have a characteristic sweetness, a consequence of the volcanic soil, year-round warm temperatures, and perfect amounts of rain. After rinsing the lemons, I set them on a kitchen towel to dry. As I went about, I would pause often to take in the soft delicate pastel colors. My purpose became to convey the soft light that comes in, with many variations of whites and neutrals to highlight the sunny yellow skin of the lemons. It has also been helping me to do a warm up sketch before painting. I keep this sketch beside me to test colors before actually applying them.  my warm up sketch When all of this is over, I have a whole book of baking recipes devoted to the fragrance of these lemons ... I need to get to work! Oa

"Summer Morning Geraniums"  20 x 30 cm watercolor on paper ( Cartiera Mangnani hotpress) In the first months of summer, the light is very strong at dawn and into the early morning hours. It's a great time for taking reference photos because of the abstract shadow patterns that objects create. In this painting I tried to push the idea and work with the shadows being formed against the building. The brightly colored petals are being warmed by the rise of the early July sun. For lack of better ideas, the title to this watercolor is... "Summer Morning Geraniums". I started this painting as a sketch to test paper I recently purchased and in order to play with some new colors in my palette. There are many mistakes in the painting but I managed to finally achieve strong darks. Hooray!! I need to work on my leaf painting skills, they never come out looking right. Indigo blue, Winsor Green and  new Gamboge are my new colors from Winsor and Newton.  I hopefully didn