Watercolors by Celia Blanco

plein air sketch from Pineta Sacchetti Park I have had one of those weeks where you have a million things to do all at once and you don't know quite where to start. Fortunately an appointment brought me next to this park which happens to  look over St. Peter's Cupola and allowed me to have some painting time while I waited. Pineta Sacchetti Park is an integral part of the Regional Park of Pineto , a protected natural area of about 240 hectares , located between the districts of Aurelio in Rome , Primavalle and Triumphal Way . I packed my Cotman pocket box and some paper and managed to get some sketching in while I waited. What I find impressive is how large the cupola appears live even if it is far in the distance. I felt I might have made a  mistake in my sketch but it really is that massive.  I had to be back in the same location again later in the week  for yet another appointment and did some drawing in my sketchbook while waiting. This time I wanted to

 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.

"Rainbow Oranges" watercolor on paper 10" x 7"/ 25 x 18 cm. I had a hard time getting going after the Easter holiday but I've been slowly working on this painting every time I had five minutes to spare here and there. I feel it's finished, I am afraid to overwork it at this point. For those of you who are not familiar with the Tarocco blood orange, it is a treat around this time of year here in Italy. They explode with juice and color when sliced. In our family it's almost like a prize to see who gets the darkest and juicest one at the table.  Some people have it down to a science to know which one will offer the darker flesh just from the color of the peel. I was hoping to capture the explosion of juice and color as the warm Roman sun hits across its dark flesh. I would like to rename these fruits rainbow oranges for the celebration of color that they contain.

 I started this painting to experiment with texture creation. I first poured a diluted wash of yellow and blue onto the paper. It was raining, I let the rain fall onto the paper. I then poured salt onto the wash to see what would happen and I laid down different items onto to the paper to create patterns. I exposed it to the outdoors on a table for about a day and a half to dry. I drew the eggs and then masked them out while I worked the background. Next, I painted the eggs and finished off  the grass by adding more splashes of color. I used dental floss and a hair comb to create the "blades of grass" effect. All in all, I'm happy enough with the finished painting to share it with you! "Egg Hunt" watercolor on paper 11.5" x 8"/ 29 x 20 cm Best wis hes of serenity and happiness to everyone! work in progress pictures

"Lily" watercolor on paper 10" x 7"/ 25 x 18cm.     SOLD   Imagine the delight to discover this flower growing in your garden. I painted this from a reference photo, once again inspiration was provided by the Wet Canvas image library. I am trying to work on loosening up my edges more, but it's not as simple as I would hope it to be.  Spring is here, spring is not here - the weather doesn't make up its mind and I have a terrible cold to boot!  I wish everyone a happy Monday!

"White Roses" watercolor on paper  10" x 7"/ 25 x 18 I have been struggling with flowers. I started a painting last week which wasn't working out and ended throwing it away. There was too much going on and no inspiration. It's also a  nice feeling sometimes to be able to separate oneself from what we are creating and have the courage to start over. Next, I chose this image for its monotone color palette, attempting to simplify things for myself.  I've been noticing that I get more hues when I use less colors in my palette. Funny! I think it's the magic of watercolor. Gratitude goes to the fantastic free image library at Wet Canvas where I found this photo reference to work with. Today we celebrate Father's Day here in Italy. It's celebrated on the Feast of St. Joseph. I wish everyone, especially all the fathers and Joseph's out there a special day!

"Poppies alla Jan Kunz" watercolor on paper 11.5 x 8 inches / 29 x 20 cm.    work in progress, developing the flower shapes and adding detail my wash drying  I  recently acquired a copy of  Jan Kunz's   watercolor art book "Painting Watercolor Florals that Glow" . I've been pouring over the abundant, valuable information she offers: she is an excellent teacher. I have followed up with an attempt at one of her demonstration paintings which can be found at the end of the book. This excercise contemplates "discovering shapes within the composition." It means trying to pull out shapes in a background, in this case leaves and stems within a charged wash in the watercolor. She provides step by step instructions on how she approached this particular task. It was a huge challenge to attempt to emulate her work - mainly because I wished my painting to look somewhat like hers, I felt discouraged when it did not. At her suggestion, my palette was