Signs of Spring

Today's goal was to find signs of spring. In the first painting the trees were just starting to make their leaf buds, visible in among the branches and new shoots. I liked the way the central tree was in silhouette against the illuminated brick wall. For the shadows I used raw umber with other earth colours which became muddy. The illuminated brick wall is quite accurate, just the shadow mix need some adjusting.

West Broadway Street, Tree Silhouette, 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, April 2021 (No. 2588a)

 

Speaking of signs of spring, here is a bike I last painted during the winter, but without the snow. It is also attached to the same sign. Instead of using earth colours in the shadow, this time I used higher chroma synthetics including perylene red (PR179), indothrene blue (PB60),  yellow (PY185), and a touch of the raw umber, which have a much more colourful and lighter shadow. I think the balance is somewhere in between, start with a high chroma mix then break it with a bit of earth paint. The sunlit portions of the brick is fine though, really captures the hue.

Harley Street Red Bicycle, after the Thaw, 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, April 2021 (No. 2589a)