Watercolor landscape painting of the hills of Umbria viewed from the town of Assisi

Watercolor landscape painting   12 inches x 5 inches   SOLD

When I was at La Romita in Umbria, Italy, I brought along my usual Saunders Waterford watercolor paper. But I also brought along a few sheets of Yupo paper. Its helpful for me to switch back and forth between a traditional, absorbent substrate and a slick, non-absorbent one. I am easily bored and frustrated with one approach and moving to another paper sometimes opens up new possibilities.

The countryside of Umbria looks like a quilt of different patterns and I tried to capture a bit of that feeling in this watercolor landscape of Italy. With Yupo paper, you can push the colors around and even lift areas back to the pure white paper.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Yupo
Medium: Da Vinci Watercolors

Watercolor portrait of a young woman with a pink rose in her hair

Watercolor portrait of a young woman with a pink rose in her hair.

Watercolor portrait paintings   12 inches x 18 inches   and 11 x 17 inches

I was looking forward to our portrait painting class this week, but feeling that I wanted to shake it up a bit. I almost always work in pastel, a medium where I feel very comfortable and reasonably sure that I can capture a likeness. I wanted to push myself a bit and do something different. I decided to pull out the watercolors (all packed nicely in my new carrying case!) To really ramp it up, I decided to work on Yupo paper, a plastic substrate that doesn’t absorb the paint, but allows it to pool on the surface. I worked on two watercolor portraits at the same time so one could dry while I painted on the other. I wasn’t trying to capture an exact likeness. I just wanted to play with the medium. Its fun to loosen up every once in a while!

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Yupo
Medium: Da Vinci Watercolors

Plein air watercolor painting of the hills around Terni, Italy

Plein air watercolor painting   7  inches x 10.5 inches    SOLD

I painted this plein air watercolor painting, sitting at the monastery at La Romita looking down on the valley near Terni, Italy. Depending on the time of day, the distant mountains would turn completely different colors. Sometimes they were a pinkish-purple color at late afternoon, but in the morning, when I did this particular painting of Italy , they were a beautiful, cool blue…

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a pathway behind a monastery in Umbria, Italy.

Plein air watercolor painting   10.5  inches x 6.5 inches    SOLD

We stayed in a wonderful old monastery during our workshop in Italy. The grounds surrounding the La Romita School of Art were almost as impressive as the little hill towns we visited every day. Instead of working in our chapel studio in the afternoon, I spent a lot of time wandering the paths and olive orchards nearby. I would find a view I liked, set up, paint a watercolor painting of Italy and then move on to the next interesting scene. Pure heaven…

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a small lake tucked into the hills of Umbria, Italy

Plein air watercolor painting   10.5  inches x 6.5 inches   SOLD

This is one of my favorite plein air watercolor paintings of Italy. Our trusty bus dropped is off at a teeny, tiny little hill town. Our group walked and walked up to the very top of the town to visit a wonderful ancient church. I looked off to the side and saw this beautiful treasure in the distance. It seemed so pure and sparkling in the Umbrian landscape, I just had to paint it!!

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

Plein air watercolor painting of the door of a small chapel in Umbria, Italy.

Plein air watercolor painting   4.75  inches x 6.75 inches   SOLD

Little, tiny watercolor painting, but close to my heart. I sat on the stairs in front of an old chapel in the heart of a Umbrian hill town to create this painting of Italy. It was cold and damp but the intimate scene drew me in…

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of an old wall in an olive orchard in Italy.

Plein air watercolor painting   10  inches x 7  inches   $150

I’ve done quite a few pastel and watercolor paintings of this view in the olive orchard near La Romita. The light and the scene itself seemed to change completely depending on the time of day. I believe this one was done in the late morning. Below is another version of the same place, from a little farther back, that I did in pastel. This painting was done from a late afternoon photo reference and will be in my upcoming exhibit. I’ve noticed that all of my paintings of Italy seem to be in the same color palette, no matter what the medium…

The top artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

The bottom artwork was created with:
Paper: Illustration board with Terra Cotta Art Spectrum Primer
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Plein air watercolor sketch of the Victor Emmanuel Monument in Rome, Italy

Plein air watercolor sketch of the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

Plein air watercolor sketches   4.5  inches x 6 inches

I spent a few days in Rome after my workshop at La Romita School of Art. I was busy revisiting a lot of the sites I had seen in the past and didn’t have time to do finished watercolor paintings. But I did shoot a lot of photos and did little (very rough!) watercolor sketches to capture light and color for later works in my studio. I had a killer cold (as I do again today!) but still wanted to get as much reference as I could for future paintings of Italy

I’m just about done framing over 40 pastel and watercolor paintings for my upcoming exhibit. If you are in the area, I hope you can stop by!

“Faraway Places: history, objects, spirit & spaces”
Nov. 5th – Dec. 18, 2011
Reception: Nov. 5th 5-8pm
River Gallery, 120 S. Main St., Chelsea MI
www.chelsearivergallery.com

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of the Italian hill town of San Gemini

Plein air watercolor painting   6.5  inches x 10.5 inches   $150

Many of the hill towns of Italy are perched precariously on the edges of mini-mountains in the rolling Umbrian landscape. When they were built centuries ago, these castle-like cities were the first line of defense against the town’s enemies. You can see for miles and miles from almost any point on the ancient walls. It is totally breathtaking. For this watercolor painting, I sat on an adjacent hill and painted San Gemini’s outer structure, with the small farms and villas in the distance. This painting of Italy will always remind me of the unbelievable beauty of the country of my heritage…

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

Plein air watercolor landscape of a fountain in the main square of a small Italian hill town.

Plein air watercolor painting   6.5  inches x 10.5 inches   $150

Every little town in Italy has a main square with a fountain where the locals gather to relax, play with their children and chat with their neighbors. In the evening, everyone strolls with their family and friends, usually ending up in this central spot. It is such a wonderful, uniting experience which seems to have been lost in our frantic American lives. One day when the rest of our group was enjoying lunch in a nearby trattoria, I sat in the piazza and did a watercolor painting of a fairly simple (by Italian standards) fountain. What’s missing from this painting of Italy is the hundreds of school children I saw, running though the square, excited to get home and relish their big plate of pasta!

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a winding road in the Umbrian hills of Italy.

Plein air watercolor painting   9.5  inches x 13.5 inches   $300

Perched on our little hillside near Terni, we could view the Italian landscape rolling out into the distance.  This painting of Italy shows the winding road that leads up the 16th century monastery that was our home base. The buildings and surrounding olive orchards were purchased by an artist who has revamped La Romita into a wonderful place to take art workshops and experience the many hill towns in the area. Its been almost a year since my trip there and I am pining to return!

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

Plein air watercolor painting of potted flowers in an Italian courtyard

Plein air watercolor painting   6.5  inches x 10.5 inches   $150

One more watercolor painting of our lovely courtyard at the La Romita School of Art in Umbria. The Italians don’t fool around when it comes to flowers! Every doorstep, windowbox and courtyard overflows with color. Never thought I would go to Italy to make paintings of flowers but it almost can’t be avoided once you get there!

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors