I recently enjoyed a great exhibit at the Huntington Library of Constable's 6 foot oils and full size sketches. The sketches were very impressionistic (60 years before impressionism) but Constable then did them over in the required, tight style of the day where every leaf on the tree was defined. He liked a Z-shaped composition with theatrical lighting effects to force your eye to move around the canvas. This is my attempt at a Constable-style picture, rendered rather small and in watercolor rather than in oil. The original is startlingly vivid in tone for a watercolor. (Sold)

A watercolor where I was practicing layering colors and creating transparent reflections. Would you believe the underlying color on the table is a hot pink? This is a charming German Hummel figurine that dates from 1952, quite different from the Hummel figurines I remember seeing in America. A loan from cousin Vivi to practice figure drawing.

Wipe Out

Something beachy for on-coming hot weather. I'm practicing people--this is your basic stick figure! This is a watercolor. The foreground achieves added interest by scrunching plastic wrap on the wet paint, then doing over painting on the dry page.

"No Place Like Gnome"

This one is just for fun, a little picture of an English cottage intentionally done "Kincade" style. The gnome was a last minute addition to solve a flaw in the watercolor paper!