Watercolors by Celia Blanco

Summer Colors watercolor on Fabriano Artistico paper 22 x 30 cm   I couldn't resist purchasing this lavender plate with polka dots to use for my still life paintings. I took  advantage of the bountiful fruit we get now and I have been sketching them as often as I can. My idea is to infuse the colors I have been seeing into my still life painting. The first layers of watercolor experiments in my sketchbook serve as a warm up. Thank you for your visit!

 Clementine watercolor on paper  20x14 cm.   I am very excited to start off the new year because of the opportunity to focus on what lies ahead. My  goals for the coming months include many positive wishes!  I have written out a physical list for the first time in my sketchbook  to be able to draw a balance at the end. My first painting of the year is a clementine. The contrasting colors and the long shapes of the leaves  are always fun to paint; the fruit's taste is definitively delicious and brightens the dreary winter. I wish all of you a joyful, creative year! Happy 2015!

(day 22)  Pear Dance  watercolor on FABRIANO Artistico paper 12,5 x 18cm/ 5" x 7" (day 21) Apple Slices watercolor on FABRIANO Artistico paper 12,5 x 18cm/ 5" x 7" ( day20) Kiwi with Spoon watercolor on FABRIANO Artistico paper 12,5 x 18cm/ 5" x 7"  (day 18) All Bunched Up  watercolor on  paper 12,5 x 18cm/ 5" x 7"  Add caption   (day 17) Pear Shapes   watercolor on  paper 12,5 x 18cm/ 5" x 7" These last paintings are all about fruits. Fruits are one of my favorite subjects to paint. The possibilities are as limitless as there are fruits! I love to play with the shapes, colors and shadows to create different compositional ideas. I apologize about bunching them all up in one post. I have not had much time to devote to the computer this week. ( day 19) "Sunday Sketch" graphite on paper I've also included my "Sunday sketch&

"Just Peachy" watercolor on paper 9".5 x 9".5 inches / 24 x 24cm. I find the DPW painting challenge a good place to turn to when you feel you are lacking a direction in what to paint. This week, the focus is on composition. There are a lot of excellent points on things to keep in mind which I tried to incorporate. You can check that out by clicking here . It's a delicious time of year as fas as fruit is concerned. I'm always attracted by the colors of fruit and it is difficult to try and present it in a unique way. I worked larger than life in order to play with the washes more. And the best part is eating my still life once it is all over! I've included the full size images of the paintings from Master artists from last weeks hand "quiz". Have a great weekend! I "The Creation of Adam" Michelangelo

"A Cool Pear" watercolor on paper 6 x 4.5 in./ 15 x 11 cm. A pair of pears painted with two different color palettes. At night, using only a limited cool palette consisting of: lemon yellow, alizarin crimson, cyan blue, pthalo green, coeruleum blue and vandyke brown. My daytime pears instead I used only a warm palette consisting of: cadmium yellow, cadmium red, ultramarine blue, burnt umber, permanent green and yellow ochre. I worked the colors using mostly wet into wet technique. It is very difficult for me to limit myself to only six colors. I have a "the more the merrier" approach to color and hope this excercise will, at least, teach me to be more selective and to think more about color properties. Day 28 and 29 can be checked off! "A Warm Pear" watercolor on paper 6 x 4.5 in./ 15 x 11 cm.

"Citrus"  15 x 6 in./ 38 x15 cm. watercolor on paper I changed paper size in order to accentuate the composition for this still life. I have much citrus fruit around, it abounds this time of year. My mother-in-law gave me many freshly picked lemons from her neighbor's tree, which I plan to paint in the near future. This is day 25, I really plan to take a little break when this challenge is over.

"Different but the Same" watercolor on paper 7 x 6 in./ 18 x 15 cm. These two pieces of fruit are different but the same, pretty obvious. What I also mean is I tried to work the two fruits at the same time, not just individually. I was thinking back to my art school days and remembering a lesson about not just focusing on one piece of the painting at a time but to work on it as a whole. As I used one color on one piece of fruit, I would also work on the other, trying to unify the painting.  So nine more to go...