This 5 x 7 watercolor is a prime example of what judicious cropping can do to salvage a less than successful painting.
As Painted
Here’s the painting as planned and painted at 8 x 10.
It’s overworked in several places and the lines got away from me during the painting stage. Some of that could be corrected by a little colored pencil work, but overworked watercolor is, well, overworked.
As I was getting ready to pitch it in the drawer, I noticed that one section looked pretty good. So, I pulled out my 5 x 7 mat ( I like to use standard sizes whenever I can) and framed that bit.
Wow! What a difference! There’s still a bit of muddiness on the edge, but that version shows that luscious tomato off perfectly. It also makes the picture about the fruit itself and not so much about the plant. Overall, I like it much better in the smaller format.
As usual, I kept my color palette simple and used Winsor and Newton watercolors in Quinacridone Red, Quinacridone Gold, and Indigo on a Canson Montval block I’ve had kicking around forever.
New Digital Art Work
In other art stuff I’m working on, I’ve started a new Etsy shop. It’s all digital: downloadable and printable for making your own tags, journals, and scrapbooking. If that sounds like fun, have a look:
More Watercolors on the Way
If digital isn’t your cup of tea, never fear, there’s always some paint meeting paper around here. I’ve got another painting almost finished and took process photos to show how it looks midway. Stay tuned for more on splashing paint around!
As always, I’d love to hear from you with your thoughts, comments and experiences. Just drop me a note!