In Watercolor and Acrylic
Trough out my painting career, it has always been important to me to paint from my own reference. During those earlier days (1980ish), an era when NO ONE had a cell phone, securing reference to paint from wasn't as easy as it might be at this writing.
I made room in my purse for a small camera that used "film" (DMIC) and could be developed at the now famous Walmart, or the corner drugstore. Both methods were speedy, making references ready to use in a matter of hours!
I have quite a library of reference all catalogued, labeled, and ready to be painted. The harder part is to match up the reference to the feeling I want the painting to have!
I have painted many, many, of the stately homes in the city. More often than not, my house paintings would also include cobblestone streets, palm trees, wisteria, azaleas, camellias, and all things foliage. I would not leave out all the wonderful people who reside and work in the city.
Charleston's people might include a gardener, a nanny pushing a perambulator, tourist in a carriage, workmen in yellow jackets looking into a hole in the ground, and, oh yes, meter maids, and policemen in crisp black uniforms.
There images dance thru my art brain and will probably stay there until they find their way onto canvas.
You might notice that I have mentioned canvas as a ground. I have made this change, as my interest is leaning toward collage work and I find that watercolor papers do not lend themselves to a heavier medium, also there has been an increase in demand for larger paintings.
