Whimsy Swamp Grass in Watercolor

 

Do you ever sit outside and look at nature?  What I mean is do you really take the time to study those fine details and take in how they connect with one another? I do this quite often especially on warm afternoons when life sort of gets quiet.

We have a variety of natural grasses, and they seem to transpire in every shade of green. I like to picture how I would create many of these colors.  How much yellow would I need and will heavy amounts of cobalt blue be necessary to establish that darker green.

Everywhere I look questions surface as I think about the mixing process.  How close will I get and is it even reasonable to try? 

Well, the other morning was a special day, it was my birthday.  I didn't have any serious plans sketched out, but I woke up with this color pallet idea and all I could think about was sitting down to mix in shades of green.

So, that's what I did, starting with cadmium yellow and cobalt blue.  You might remember me talking about color theory a few months back and I have had the most fun mixing with just three primary hues. 

With little effort the colors were coming along perfectly, it was like this morning was meant to be.  It didn't take long before I was grabbing watercolor paper off my art shelf and filling a glass with clean water.

 As I blended these colors using my favorite #8 mop brush, I couldn't help but feel inspired. My brain was in a whimsy mood and my visualization felt mystical. 

It was such fun to let the brush work everything out.  When the colors started to separate and that's when I stopped to let the grass speak for itself.

What a fantastic morning and now I can move onto a larger piece of watercolor paper to paint what's really blooming in my heart.  Whimsy swamp grass inspired from one warm afternoon studying nature.  

See the Good,
Carole