A Beautiful Mess

I've found that one thing that helps me really connect with a painting (especially a watercolor painting for some reason) enough to work through the whole process is to develop some concept for how to paint the painting. Some technique or color scheme or composition or thing to focus on. With this one, I decided to start with a bit of a mess. Nothing terribly precise. The clouds in the sky are painted wet in wet, with only minimal control and no real idea what would happen. The bottom green is kinda haphazardly painted, with gaps and blank spaces left wherever.

Honestly, I think with this one I'm really trying to provide a base of general possibility that I can riff on to work into the next steps of the painting. Nothing is particularly right or perfect, but everything can be used to bring the painting further along. "Making the Best of an Emergency", as John Singer Sargent used to say about watercolor.

I've since gotten a bit further along on this one, but apparently neglected to take any further pictures. More to come later, I guess.

-ZR