“Open Shed” - watercolor landscape painting of mud season!

 Painting is 7 1/2”h x 11”w. Framed to 11” x 14”

We here in the northern climates celebrate the end of winter and the coming of warmer seasons. But the transition requires tolerance of a not-so-great time known as 'mud season' in Vermont and throughout New England. The combination of spring rains and melting snow saturate the landscape. This painting 'celebrates' the un-welcome part of the transition from winter to spring.

I am a real proponent of the limited palette within the context of a single work. I generally work with an expanded triad that includes at least one version of each apparent primary - red, yellow and blue. The phrase 'apparent primary' is important. The primary triad is a well-accepted color scheme, often referenced as part of basic color theory.

I like and appreciate the primary palette because of its potential for both contrasts and harmonies within a full range of hue. I also have a tendency to experiment with unusual colors and color combinations. These color experiments can be thought of as kind of turning the color wheel dial a little bit - in essence, creating a "tertiary triad". 

One of those tertiary triads was used for this painting with a palette that includes a red-orange as my 'red', a blue-green as 'blue' along with a muted yellow. Specifically, the 'triad' is made up of Vermillion, Cobalt Turquoise and Raw Sienna. As mentioned, my triads are usually expanded to include useful related hues. In this case two earth colors - Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna - are included to reinforce the raw, earthy feel of the winter to spring transition and provide capacity for solid darks.

This painting can be seen in my Studio-Gallery and is available for purchase online.