Evy - Watercolor

Evy is my newest watercolor. The image is 12 x 16 inches. The painting is double matted in neutral tones to a final size of 18 x 24. The frame is a espresso colored wood frame which goes well with the tones in the painting. This painting is the result of a challenge I gave myself. As can be seen in my other posts, my paintings tend to be quite realistic and can take a while to paint. I challenged myself to complete the painting from blank paper to signature in two hours. I'm happy to say I succeeded with the challenge. I wanted a loose watercolor that still had bold color, strong light/dark contrast and which was still realistic and captured the character and the look of the model. I feel I achieved all of the goals. This is my first watercolor after a hiatus where I have been painting acrylic on canvas for quite a while. I'm happy with the painting. I particularly like the play with lost and found edges. The right side of the face and the white of the background are the same. There is no shading and no line to distinguish the two yet the mind makes you see the distinction.

This painting is being submitted into the Watercolor Wisconsin competition next weekend. If accepted, the painting will be on display at the Wustum Museum in Racine, WI through mid-August, 2010.

Enjoy. As always, comments are always appreciated.

Market and Powell - San Francisco

This Acrylic on Canvas (24 x 48) recently took first place in the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors Winter Exhibition at the Reuss Federal Building in downtown Milwaukee. I like this painting because I feel it says a lot about society. Notice that, even though there are 4 people in the painting, all in close proximity to each other, there is no connection between any of the people. Even the two women on the left are not connected even though they are walking together. I also like the ethnic diversity of the image (Asian, Hispanic, Caucasian and African American). I go to San Francisco annually and make a point of spending time each year at the Market and Powell Cable Car turnaround to "people watch". I have taken many images here that are potential paintings but this was my first in the series. This painting is available for purchase for $3,000.00. If interested, please contact me at dsimoneau@wi.rr.com with the subject Market and Powell.