Red Barn Winter Landscape in Watercolor

Art, Outdoor Adventure, watercolor

A local photographer, Cindy Plumb Bishop, captured a stunning image of a Red Barn in snowy New York State, which inspired me to paint the scene in watercolor. Places close to home are some of my favorites to paint, as it helps to enhance my awareness of where I live. This scene is simple, yet effective in creating visual interest because of the dramatic contrast between the snow and the red barn. If you’re looking to do a quick and simple painting, scenes like this make terrific subject matter. Not a lot of detail, no fuss, just great color combinations.

Red Barn Winter Landscape (watercolor on Arches Rough paper)

I’ve also recorded a time lapse video of the painting process.

For more examples of my work, please visit my Etsy shop!

Snow Melt

Art, New Jersey, Outdoor Adventure

One morning before work I went out to Natirar Park to do a site assessment for my ecology class. I puttered around in the frozen field for a while and then I made my way down to the Raritan River to jot down a few more notes. A great blue heron patiently waited on the partially frozen section of the river and it probably wondered why I showed up and when I would go away. I know that’s what I’d be thinking if I were a great blue heron. I got what I needed for class and high-tailed it out of there before I completely lost feeling in my fingers. I rolled up to the stop sign and I noticed a bright red barn across the street. I thought it looked interesting so I snapped a quick photo before making a left turn out of the park. The following weekend I tried to recreate the scene on paper, minus that awful street running through the middle. I took out the street and put in a field where the snow had almost melted away. I didn’t like the way the first attempt came out so I tried it again. Here are the results.

Its like one of those electronic games you play at the bar trying to figure out the difference between the 2 pictures….

Attempt #1

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Attempt #2

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