House in Pecos, NM

House in Pecos, NM.

watercolor on moleskin paper  5"x7"

Day 9

Pecos, New Mexico, is a very old, rural town and it is
where Longmire , the TV show is mainly filmed.
I was there recently and managed to get some great
sketches and photos. It is a gorgeous mountain area and
the native sunflowers were in full bloom.
The tin roof is typical of the areas in New Mexico
where they enjoy snow and rainfall due to their
proximity to mountains and they are often on an adobe
structure. This house is small by today's standard and
the average families were larger then than now. Can
you imagine 6oo sq ft... and six kids?

Artist Note.
My fracturing video is still selling on the Daily Paintworks
site (see top right.) I have been amazed and delighted
by the response. I feel that even if it causes an artist to
experiment for only a little while, something to help their art
will come out of it.
I came across a Sue Harrell painting and the thumbnail
caught my eye. She is trying the fracturing technique
and doing a fabulous job . She gave credit to the video.
Thank you, sue.
Check her out... click here Sue Harrell

Sunflowers in Socorro, N.M.

Sunflowers in Socorro, N.M.

8x6in oil on canvas board   100.

Last year in the fall, a group of the Plein Air Painters of Southern New Mexico, traveled north from Las Cruces to Socorro, for the PAPNM paint out. They have some fabulous painters so we went to observe.

This adobe house had already attracted three artists. They were busy painting the sunflowers in the front of the  house, which was an artists dream. Imagine an adobe having a traditional tin roof plus purple and turquoise trim. Obviously the owner of the house was not scared of color and had a fun personality.

The thing I liked best (and no one painted) was the outer front gate with a cut-out heart shape under the PEACE sign. When I bent to peer through it look what I found on the front door

A Halloween skull!  Did I already say the owner obviously had personality?

Artist Note:

The challenge was to manage to get the sunflowers to come forward but still show the bright colors of the trim. I managed that by placing the sunflowers in front of the trim, higher up than they actually were. 

The tin roof reflected the bright early light of the sun. Hard to get that in the correct value. Brush and knife were used.