Three signs of Autumn Rainy Season

You know the Autumn rainy season has begun here in my part of the Pacific NW when these three signs appear from our front porch:

1. The neighbor's maple tree across the street changes color overnight.
2. I need my Sistine umbrella for a trip to the mailbox.
3. Spider webs collect their strings of crystal beads in the rain. (Zoom the hedge area to see the diagonal line of raindrops on the web.)

Fall color in the trees, a spider web with raindrops and an umbrella. 

What are three signs of the season where you live?  Take a Sunday morning or afternoon to express those one at a time in your watercolor sketchbook. 

Wet roads

It's amazing how much more one sees while sketching on location rather than by just trusting the camera and working from photos at home. During the time it took to do the sketch, a deer emerged from the woods and crossed right in front of me. The school bus got away before I had time to get my camera, and quite a few cars came up and down the hill in each direction.

There's something cozy about painting in the rain. In the car , of course!

Rainy Day Sketching

Try sketching the effects of rain on location. Either paint from your car or find a dry spot under a tree or other temporary shelter.

Public parks in the Pacific NW sometimes even have sheltered tables with a fireplace!

Materials: sticks pruned from bamboo and mock orange in the garden, walnut ink, bamboo pen, sketchbook, water, brush, Derivan liquid pencil. I like to use the Fage Greek yogurt containers for a stable water vessel. I can use just a small amount of walnut ink in the "fruit" section and the larger part for water.

Rain Along the Coast

"Rain Along the Coast"
by Michele Cooper
5x7" Original Watercolor
$60  (Includes S&H)

We have lots of atmosphere here in the Pacific NW this winter. A walk along the coastline gives you plenty of drama.

Looking across to Whidbey Island

Rainy Day on Camano Island
Original Watercolor by Michele Cooper
14x11"

Painted this on location......from the car while it was raining. I think I really did get the feeling of a rainy day without painting actual raindrops.

Winter Rain

Original Watercolor by Michele Cooper
5x7" Image, 8x10 Framed

Well, I got a whole new palette once I returned to the Pacific NW. And 40 degrees colder!

"Flooded Fields 2" - The Foreground

Here's the second of 3 installments of my new watercolor demonstration video, "Flooded Fields". Please let me know what you think. Once you watch it, don't forget to give it a thumbs up if you "like" it. Thanks for watching Part 1 and for your kind words and comments.

Tomorrow, I will post Part 3.

Flooded Fields

Flooded Fields
Original Watercolor
by Michele Cooper

I've just finished the rough cut of my video of this painting. It's got lots of unorthodox watercolor tricks, like painting the darks first, using a knife blade to recover whites and testing out washes over the "finished" painting.

Would you like to see the video? Stay tuned!

Rhododendrons

Rhodies
18x24"   Original Watercolor
by Michele Cooper


All our rhododendrons in our garden are in bloom. In fact, some of them are getting soaked in the rain and blossoms are falling off.

You can get a pretty nice bouquet out of just a few branches. I hear the best time to prune them is when they are in bloom.

Trees

Original Watercolor
7"x10" center of foldout
Sketchbook Project, Limited Edition

Here's another page from my sketchbook. It's the center section of an accordion foldout. It has another section either side of it, each 7"x5".

We had a long winter and the transition was almost immediate into spring. Another day in early April, and I don't think I would have caught the change.

I'll post more about this series of three sketches soon.