Changing Seasons
Sharon July 7th, 2009
Several years ago I was invited to visit a large historic house on the river. The owner, a delightful lady, shared her knowledge of the house which was built in the 18th century and which her family had painstakingly restored.
My grandfather was an architect in Washington DC and I’ve always been interested in buildings so I was pleased to be asked to do a painting of the interesting house in it’s beautiful setting.
Unfortunately it was a blustery February day when I visited the house and took reference photographs from every angle, including one from the end of the pier that jutted into the river. It was very cold and very windy out there!
I had every intention of getting to that house portrait as soon as it fit my workshop schedule. Unfortunately within days of taking those photographs I was quite ill with pneumonia. The house project was set aside and it seemed that I even shivered to think of it, remembering the cold.
Recently I was invited to a gathering at that house and it was a pleasant day with interesting people and another tour of the fascinating building. This time I came home and started sketching.
The completed painting shows the river front side of the home as seen from the end of that pier. The original photographs, taken in winter, showed more of the house behind leafless trees. My second set of photographs, taken in spring, were more colorful but somehow seemed to show less of the house in it’s distinctive landscape. I decided to paint a late winter scene with frost at sunrise.
This is painted in watercolor on 300 lb Arches watercolor paper, chosen for better control over the sunset sky. Some windows and doors are detailed with a little white fluid acrylic which I like better than Chinese white watercolor. The painting is 15×22″ and probably will be titled ‘Sunrise Frost: Almodington’.
