2017 Calendar Available on ETSY

My 2017 Watercolor Calendar is now available on my Etsy shop for $12 US dollars, plus applicable postage. The calendar features 13 watercolors for 13 months. I print the calendars on a digital printer myself and staple them as well. If you would like to see samples of a calendar page, go to kenharriswatercolors on ETSY or  click link below:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/KenHarrisWatercolors?ref=hdr_shop_menu&order=custom

Fall 2016

This is from a photo a friend sent to me. It is a town in the South of France.

Bridge Over the Seine, 11" x15" (28cm x 38cm). This is a watercolor I like. Just When I thought I had worn out Paris subject matter, I painted this one. I like the old bridges on the Seine and the Thames.

The watercolor above I started on location, one late afternoon at the Lido Bridge in Newport Beach, California. I worked on it for about an hour then went home and finished it. When I finish it at home, I am able to focus more on the composition instead of the environment. Click on the image to see a LARGER view.

This painting I have show before, but I like this watercolor. I did it from a photo I took in Paris when I was there last. It is of Boulevard Diderot at sunset in July. It is near the Paris-Gare de Lyon train station. 

This painting is a compilation of photos I took at Rabbit Ridge Winery in San Marcos, California. I like the dirt and the quiet solitude of walking on this road. 

This is an old farm structure in the town of Lynchburg, Tennessee. It was very cold outside and I didn't have time to paint so I took this picture with my phone. Then I went back to where I was staying and painted this watercolor.

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The watercolor above is from a photo I took in Switzerland of the Rheinfall in the town of Schaffhausen.

Crystal Cove, Late Afternoon. This is an Acrylic painting measuring 16" x 20". Crystal Cove State Park is one the subjects I like to do. The white house on the foreground I have painted many times.

Summer 2016

This painting is from a very hot trip to Northern California this last July. We passed a barn in Paso Robles, California and I took a photo. I would have preferred to paint on location, but it was 104 F degrees outside (40C). One good thing though back in my studio I spent more time thinking composition. So below is my watercolor barn from Paso Robles, California. it is available for purchase at my ETSY shop. https://www.etsy.com/shop/KenHarrisWatercolors?ref=hdr_shop_menu

The painting below is one I had done before, but I painted it again as a commission this last summer. It is a northern California barn.

This painting below is of Villefranche-Sur-Mer. It is from a photo that a nice couple commissioned me to paint. The final size was 15" x 22" (38cm x 56cm). They sent me a photo and this is how I interpreted the photo. Below is the drawing I made before I painted it. Always good to do a drawing of your subject to learn the ins and outs of your subject matter.

This is a watercolor sketch I did mostly on location on Lido Island, but I finished it back in my studio. When I finish a piece in my studio I am able to be more creative and not be controlled by the  actual subject and envoirment.

The watercolor below I started as the one above on location and finished in the studio. I like the results. It is entitled Moon Over Irvine.

Same with this watercolor. I started on location, but didn't like the results. A week later I revisited the painting and saw that I could fix it. I like the results for this one as well.

This sunset is inspired by painting trips to the beach. It is a full sheet watercolor (22" x 30"). The British came up with this system. It is painted on 240 lb. Windsor Newton watercolor paper.

This was done from a photo my son took while he and his wife were in London recently. It is of the Regents Canal. I liked the photo so I painted this facsimile.

Late Spring 2016

Can't believe how fast time goes. As I am writing this, spring is in full bloom. The white Irisis I saw at the Castoro Cellars in Paso Robles, central California. I took a photo with my phone and then painted this painting after I returned to southern California.

The above painting is really a concept painting for another project. The concept was not accepted, so I put the boat and birds in to make it peaceful statement.

I started this painting at the end of the day on location at Castoro Cellars in Paso Robles, California. I quickly brushed in the color and established the lines of vines pointing to the building. I finished it the next morning from a photo I tok on my phone.

This is a cityscape of London from a photo I took when I was there a few years ago. I took tracing paper and put it over the photo and with markers created a new value scheme, different form the photo. I then used this new value pattern composition to create the painting. For example I have late afternoon light shining through the street and lighting up the bus. I darkened the values of the buildings in shadow on the left and the cast shadow of the bus.

The watercolor above is a view from the Coulée verte René-Dumont in Paris, France. I painted it in June of this year, 2016, from a photo I took three years ago when I was there. I used pen and India ink in this watercolor.

The Gum Tree above is located in a local park near my home. We have different kinds of Gum Trees growing through out California; imported years ago from Australia. I started this painting on location and finished it in my studio.

The above painting is a version of a painting of Aix-en-Provence that I had previously done in my sketchbook. This version I did on Arches French watercolor paper. Once again I manipulated the value scheme.

This is a recent panting I did in early June, 2016, at a park in southern California. It is of a Gum Tree, by a lake in the late afternoon. I started the painting sitting on a bench at the park and finished it at my office the next day. There is great value in developing your skill as an artist by painting on location. You learn about light and how it visually affects nature. 

Sketchbook Work and Concept Paintings

Sketchbooks, I am told, are more personal. Someone told me they preferred looking at artist sketchbooks more than published works. Sketchbooks are more intimate, showing an artist's aspirations as well as new ideas. Below are watercolors from my sketchbook as well as some paintings that are more developed from ideas for different projects.

This is a quick sketch I did from a photo I took a long time ago in the south of France. 

It is supposed to be a bright summer morning in Aix-en-Provence

The above sketch is from a photo I took some years back in Provence. 

The sunset below is a quick sketch for a possible commission.

Below is another watercolor sketch based on photos I took in Provence.

You can see the gutter of my sketchbook in this rainy watercolor 

of the que in front of the Musée d'Orsay in July.

Above, winter 2016 in Wisconsin, from a friend's posting on FB.

This is a memory sketch. I saw it on a back road in Alabama out side the city of 

Cullman, AL. Below is a sketch of Balboa Park in San Diego, CA.

Below is a concept painting painted on French watercolor paper. 

It is for a proposal for a F&M Bank branch in Lakeforest, CA.

This is a quick sketch I did in less than a minute from a memory of a road trip I had recently gone on. It is of a panoramic view outside Bakersfield, California.

This is a quick sketch of sail boats employing a glazing technique for the background sky and foreground harbor. You do the sky and harbor first together with graded washes. Then you add distant shore and finally boats.

 

Welcome to 2016

Below are a few new paintings to start 2016. The painting of the Farm House in San Luis Obispo,directly below, was from an idea in my sketchbook. I turned it into a half sheet watercolor (15" x 22") The second watercolor was a commission. It is of an American Veteran's memorial in Orange, California. It is a quarter sheet and measures 11" x 15".

This is of a train station in Putney, UK. It is the East Putney Station. I painted it because I have used this trim station a few times. Some of my work is available to purchase at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/KenHarrisWatercolors?ref=hdr_shop_menu

Crystal Cove is a State Park on the Orange County Pacific coast. It has a collection of old vacation cabins from the early half of the 20th century. A few movies have been filmed here. Below is a recent watercolor of Crystal Cove, which I have painted before. 

Another watercolor of Newport Beach, CA. Someone said it looked Turner like. it does but the sky was like turner and I did not create that. I just tried to paint it. Maybe that was what JMW Turner was trying to do in his watercolors.

January 2016, Growing in Your Art

Well it's a new year and a time to set new goals. One of the things I am learning is that we need to set goals in art as well. I have a goal of learning new techniques by studying the old masters that came before us. Studying an old master by copying or interpreting one of their paintings is like taking a private art lesson from that particular artist. Recently I studied a portrait by Thomas Gainsborough a famous British artist. I learned to use "soft lines" when painting a portrait. It helps to create depth. I also learned that line is an abstract idea and doesn't appear naturally in nature. I learned how to handle acrylic paint better as well. Below is my project of the painting "Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan" 1785.

Below is my 11" x 14" Acrylic version painted on a canvas panel. Underneath my version is The original hanging in the National Gallery in London. And finally I put a frame on my version in Photoshop. If you are interested in buying some of my art go to: https://www.etsy.com/shop/KenHarrisWatercolors?ref=hdr_shop_menu

Happy New Year!