Spring 2024

This is a commission of a watercolor for a French worship song entitled Heureux (which means happy). It is based on the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5,6, & 7. My pose/gesture of Jesus was based on an etching by Paul Gustave More. I filled in the rest of the composition to illustrate the "multitudes" that came to listen to Jesus.

And another commission I completed this year from a photo from Kodiak Island in Alaska.

Below is a very popular bird in South Central Alaska. It is very small and lives a life of flitting from one branch to another. It is called the Black Capped Chickadee.

Moose in Yard, is based on the many photos I have taken of moose passing through my yard here in South Central, Alaska.

Birch Trees in Fall, Watercolor (11" x 15"). Matanuska Valley along Wasilla Creek, Alaska. Click on image to see an enlarged view.

This 11" x 15" watercolor is of Pioneer Peak Sunrise on a late fall morning in the Matanuska valley. The colors of the sunrise are reflecting on a recently frozen lake. It is now a notecard.

The Watercolor Sketch below is of a mother moose and her calf that appeared in our yard one spring. It was probably April. As the snow was melting and the temperature rose, it created a small pond that attracted the moose.

Bellow is a quick sketch of a photo I took in Northern California on one of or trips down south. My goal was just trying to catch the color of the sunset in the canal.

Winter 2023 and Beyond

Early Summer in the Matanuska Valley, Alaska. This watercolor features one of the many "Colony" barns that were built in the valley during the 1930's. 

This watercolor is based on a photo I took in Homer, Alaska. Alaska uses a lot of small civilian aircraft because of there is not an extensive highway system in this very large state. Many of these aircraft also serve the tourist industry which is big in Alaska. 

Watercolor of Castle Rock, Chignik, Alaska. Chignik, A rugged community built on commercial fishing and subsistence, Chignik is tucked in among a landscape of towering mountainsides and exotic waterfalls. 

This watercolor below is the iconic in Palmer, Alaska. It is of the Palmer water Tower. It towers above the town and can be seen year round, especially at Christmas when it is lit up with colorful lights.

Once again a watercolor tree study of Alaskan trees in the Matsu Valley. Alaska I am learning, like California, has diverse landscapes and eco-systems. 

The painting below is about ice fishing on a frozen lake in Alaska. The scene depicts the beginning of the day with the fishermen setting up their spot. The ice is so thick it is like concrete. You can see the tire marks of vehicles that have already driven to their special fishing locations.

The watercolor sketch below, from my sketchbook, is of an Alaskan lake in fall. All the trees turn yellow and orange. The sketch is on two pages. 

Below is an "on location" sketch of the Matsu Valley during the fall. The leaves are gone from the trees and the sunsets sometimes become somber. 

Summer 2022

We started out with a very hot summer for our region of Alaska, this year, but by July it started raining. The good news is that we are back to wonderful warm weather again. Below is a commission I completed last October. It measures 15" x 22". The subject is Pioneer Peak the predominant mountain where I live. The client wanted a winter scene with a bit of alpenglow.

The next watercolor I painted in my back yard in August. The alaskan summer sun is intensely shining through the birch trees and forest. A peaceful feeling.

Below is a small watercolor I did as a watercolor lesson for younger artist. It is about Del Mar, California at sunset.

Watercolor portrait made from photo. I want to keep it only two colors. Dominate Ultramarine Blue with subordinate Burnt Sienna.

Watercolor I did for a notecard I created of the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska. I took the photo this Summer on location, painted it at home in my studio.

From my sketchbook. A watercolor sketch made on location of Alaska timber. I finished a few details like the white gouache branches in my studio.

 

Alaskan Spring 2022

Below is a view of the iconic mountain near my house called Pioneer Peak. This also was started in April but finished at the end of May, 2022. The watercolor measures 15" x 20". Like the painting below, the mountain and the Matanuska Valley still have a lot of Snow as well as ice. This is Alaska. That is how it is in April.

Started focusing my paintings on a local mountain Called Pioneer Peak. The winter snow has melted for us in the valley, but it will linger on another month or two on the mountains around us. Painted this version in the late afternoon of April. This painting has already sold and measures 11" x 15".

Winter 2022

 This I painted in my sketchbook from a photo. The weather warmed up a bit in February and the snow started to melt and created  large mud puddles. I liked the lighting in the photo. It had a moody feeling. I used a limited palette of mostly Ultra Marine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Cerulean Blue and Pthalo Green.

Below is a little watercolor sketch I did this winter for fun. It is titled, La Parisien. I used two colors Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna.

Watercolor I did of 1930s Actress Ann Harding from a Pathé Pictures lithographic movie poster. Fun to do the portrait in watercolor.

 

Fall Watercolors 2021

The below painting measuring 15" x 22" was painted on Winsor & Newton Watercolor paper. It was old watercolor paper that had been deeded to me. I wasn't impressed the first time I used it a while back, but I felt it worked quite well with this painting I call, "Palmer Pioneer Barn".

This is another Watercolor Sketch painted on cheap drawing paper. I paint quickly and try not to use much water because the paper is so thin, but still the paper buckles. It is basically a portrait of the Knik River valley. In the distant, not rendered, is where the Kink glacier located. 

This painting is of Wasilla, Alaska during the 1950s. The vintage cars fascinated me, I owned a car similar to the vehicle in the middle. I was also intrigued by the fact that the roads had not been paved yet.

Below is a watercolor about fall in the Matanuska Valley, north of Anchorage. It is a small lake near where I live that has rainbow trout in it. I have fished there many times and have not done so well. I felt like I needed a boat.The Alaskan sunsets there are stunning. The fishing can be good though. I witnessed a native Alaskan Fellow catch a huge 19 inch rainbow trout. He was fishing right next to me when he caught it. I vowed to go back the next evening and fish, but I got Covid. This is a nice painting. I sold it right away when I displayed it online.

This next fishing scene is about fishing on the Knik river in Alaska during the "Silver" run in August. A friend of mine who is an expert angler took me fishing. Each time we went the weather was different. This day was foggy. Quiet and peaceful. I painted this on 12" x 14" sketch paper using two colors, Ultra Marine Blue and Burnt Sienna. I also added touches of white gouache on the ripples and gravel shoreline.

Summer 2021

For summer I will start out with a flower, a red poppy, I painted for a notecard set that is available on my ETSY site, KenHarrisWatercolors. Click here to visit my shop, https://www.etsy.com/shop/KenHarrisWatercolors?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

It looks really nice printed on a notecard with a simple white background. These are not only beautiful cards, they are a unique and make a great gift. I painted the red poppy using wet and dry brush techniques.

The watercolor below I painted in August, 2021. It won a Premium 2nd Place in the professional Category at the Alaska State Fair this year. It measures 15" x 22" and is painted on Arche Watercolor paper. It is entitled, Matanuska Valley Sunrise. It is a view from the Palmer Hay Flats with the sun rising behind Pioneer Peak in the background. 

This is a unique view of Palmer, AlaskaI painted from a watercolor sketch of three other interpretive views of the Palmer Water Tower.

This is a painting of Matanuska Peak which I can sometimes see from my house.

Below is a watercolor sketch I did in Palmer, Alaska one day on location (plein air).

This is a quick watercolor sketch I did from my front porch one morning in the Matanuska Valley also considered Plein Air.

The above watercolor was a quick watercolor for a very small class I was teaching. I liked the design, thus I am showing it to you.

One more, which I did actually in 2020. I painted this quickly on student drawing paper. You have to paint dry because the paper does not handle water well. It is a man fishing in Alaska based on my own experiences and imagination. Is imagination a bunch of memories creatively rearranged?