Trying something new...

I wanted to try something different so I pulled out an old photograph. The result is not a real portrait, as there isn't true resemblance. Yet I'm glad that I managed to draw two smiling kids. In fact, initially the girl on the right looked more like an elderly woman, until I moved the eyes down, closer to the mouth. I guess I could have read these basic facts about the proportions of a child's face in any book on portraits, but it is more exciting to discover things on my own. Hopefully, reading the theory on drawing portraits will be much more informative, after I have tried my hand at it.

Out there....

Red chairs by the shore at Gros Morne

Green Garden trail

Another view from my hiking trip in Newfoundland.

West Brook Pond

West Brook Pond, Gros Morne Park, NL

West Brook Pond is a former fjord, which has been separated from the sea by a strip of land. Now it is a fresh water lake. The lake is practically at sea level and the steep mountains surrounding it reach up to 700 m. The only way to see it is a boat tour and on a clear sunny day the view is awesome. They say, if you have time to do only one thing in Gros Morne, take this boat tour.

Sunset at Rocky Harbor

Sunset at Rocky Harbor

What intrigued me in this view was the bright, silvery reflection in the water. The photograph I had taken (below) did not capture the colors well, so I painted them partially by memory. I stayed with a limited palette, this time: ultramarine, yellow ochre and alizarin crimson.
Today I also sketched a couple of other landscapes from Newfoundland, so hopefully I have time to paint them in the next few days.

A sketch from Newfoundland

Green Gardens trail in Gros Morne

I just returned from an exciting trip to Newfoundland. This was my first visit there and I found quite a few surprises. I spent a week at Gros Morne national park hiking and enjoying the wilderness. There was too much to see and do, so I didn't find much time for painting but I've collected ample material for future watercolors. The above was the only sketch I managed to do en plain air. While that day the sea was really as calm and inviting as it looks, the water was too cold to actually swim in it. The nature is beautiful and the park offers quite a variety of landscapes.