Watercolor Progression Thus Far:

 For your viewing ease, I've pasted the entire watercolor progression post with new images added here:

Here is the photo(above) I'm working from for my newest watercolor (40"x60") with a working title of "Forest". You can click on any of the photos to view them at a larger size. It will take me several months to complete this and in the beginning of a large painting with this kind of detail, I feel a bit daunted but also excited because I know at some point in the process, the painting will take on a life of its own. I have an idea of how I want it to look and feel, but in the end, it will be something entirely different, beyond what I can imagine now. Please check back every few weeks for updates to this post. It's a rare glimpse inside my process. Sharing my process is an experiment for me, it is my intention to make more tangible, to you the viewer, what goes into the making of my watercolors.

The next two photos show details of the bottom left and right of the watercolor

 I'm painting this watercolor in sections rather than big washes because I want to capture the detail and textures of the rich forest floor, mosses and rocks.

Watercolor Progression Continued

I have added new images to my watercolor progression post. To see them, go to the February 2011 post titled Watercolor Progression and scroll to the bottom. Here (in this post) are but a few of many sketches I have made for this painting. I'm in the thick of it now: I have to make many color decisions before I can move on. If I don't, I will lose the clarity. I like watercolor most when it is clean and not muddy. Today was a thinking and sketching day. There is the image in my memory, which has to be reconciled with the reference photos and what the painting needs.... To this end, in contrast to the slow pace of the large watercolor, these sketches are fast and intuitive.

Pardon the messy studio- no cleaning gets done when I'm this far into a painting!