Original Watercolor Painting, “Plein Air, Olympic Range from Discovery Park, Overcast, 3-3:45pm, 1.11.23 Wednesday”, watercolor, 30 x 42”, 2023

This painting was my first plein air watercolor at this scale, 30 x 42 inches.  It was a bit intimidating to approach a piece of paper this large.  I’d already completed many pieces at 22 x 30 inches, and had found the most success by just working as I normally would on a smaller scale, albeit with a bit more pigment, more water, and a larger space to mix color on my palette. I chose this view of the Olympic mountain range as seen from Discovery Park on an overcast day because it was relatively simple - not too many different elements or tones - the sky and water a very colorful mix of different pigments to create “grey”, warmer clouds poking through, the snow visible on the mountaintops creating an interesting texture.  I was fortunate to have my first attempt at this scale work out as well as it did.  I never assume when starting a painting that it is going to turn out ok, I just try to pay as much attention as I can in the moment to what I am observing, and how that will interact with what I am painting.