Houseboats on the Seine

Watercolor Painting by Dennis Pendleton. In Paris, there is a walking bridge that is a perfect set up for painting. No traffic and a stunning view with house boats lined up along the bank of the Seine and another bridge and skyline in the distance. Artists have painted this scene so many times it should be designated "Paris motif number one." The boats are grandfathered in and people can live in them as long as they stay moored in one spot. Can you imagine living in a houseboat on the Seine in the middle of Paris?

The walkway with the trees and cast shadows is an important part of the composition because there are human figures which add scale and it also adds to the "birds eye view" where you are looking down from the bridge. To create perspective you can see how the boats get smaller and have less detail as they recede into the distance and the skyline is one simple shape with very little detail. The closest boats are full of detail with windows, ropes, and bright orange life preservers. All through the line of boats you can see how I left unpainted white paper to show that it was a sunny day. This had to be planned out ahead of time when I was doing the preliminary drawing.

The French Impressionists showed us how shadows and cast shadows are full of color and not just dark. Look how the cast shadows from the trees are warm across the walkway and cool when they go across the boats. This was a deliberate choice on my part just because I thought the temperature change was more interesting than just one flat color. Each artist has to decide things like this and there is no right or wrong. Decisions like this are what develops an artist's unique style.

For the trees, I mixed olive green with French ultramarine blue and added lemon yellow for the lighter areas. Cerulean blue was used for most of the water and the reflections are olive and cerulean blue. Those same reflections add movement and rhythm to a stationary spot where the boats are moored. The rich blue that you see at different places on the boats is again cerulean blue. Burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue were mixed for the earth tones on the boats and the distant bridge and skyline are grays mixed with cerulean blue and cadmium red light. If you are ever in Paris be sure and walk across the the bridge with this stunning view. Happy Painting! Dennis Pendleton