Misty Morning On The Cote d'Azur

Watercolor Painting by Dennis Pendleton. This is another page in my sketchbook from the workshop in France. The castle where we stayed was such an interesting subject with its location on the Cote d'Azur. I was intrigued by this spot because of the tree growing up inside the wall and the handsome tower. It was a misty morning with an occasional light shower and I was partly protected up against the wall. There were three of the big potted plants and I used one as a table for my supplies.

The green colors were so different, partly because of the moisture, so I used combinations of olive, perylene, cerulean blue, French ultramarine blue, and lemon yellow. With these colors the number of greens you can make is endless so I experimented on my palette until I came up with the different greens that I wanted. You can also see where I used bits of pure cerulean blue and yellow for sparks of color to make the greens even more interesting.

The more I looked at the blocks of stone the more subtle colors I saw so I started with gray mixed with cerulean blue and brilliant orange because I could make it warm and cool as I painted. Yellow ochre and burnt sienna were also added as I created the texture in the stones blocks. This was painted on toned paper and the lightest areas of the stones are pure unpainted paper. Toned paper has a subtle way of tying everything together and, if I had used white watercolor paper, it would have looked more like a bright sunny day.

The tree was interesting as it leaned over and created an "umbrella" effect over the arched opening that I considered the focal point. The cast shadow along the stairs also leads the eye to the focal point where I painted the darkest dark against the lightest light. Behind the castle is a marina with lots of big expensive yachts and I only included one because I didn't want all that clutter in the background. The sun occasionally popped out from behind the clouds and I painted the sunlight on the lower part of the tree because I felt a continuous tall dark shape was too strong. The walkway was full of interesting texture and you can see where I included a few vertical lines, plants and spattering. Looking at this painting brings back fond memories and I am missing the fellowship of my artist friends who took the workshop. Happy Painting! Dennis Pendleton