Quintessential French Home

Watercolor Painting by Dennis Pendleton. Plein Air Painting while traveling is such a rewarding experience and the paintings I bring home are so much more interesting than any photographs. Some of those paintings are turned into larger works in my studio and that was the case with this one. I was enchanted with this little french house in Provence and there was a bench near by so I set down with my watercolor kit and went to work. It was quiet and peaceful and I was having the best time when it started sprinkling. Determined to finish, I was hovered over my painting when the front door to the house opened and a little french man ran out and handed me an umbrella then ran back inside. I was able to finish my painting and when I knocked on the front door there was no answer so I left the umbrella on the porch next to all the flowers. Seeing this painting again brings back such wonderful memories and reminds me of the joy of painting on location.

The masonry on these houses is different from the bricks here in the U. S. so I left some unpainted white paper and added gray mixed with cerulean blue and brilliant orange. For the bricks, I mixed cadmium red with yellow ochre and tapped some of them with a tissue to get a lighter value. The door was a faded blue and I used a light wash of cerulean blue with a darker value for the modeling. The wooden shutters are mainly yellow ochre with some burnt sienna added for the darker areas. The windows were quite dark and I lightened them a bit when I painted them with French Ultramarine blue. The flower pots are different combinations of yellow ochre, cadmium red, venetian red, and cerulean blue and the steps were painted with burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue.

For the flowers, I used cobalt violet, cadmium red, cerulean blue, carmine, and lemon yellow. The leaves are different combinations of olive green, lemon yellow, and cobalt blue. The darker greens around the flowers and leaves are what makes them stand out and that was painted with perylene green. Finally, the railing was added with French ultramarine blue mixed with burnt sienna. This painting is one that we will paint in my upcoming class this fall at the Art Students League of Denver titled " French Houses In Watercolor" and I look forward to working on it again. Happy Painting! Dennis Pendleton