Surf's Up! Wave in watercolor

Hawaii is known for its waves...and after being out in them for a little while, I needed something calm and relaxing to do for a while so I could drain the salt water and sand out of my ears. Time to paint of course.

Plumeria- hawaiian flowers in watercolor

The plumeria flower, most popular for its use in leis, comes in such a variety of colors. This painting is based off a photo my wife had taken. Although I like the composition of the painting, I think that I could gone with a different color for the flower.

Maui Sunset, watercolor

One of our vacation routines that my wife and I have gotten into is finding a spot near the beach each evening to watch the sunset. We end up taking endless photos trying to capture the colors as they constantly change. I don't think we have seen a sunset with a clear sky yet, but the clouds just add to the uniqueness, beauty, and the colors even after the sun has gone below the horizon.

Here is my attempt at capturing the sunset in watercolor. As beautiful as this is, I don't think I have captured the brilliance of the colors yet.

Going Tribal in Maui, Hawaii

Everywhere you look here in Hawaii, you see tribal drawings...logos, window decals, tattoos. I thought I would give it a try on some of the wildlife I've seen here in Maui: the honu (green sea turtle) and the gecko, specifically the gold dust day gecko. I also have hibiscus flowers. I tried to put aloha into the one, but it's not very legible. I actually started these in pencil and realized it just didn't look right so I went over them in Sharpie and erased any stray pencil marks.

Maui coast in Kihei, watercolor

I've been busy vacationing in Maui...seems like an oxymoron, but the way that I want to see everything there is to see, maybe it's not.  I've slowed down a little this week and had time to get my paints out. This painting was done from a picture that I had taken a couple of days before and now I'm just relaxing on the lanai of the house we are staying at, and painting.

Mountain landscape, watercolor

Originally, I had done this mountain landscape in pencil, inspired by a watercolor demonstration by Dale Laitinen.  It's fun to transform a pencil sketch into a colorful painting. There is no "wrong" color other than what is in my head saying trees should be green and sky should be blue. 

 

I think it needs a little more contrast on the mountain to show where the light source is coming from, as well as some more shadows in the trees, but I think it does a pretty go job transporting the viewer to a serene location in the mountains!

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