Redo It's What We Do

Painting for me can be hit or miss.  The best thought out piece can look exceptional in my head and turn out to be as blah as cold oatmeal on a grey day when done.  And those cold pieces get tossed in a portfolio to never see the light in my studio again.

Recently I purged a number of old watercolor paintings that just were not worth keeping.  I do this periodically but this was a deep dark disposal of some fairly weak items.  I kept a handful to reuse to paint on the backs (yes we artists reuse and repurpose -- have been for centuries).  I looked over this marsh scene and decided it needed a bit of a makeover.

It's a nice little piece, nothing too fancy.  Capably done but, as a friend would say, "Meh."

Redoing a painting in watercolor is more complex than in oil.  It is difficult if not impossible to lift color off the paper after it has dried.  So in this case lifting to add more highlights was tough.  I opted to just saturate with more color and contrast and shadows.

"Sunset - Florida Marsh" 

Krys Pettit

Watercolor on 140# Paper

11"H x 15" W

I worked on tweaking it a bit for an hour or so, adding darker values, playing around with complementary colors, adding texture and depth.  A pretty, restful piece that captures the glorious colors of a Florida sunset.  A little less "meh" and a little more "nice."

Visit my website for more samples of the pieces that didn't make it to the recycle pile :) 

Krys Pettit Original Artwork