Purple Door - Watercolor

Purple Door is one of the first pictures I painted in the Watercolor I class at Phoenix College - Fall 2010 taught by Joey Baker. It's one of my favorites so I wanted to share it in its "almost completed" state.

Purple Door Project
I'm not sure what the assignment was, but I was intrigued by all of the shadows on the photo I was using and wanted to see if I could recreate them with watercolor. I started with the shadows that were on the wall and didn't achieve what I was looking for. When I reached the shadows on the door they started to look more realistic. 

"...patience and practice - a good combination."

Overall, the colors used in the door and the adobe wall turned out better than I had hoped and the bricks came out well in spite of forgetting to leave mortar spaces. I was able to fix it by going back in with white gouache -- which may have been a better choice anyhow.

I haven't finish yet. The flower stalks in the middle still need a bit of work to create more depth and I forgot to put in any details in the door knob!

Watercolor Class
The class is over now and I miss my art buddies. I found that sharing this experience helped me to grow as an artist and I can't wait to do it again! It took me years to get up the nerve to try watercolor--it's not easy but it sure is fun.

The best thing I took away from this class was that I learned that I could fix what I might consider an impossible goof. Thank you Joey for making me fix that bowl of oranges (I'll share that one later.)