Morning Mist

 ©Robin Edmundson, 'Morning Mist on the Water', watercolor 9 x 12 inches.  $300, framed

I've been studying the art of Richard Mayhew and Donald Holden.  They both had a gift for seeing the essence of the landscape and the discipline to leave out anything that was unnecessary.  

This is something that I'm working on.  It's extraordinarily rewarding, but I confess that it is *hard* for me not to fuss and fiddle. 

I've heard people say about some of that type of work that, 'Anyone could do that!', because it looks so simple, so easy.  Doing a few simple layers, might look 'easy' [it's not],  but I've realized that what is really hard is the stopping, the *not doing more*.   Not anyone could stop at that.  That's where the discipline lies.

I was so in love the with the first wash here that I knew it was a perfect chance to practice.   I looked at that first layer for days until just the right strategy surfaced and I gently proceeded.    

Still, I fussed.  I think it could have been simplified further.  

Three sycamores

© Robin Edmundson, 'Three Sycamores', watercolor and ink, 14 x 10 inches.
Framed to 20 x 16 inches.  $375.

Here's another view of my favorite group of sycamores down the way from us.

I've been working on not letting myself get distracted by all the great stuff that I want to paint in a piece.  Confession:  mostly I fail at that.   The woods are full of distracting lines and vines and shapes and trees and shadows and I want to put it all in.   All. Of. It.

So in this piece, I was just happy that I managed to focus on just a few interesting lines and shapes around this group of trees and ignore the rest.