Colors of Taos

Next weekend I leave for Taos New Mexico where I will be teaching my annual watercolor workshop. This is a painting of the entrance to the Couse House Museum which is one of our favorite painting sights. Edgar Couse was one of the early Taos artists and his home and studio have been maintained as a historical landmark. When I painted this in the spring the lilacs were in bloom and the gardens were already full of flowers. In this composition the chimneys in the upper right corner keep the viewers eye from drifting out of the painting and the overhanging tree branches in the upper left corner do the same. A mixture of cobalt violet and yellow ocher was used for the adobe with mineral violet added for the darker areas. The lilac bush was fun to paint and I used cobalt violet and olive green and then spattered some white watercolor on the bush for texture. Cerulean blue was used for the distant mountain and cerulean blue with a little red was used for the blue gray sky. To portray the stepping stones I mixed burnt sienna and ultramarine blue then added a little yellow ochre for the foreground dirt. For the grass and bushes beside the adobe I worked with a watercolor brush with an excellent point so that I could place dark shades of perylene green to show off the yellow green plants. Taos abounds with scenes like this and I can hardly wait to get back there and paint in the high desert sunlight. My next watercolor weekend workshop in Denver is May 31, June 1, and June 2nd in Sterne Park in Littleton. It is a cool place to paint with a small lake, cattails, trees, a rose garden, etc. and plenty of parking, and shade. I will send out directions as people sign up and for further information check out my website dennispendleton.com and click on classes and workshops. To sign up or if you have any questions send me an email at pendletonstudio@gmail.com.

Happy Painting! Dennis Pendleton