Dusk on Dakota Street

Watercolor Painting by Dennis Pendleton. Years ago I had a studio on South Pearl Street near the corner of Dakota Street. Every evening the sun would set behind this church and for a brief time everything would be backlit from the sunset. I often walked out at dusk and watched this happen before I finally got up the nerve to try painting it. I thought about Claude Monet who put notes on his easel indicating when he thought was the best time to capture light and shadow and then he would return to paint at that same time every day. On the first evening I did a simple drawing as I watched the colors come and go.

My painting time was limited so I spent the next two evenings painting the colors of the sunset. I used all soft edges and let the colors bleed together on the watercolor paper. Lemon yellow, cadmium red, cobalt violet, Mineral violet, cerulean blue, and orange were all used with the darkest mixtures at the top and pure lemon yellow at the bottom. Next I painted the dark shape of the church on top of the sunset with a mixture of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue then did the same with the utility pole and tree branches. I changed the value of the house against the church and made it lighter than it really was and painted it with a combination of cerulean blue and cobalt violet.

It was tempting to finish the painting in my studio but I was determined to do the whole thing on location. On another evening I painting the utility poles fading off into the distance and the trees on the right while adding spots of lemon yellow for lights. I simplified the row houses on the left and put lights in their windows then let the colors blend down into the street. In my classes I am always talking about the importance of mixing grays and here I used cerulean blue, vermillion, French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and violet. The cars are lighter versions of the same grays and their lights are lemon yellow and cadmium red. Lemon yellow is very opaque so I was able to lay it across the gray street while making sure I had soft edges.

While studying the painting in my studio I decided I wanted a little shot of rich color so I added a spot of cadmium red to indicate a stop sigh. You can see this next to the car on the right. As I look at this now I am really happy with the back lighting and the rhythm and movement created with the tree branches. Starting Tuesday evening March 4th I am teaching an in person four week class Painting Dawn and Dusk in Watercolor and if you are interested you can sign up through the Art Students League of Denver website. Happy Painting! Dennis Pendleton