Once A Month Challenge

Study by Dennis Pendleton. I have always enjoyed recreating paintings from my favorite watercolorists because I learn so much. Yesterday, when I painted this, I decided to make the practice into a formal challenge. From now on I will recreate a painting once a month with specific intentions on what I will be studying. This will keep me learning while allowing plenty of time for my own paintings.

I have always loved John Yardley's watercolors and decided to paint this one which is on the cover of one of his books. The specific things I studied are: Yardley's fearless use of rich darks all the way to black, his rigorous brushwork including dry brush, how he leaves bits of unpainted white paper, and the way he incorporates figures into his paintings.

Starting with a light wash of blue gray mixed with cerulean blue and brilliant orange, I painted the sky and was careful to work around the two domes which are unpainted white paper. Next, using a darker version of the same gray, I moved on to the tops of the domes and the shapes on the far left of the pier while again leaving bits of unpainted white paper. There are a few dark marks here and there which I mixed with burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue. Now to the main building and the shape that connects to the right border. I was able to get the color I wanted by mixing cobalt violet and yellow ochre with an addition of mineral violet for the darker parts. Again, the darkest accents are a mixture of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna. I prefer to mix black black because I can make it warm or cool rather than using black out of the tube. The under part of the pier with all its supports is that same black and an excellent example of Yardley's brushwork including dry brush. The distant part of the pier which sticks out into the water is a cooler black where the French ultramarine blue dominates and as the pier moves closer and lands against the right border it gets warmer with an emphasis on the burnt sienna.

The water is pure cerulean blue and I laid it down before painting the pier. For the beach, I used the same mixture as the buildings and I wanted it to be a little warmer so I added a bit of brilliant orange. You can see the visible brushwork characteristic of Yardley's watercolors. The beach chairs are stripes of different colors with white paper and, the cast shadows are darker versions of the color I used for the beach. The figures are simple marks of color with interesting gestures and you can see the distant ones are smaller with even less detail. This was a great learning experience which I will continue every month. Happy Painting! Dennis Pendleton