A watercolor journey across the American Landscape with vivid imagery and heartfelt soul.  

Starting a painting starts with inspiration. It can be anything or anywhere. Subject matter, light and shadow, a natural composition or maybe even a dream. Ideas come from everywhere so I
embrace them when they arrive. I try not to think about commercial viability but try to focus on my spark. I work mostly from my own photography, sometimes from multiple photos. I will often run the images though photoshop and then send it to my Ipad. I’ll do some sketching on scratch watercolor paper to explore and refine the idea. From there, I’ll take a clean sheet, tape all 4 sides to a stiff panel and create a grid that breaks into quarters. I draw with hard lead pencils directly ono the paper and work up a highly detailed drawing. When I’m ready to paint I wet the entire surface with clean water and then lay down very light colors in their approximate areas. I’ll start working on the focal point in light and medium hues and then expand out to the perimeters. I usually save the dark and shadow colors for last. Once I’m satisfied with the effort, I’ll clean things up and then sign it in one of the lower corners.

Image: Novelty Shop, watercolor by Mick Williams