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Saturday, September 3, 2011

Lorrie #44 - Gulls in the Shallows

Gulls in the Shallows, watercolor 10 x 13 inches
While sitting at a tiny outdoor cafe overlooking a shallow river just before it enters the sea, I was captivated by this scene. What caught my eye at first was the pattern of shimmery yellow light on the muddy bottom. The yellows matched the pattern of rippling water on the surface, around and behind these gulls as they paddled along (I hardly noticed those surface ripples; they reflected only a little light). I did my best to understand and capture this image in a watercolor sketchbook, and then made this larger version at home using several layers of yellow and blue washes. There were so many different things happening with reflections and shadows that it still mystifies me, and I want to go back and study it again--over a cappuccino, of course!

5 comments:

Kelly said...

...gorgeous, Lorrie! You've really made the water look translucent with the cast shadows showing through!

liz Cutler said...

Cappuccino sounds like the perfect compliment to figuring the reflections, shadows and colors. You did well on this one. I spent the afternoon with on the rocks with the tide coming in working out the same things, only not so sucessfully.

liz Cutler said...

Must have been the lack of cappuccino! Beautiful colors

Elva Paulson said...

What a challenging subject. I think you did an excellent job.

Dora Sislian Themelis said...

Yes, those shadows and the rippling of the water..it all works Lorrie.