"Shipping Port", 10.25" X 24" watercolor

Shipping Port by April M Rimpo

Shipping Port

watercolor 

10.25" X 24" image

16" X 30" brushed silver frame

$615

AVAILABLE NOW FOR PURCHASE HERE

Maybe I should have named this painting "Three Cheers for the Little Tugboat" but it was the cranes in the shipping port that really attracted me to this landscape.  My husband and I were traveling across Puget Sound on a ferry when this port became visible across the water.  The large structure of the cranes and the rainbow hues of the crates stacked at the port are what  caught my eye.  I had fun using very wet and soft washes of the background hill and down into the crates at the port.  I left the soft background to provide a sense of distance, arial perspective.

I layered washes over that soft pastel area to the right of the cranes to add structure to the crates.  Although the ship was in the foreground I simplified shapes on the ship so the lines and structure of the cranes could be the stars of the painting.

"Vineyard Life" 10.25" X 23.25" watercolor

Vineyard Life by April M. Rimpo

Vineyard Life
10.25" X 23.25" image

15" X 28" brushed silver frame

$700

Contact April Regarding Purchase

My goal in “Vineyard Life” is to portray everyday life on the vineyard. My use of very soft edges around the top and sides of the painting add depth and a little mystery to the scene.  The trees have texture but are toned more in the golden, burnt orange, and blue-gray direction rather than the brilliant greens I saw in the summer in Provence.  The vineyard itself has the lightest golden greens leading your eye up to the left toward the children in the field and the woman by the flower cart.  A dark vertical from the left side also leads to the flower cart and over to the houses.  The tiled roofs, although muted by the sun, still call out for attention among the valley of green.  Of course the wonderful pastel colors on the shadowed side of the house keep me wanting more.  Every time I look at this painting I am carried back to a good time. I hope you find this piece mesmerizing and it provides a bit of peace in your busy lives.  

Does it remind you of a favorite place?  I’d love to hear your stories.

For other landscapes by April follow these links.

• Springtime
• Morning in Provence
• The Dugouts
• Wash Day
• Ponte Vecchio
• Venice III 
• At One with their Gondolas

To see prints of April's paintings check her store.If you want a print of a painting that you don't see in the store ask me; I don't have all prints on display.

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

Morning in Provence

The soft glow of morning light is the subject of Morning in Provence.  I had always heard the light in Provence was different from anywhere else and wondered if it was just hype.  Well after visiting Provence I found out it really was true. There is something very dreamy in the atmosphere.  The morning light is very soft, filled with lovely pastels.  Sunsets are clear and dramatic.  I have seen some amazing sunsets in Arizona where the colors just fill the sky like fire, but the mornings are not the same.  I suspect the air is much cleaner in Provence, but there must also be just the right touch of humidity in the air because it is just wonderful.  No wonder so many artists have gravitated to Provence.

Morning in Provence

watercolor

14.5" X 22" image

20" X 28" brushed silver frame

$795 

Price:

Original Framed $795.00 USD

I enjoyed Provence in 2004 when I attended a Plein Air workshop held by Tony van Hasselt.  My plein air work generally never sees the light of day once I come inside, but the photographs I take continue to inspire me.  They never look quite as I remember, so I get to apply my artist's view and bring back my memory.  That was my goal in Morning in Provence.

I did paint this location one morning while in Provence.  I went out early to catch the light before meeting up with the group for the day's demo and painting time.   At the afternoon critique I brought this painting and whatever else I had done that day.  I had gone with big bold oranges.  I remember Tony trying to be very polite about its boldness.  That painting sits in my studio and has been calling my name recently telling me to give it another try.  I liked the interesting angles in the old Roman town of Vaisson la Romaine with its stone houses, narrow cobblestone streets, and lavender colored shutters. It is a dreamy spot and one I'd always hoped to share.   Morning in Provence is the result of my second attempt at sharing this spot.  I am delighted with the result and hope Tony will be proud, too.  By the way, he is headed back to Provence this year for his eighth workshop.  

April's other paintings of Europe include:

• Ponte Vecchio
• Vineyard Life
• Venice III
• At One with their Gondolas

To see prints of April's paintings check her store.If you want a print of a painting that you don't see in the store ask me; I don't have all prints on display. 

Flores - Watercolor 22" X 30"

"Flores", 22" X 30", by April M. Rimpo

My first night after arriving in Guatemala I found myself sitting in the hotel’s outdoor restaurant looking across the lake at the beautiful town of Flores.  The red roofs, prevalent in Guatemala, all reflected in the lake taking my breath away.  I found the view terribly relaxing and I felt I could stare at it for hours, and as I recall I did.  I decided to paint this scene in hopes of sharing this beautiful moment.  My goal was to focus on the reflections and decided to add a person in his dugout on the lake to bring additional interest to the water.  Later in my visit to Lake Atitlan, in central Guatemala, I had seen men use their dugouts on that lake.  I transported one to Flores; I hope he doesn't mind.   My goal is for people to feel the serenity I felt that first night in Guatemala.

Flores

watercolor

22" X 30" image

Original SOLD - Prints available

14.5" X 20" Limited Edition giclee print on watercolor paper with 18" X 24" mat available in April's print store. You can get prints as large at 44 X 60 on gallery wrapped canvas.  Contact April to discuss the size print you would like.  

Here is the final installment on the creation of "Flores".  You can see that I did add more blues and lavenders across the entire background, added a few more splashes of color and details in the city buildings, and added the man in his dugout.  Other posts on this painting can be seen at

• Flores - Next Steps after Aerial Perspective
• Flores - Aerial Perspective (first post)

Click here to Contact April

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

Aerial Perspective, "Flores"

Since I love color and texture in my watercolor paintings, I often forget about aerial or atmospheric perspective.  I'm working on a painting where the city and water reflections will be bold in color; the water is intended to contain the focal point. I fear that using my normal very bold colors throughout the painting will end up causing the painting to lose focus, so I spent some time looking at work by Joseph Zbukvic and Thomas W. Schaller. They are experts at soft muted paintings. I felt following their example might keep me from losing aerial perspective in this painting.  I remember, when I first took watercolor classes, being told my paintings needed more aerial perspective.  My struggle with this has continued for years in many of my landscapes.  I get so wrapped up and excited by the color that - before I know it-  things that are supposed to be in the distance have too much color to appear distant.

To help me control this tendency I printed segments of Zbukvic's paintings.  I will keep these printouts by my side as I paint and hope they will remind me of my goal.   The picture in this blog is a small segment of the painting of the furthest back building and hills.  I think I'm heading in the right direction.  

Many people just add blues in the distant areas.  I wanted more variety in my painting so in addition to using more blues in the hills I added lavender and just a hint of a golden glow.  In fact I put down the golden glow first so some brightness still showed through the haze.  Lots of water provided the look of fog.  At this point it looks very dreamy as if fairies could fly out of the trees and dance across the sky.  I hope I can maintain this appearance as the painting progresses.

I'll post updates as the painting develops.

Click here to Contact April

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.