Woman at the river

Since a National Geographic reference was the topic of the previous post, I thought I’d add this image as well. This watercolor was completed about 8 years ago on watercolor paper.

The article was about the importance of a certain Indian river to the life of the people that surrounded it. I don’t recall the name of the river or the issue of the magazine where I found the picture. If you happen to know, be sure to let me know in the comments below.

This watercolor doesn’t look like most other watercolors because it was made in a very slow and detailed way, giving rise to an opaque finished piece. Watercolors are known for their transparency and accidental effects, so many purists might think that i’m killing the essence of watercolor by painting in this way. My response is: I like how it looks, so there. Besides, limiting the ways a medium is used because of “the way it’s supposed to look” puts an unnecessary barrier on the range of your work.