Curtain of Rain

"BNSF (Cajon Puddle)"
watercolor on paper, 2013
9" x 12.5" (22.86cm x 31.75cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Here's a recent work, a trio of BNSF locomotives, called a consist, passing through a curtain of rain, a sudden desert downpour, the kind that gives rise to flash floods.

The foreground puddle helped define the ground plane and gave the painting a cool starkness, like cut glass, hard sharp edges to play against the softer edges of middle and background. It also adds that element of danger, much like a lightening strike out of the blue, the idea of sudden downpours and flash floods. Otherwise the painting would (only) be a nice pleasant rain shower. So the rain puddle becomes the vehicle for that idea of danger, you can't miss it.
It is more on the man vs nature theme.

This is one of three styles or techniques I use in watercolor. It is traditional methods on watercolor paper but simplified, meant to have a more psychological impact. See this concrete plant, this river, and this lonely home for others.
My other traditional style is more hard edged and detailed or I as prefer to call it, clarified (Clarity). Another artist referred to it as intricate which I also prefer. Some treat 'detailed' as a bad word.

This is always a nice relief from the more intricate work which usually takes more planning, a tighter drawing and more careful application from the start. See this truck, this sulfur pile, and these two.

Here I focus on the big shapes, the main idea and how they communicate emotive qualities. This is more intuitive.
I like working these different ways, tight vs loose, going back and forth between the two. Both feed and compliment each other.
Doing the tighter work keeps these looser ones from getting too far out of control and doing these looser freer works reminds me to maintain expressive painterly qualities and keep it fresh.
I can't imagine spending my entire artistic career tied to one thing or style.221