Sitting Pretty

by Joel Deutsch

Title

Sitting Pretty

Artist

Joel Deutsch

Medium

Painting - Watercolor On 140# Rough Paper

Description

This is a halfsheet watercolor on 140# Arches Watercolor Paper

Well, I see that I�m living in the past. I finished this draft on 06/28/2016. I�m delighted with the painting, but I think I should have thought a bit more about the composition before I began sketching. This is a slightly cropped version of Front Row Seats.

We were on the way home from a Mt. Pisgah camping trip. Instead of catching I-40 east from Asheville we were �taking the long way home.� We stopped at Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway to see if the Catawba Rhododendrons were in bloom. They were, but we were a day or two late for the peak of the bloom. (There�s no predicting flowers, but I digress�) Anyhow, the short hike up to the Craggy Gardens Overlook is worthwhile at any time of the year � not so good in winter at -40℉, thats when the rhododendrum leaves are rolled up as tight as the best Cuban cigars. But, the highest sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway are usually closed, except to cross country skiers when it�s that frigid. (I may have to put this description in my Blog�) Since Craggy is over a mile high it has a great view and the air is always delightful � even when you know that your destination is wrapped in humid ninety plus degree air. I wanted to take a photo just of the view, but there was a couple sitting on the outcropping beyond the observation area and they were not going to move. Can you blame them. So, I took my photos with the couple. The woman on the outcropping was busy taking selfies. I loathe selfies. When I got home and looked at the shots on my computer I knew I couldn�t post them on FAA because you could recognize the couple. No worries, I decided to simply paint the scene and leave them out of it. I had already started to paint the watercolor when I realized that they were an important part of the story. So, I changed the name of the watercolor from View from Craggy Gardens to Front Row Seats. By the time I was finished with the subject I was thinking of the painting as Sitting Pretty.

I�ve decided to post the watercolor both ways, even though that makes them compete with each other. Now I�m moving on to Tennessee sunsets, but I do want to get back to this subject and apply the lessons learned in doing the painting. Rule Eleven: After you've done the painting you know how you should have painted it.

Uploaded

July 30th, 2016

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