Happy Thanksgiving!

Drying Time
Watercolor 9" x 12" Mats to 14" x 16"

For those of you who do not live in an area where tobacco is grown or have never traveled through parts of the United States where tobacco is grown and dried, I wanted to let you know that the watercolor above is of tobacco drying in a barn.  Tobacco is grown in the southern United States, especially in Virginia and if often seen drying in large open ended barns.  Although I don't smoke, I like the color of the dried tobacco leaves and the throw back to earlier times.  Virginia tobacco leaves go from green, to yellow, to brown.  And my painting above shows some leaves in various stages of drying.

In my painting above, I focused on the contact of the dark interior of the barn and the lighter wood of the barn, and of course, the various shades of the drying tobacco.

Watercolor tip:
The tobacco leaves were first painted yellow and using a wet on wet technique, shades of yellow ochre, burnt sienna, and Van Dyke Brown were dropped in and allowed to blend.  After the tobacco leaves were dry, veins were added.  Color was lifted to lighten the veins, then Sepia was used to add a little detailed veining on the rest of the leaves.

Although this is not a traditional Thanksgiving painting, it reminds of the the fall season, harvest, and the pilgrims who settled the United States.

Happy Painting and Happy Thanksgiving!

Karen