Natasha's View

I attended a wonderful workshop by Frank Francese, organised by the Mississippi Watercolor Society, in September 2003.

Frank really emphasized value drawings, and showed us a great way to complete them using markers. Here are some of the value sketches I drew during the course. The first two I drew with markers and added the values with payne’s gray watercolor. The second two I sketched with black marker, scanned, and then filled in the values on the computer.

Dot's Cafe - Natasha Thomas

Our House - Natasha Thomas

Polana - Natasha Thomas

New York - Natasha Thomas

Usually I paint about one half-sheet watercolor a month. Frank paints very fast, with big brushes and lots of color, and never draws on his paper at all. I managed to paint 7 (SEVEN!!) half-sheets during the five days of the workshop following his teaching.

Here are some of the paintings I did in the workshop.

Dot's Cafe, Philadelphia, MS by Natasha Thomas

22 x 15 inches
Watercolor

Our House, Sept 2003 by Natasha Thomas

22 x 15 inches
Watercolor

Polana Hotel, Maputo, Mozambique by Natasha Thomas

22 x 15 inches
Watercolor

New York City, Downtown Winter by Natasha Thomas

22 x 15 inches
Watercolor

Kolmanskop by Natasha Thomas

Finished August 2003
7 inches x 5 inches
Arches 140 lb CP and Rembrandt Artist Quality Watercolors.
This is a study for a larger painting, based on a photo I took in the ghost town of Kolmanskop, Namibia. Originally the town was built by a diamond mining company in 1908. When the diamonds ran out the town was abandoned and the sand dunes took over.

Watertower #2 by Natasha Thomas

Finished March 2003
15 inches x 22 inches (half-sheet)
Arches 140lb CP and Rembrandt Artist Quality Watercolors.
A larger version of the Philadelphia watertower with a slightly different composition to the previous quarter sheet version.

Watertower #1 by Natasha Thomas

Finished February 2003
9 inches x 12 inches (quarter-sheet)
Arches 140 lb CP and Rembrandt Artist Quality Watercolors.
This is a value study for a larger painting, of the Philadelphia, MS watertower on Beacon St.

Our House January 2003 by Natasha Thomas

Finished Dec 2002.
12 inches x 16 inches
Waterford 140 lb CP and Rembrandt Artist Quality Watercolors.

Beacon St, Philadelphia by Natasha Thomas

Finished November 2002.
12 inches x 9 inches
Arches 140 lb CP and Rembrandt Artist Quality Watercolors.
This project was painted for the Watercolor Workshop “Hometown” project.

Beacon St, Philadelphia #2 by Natasha Thomas

Finished November 2002.
10 inches x 14 inches
Arches 300 lb CP and Rembrandt Artist Quality Watercolors.
This was painted as a slightly enlarged version of a previous painting.