Playing with Watercolors at Last!

"Three Friends" - 2017 Pat Dolan - watercolor- 12"x16" with mat

These three little girls are companion preschoolers with our great-granddaughters. Capturing their joyful expressions and delightful embrace was great fun - as well as a bit of a challenge. Painting blonde hair is a challenge in and of itself, to be sure. And with the sunshine brightly illuminating the hair of the two girls on the left - and with slightly different shades of blonde.... it was fun, of course, as well as a challenge!

Here's an earlier version - I wasn't happy with the facial shadows, to say the least. Here, I'm still working towards a better representation of these three little girls...

And finally, it helped to create more contrast in the clothing, with highlights reflecting on the girls' faces. Toning down the bluish shadows and heightening the rosy hues, I think the painting came together more successfully.

Oh, it's wonderful to be back playing with watercolors! I have nearly a dozen drawings on heavy-duty watercolor paper ready to go. Guess I'll be busy for a little while!!!