A Head for the Hills | Robin Purcell Watercolor Landscapes
“I was probably warped by doing paint by numbers as a child,” quips Robin Purcell, alluding to the intriguing patchwork-like quality and bold colors of her engaging watercolors. “My painting style is all about editing the shapes I see in nature to make a statement about the movement. It’s important to observe them from life so I can choose which ones make sense to put in, and, just as important, which ones to leave out.”
The artist, known for her unique interpretations of the Northern California landscape that surrounds her home, says she hit upon her signature style while flying into Oakland for the first time. “I was struck by the patterns the ridges and oaks made on the hills in the East Bay,” she recalls. “However, I don’t think I’d paint in this style if I didn’t live near Mount Diablo, which I visit about once a week to hike or paint. The lively rumpled landscape created by the faults is exciting to me, with its chaparral that looks like brocade, and its dramatic patterns of light and dark from the oaks on the grass hillsides.”
Learn more about Purcell and her techniques in the June 2015 issue of Watercolor Artist, available now in print or as a download at NorthLightShop.com (and on newsstands April 21).
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