Quickly Painting the "Country"

El Campo
Acrylic on Watercolor Paper
on 12 x 9 in/30.5 x 22.9 cm
Copyright Byrne Smith 2016

I had some remnants of a small block of watercolor paper that was sitting around just asking to be used. So I did.

I had recently returned from a road trip to the southwest part of the state that lets you enjoy some rural areas out in the "country" (el campo in Spanish). Although you're never far from huge metro areas, you are able to see prairies and meadows and rolling hills with scenic vistas of trees and scrub brush among other things. Of course, it's hard to feel very isolated when you're speeding along the Interstate with a herd of other cars and trucks, but if you look out the window you can see it.

A sunny, warm day (and warm winter, actually) was perfect for picture-taking.

With my remnant watercolor paper I quickly painted today's image in less than 20 minutes. Sometimes I like to dash off paintings such as this and attempt to capture the fleeting moment racing by. Painting quickly makes you concentrate on the bigger shapes and colors and not dwell on any details--a good way to help you paint more loosely

I hope you like it and are able to paint a few quick paintings this week, too.