Watercolor - How I started to paint Historic Homes of Chadds Ford

I thought with my newest show beginning January 30th at the Malvern Retreat Center, I would show you how I began the process of creating this painting. 
First I thought of the many homes in Chester County that are historic that would make a great painting.  I have a number of watercolors of some of these homes, so I decided to create a new panoramic painting with four historic buildings.  

So I gathered my photos first of these buildings..... I have taken these over the past 30 years so there are some differences.  The John Chadd House, Washington and Lafayette's headquarters and the Barns Brinton home.  

Then I spent time sketching each home and finally cut out the homes to make sure they were properly sized, checking out the size of the windows and doors.  Here are the cutouts.

Then after selecting my watercolor paper, I spent hours drawing the homes, painting the background and finally painting each individual building.   So to see the finished painting that is over 30 " long, come to Malvern Retreat Center.    

Malvern Retreat House ART SHOW

MALVERN RETREAT HOUSE ART SHOW

This show with over 100 artists takes place from January 30th to February 3rd from 11:00 am to 8:00 pm, except it closes at 4:00 pm on Sunday, February 3rd.  There is a complimentary wine and cheese party on Feb. 1st.

I have been working on a number of new paintings for this upcoming show. My newest watercolor contains four historic buildings of Chadd's Ford in one scene that I have worked on for awhile.   There will be 4 of my large original watercolors and 10 small original watercolors all framed.  In addition, I will have a portfolio of 15 pieces from limited edition prints, giclees and original watercolors.  

 This show is organized by the same committee that ran the Immaculata Art Show so 35% of the sales are a donation for the Malvern Retreat House.   Go to this link for my bio for this show. http://www.flickr.com/photos/malvernretreathouse/8318508542/in/set-72157631590266698.

The show is located at Malvern Retreat House,  315 South Warren Avenue,  Malvern, PA 19355