Breezy Palms at the shore, watercolor 5x7 original painting by PJ Cook.

Inspiration

There are fewer and fewer natural spaces along the shore. This stretch of land is now being developed along the Fort Lauderdale Beach with a large house. Before the land was transformed I took several photos of the fallen branches and natural wind-blown palms.

With that in mind I approached this painting with wet into wet painting. Letting the color blend and flow at will. As area’s dried I added darker values with wet on dry painting. With the darkest values on the interesting palm tree as my focal point.

While the initial washes were still wet I scraped out paint where I wanted lighter valued palm fronds. Look for these areas in the painting. They add nice texture to a watercolor painting.

I finished up with small details in the foreground. This 5″ x 7″ watercolor focuses on the breezy palms that bend in the strong wind coming off the ocean.