Watercolor Artist - USA (2019-02)

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ABOVE

Evening, St. George’s

(watercolor on paper, 14x11)

is a painting of the home of

Joseph Stockdale, in the

historic town of St. George’s

on the eastern end of

Bermuda. Stockdale founded

the island’s fi rst newspaper.

The composition, in a vertical

format, reinforces the

narrowness of Printer’s Alley.

OPPOSITE

Blizzard on Fifth Avenue

(watercolor on paper, 30x22)

is a north-facing painting of

Fifth Avenue at 12th Street in

New York City. The cold,

dense atmosphere obscures

color and distant buildings.

It’s a tonalist painting in

some ways. I placed the

fi gure in the lower right of the

composition in stark contrast

to the looming buildings.

I

think of my landscapes as if they’re portraits—“portraits of places.”

Some of my most constant landscape muses have been the cities of

New York, Philadelphia and Venice, plus the island of Bermuda. h ese

distinct locations have provided me with the opportunity to explore

an endless variety of atmosphere, light, color and texture, enhanced

by seasonal variations and changing times of day.

Water is integral to both Venice and Bermuda, in more than one way. For

instance, both Venice and Bermuda are humid. h e moist air impacts

visibility constantly in both locations, whereas it only occasionally af ects

Philadelphia and New York City in a signii cant way. Humidity can both

intensify and diminish visibility.

On the other hand, a location’s latitude, or how far it is from the equator,

af ects how we experience light. Venice is the most northern of my muses; New

York City and Philadelphia are on similar latitudes; and Bermuda is the most

southern, sitting several hundred miles of the coast of the Carolinas. h e

abundant sunshine makes Bermuda the most naturally colorful, while the

JAMES TOOGOOD

MAKES SUBJECTS

OF THREE CITIES AND

ONE TINY ISLAND IN

THE MIDDLE OF THE

ATLANTIC FOR HIS

LANDSCAPE “PORTRAITS.”

By James Toogood