This is a larger watercolor than I usually paint, at 15″ x 22″. The color is also far more restrained than my usual watercolor experiments. There is also a touch of acrylic in this mostly watercolor effort.
Upon completion with the watercolor paint, I felt a need to lighten areas of the figure but found it was too late to lift those areas with a damp brush. So, I enlisted a few strokes of acrylic. Perhaps I’ll try a little liquid frisket next time to hold the lightest lights.
Elenacaravela's Blog 
Wonderful work~
Have a nice day ☆elenacaravela
Love this one very much.
David.
This makes me feel a sense of nostalgia; the colors are like a hand-colored photo or old postcard. Very nice!
Oh, this is so beautiful..somehow a sense of a memory about it..she looks just a little lost in time..I love the muted tones too, perfect..
Thank you Cath:)
Love the expression!
Thanks!
The restrained color palette gives this painting the look and feel of an old sepia toned photo. I love this. Was it done as a comission?
Nope, but it sparked a new series:)
This piece does quite effectively what many of yours do: hints at a story, but lets the viewer write it. It’s wonderful to see this watercolor as a counterpoint to some of your more colorful, more loosely painted Wednesday watercolors. Along with your portrait from the last post, it’s a reminder of just how broad your talent can be.
Also, I love how the figures (?) in the background balance with the main figure. The piece wouldn’t work at all without them.
Gabriel, I couldn’t agree more about the back round figures. I’m beginning to plan a few more wc with this sort of theme, and I remember thinking the same thing last night;) I thank you very very much for your kind comments. Much appreciated!
A lovely painting with a somewhat melancholic mood, or a feeling of time gone by. I like you limited palette. A picture that makes you think; why is the girl looking so sad? Are the people in the background running around happily or has something devastating happened?
Otto, thanks so much for you comment. I so pleased that the piece took your thoughts in the direction it did.
Wow! Incredible, like your paintings always are 🙂
The beach feeling of this one touched my heart.
Love & Light
Fillandra
Many many thanks Fillandra:)
Once upon a time…
This delicious painting makes me travel back in time to my childhood.
I would love to have that kind of simplicity and happiness again.
Isn’t it a magical time? Unabashed feeling and expression.
Perhaps one day I’ll understand all about acrylics and water colors, but for now…all I know is that I love this! Her little chubby knees are so cute. Love what you’ve done in the background with the people. Another awesome piece of work!
Thanks so much Robin!
This is very gentle Elena, nostalgic as everyone says, and a little sad! But beautifully done.
Thanks very much Anna.
Your painting really touches me, the beautiful little girl, almost a baby really, looks so alone, perhaps a lone survivor of some tragedy?
Thank you very much.
Wow Elena! Just Wow!
Thanks so much Uday!
Oh Elena . . . sob, heartbreak, smile, so touching and gorgeous!
Thank you very much Patti!
This is gorgeous. You really captured the moment.
Thank you!
Wonderful dream like atmosphere. beautifully rendered work.
Thank you very much.
Wow! And such a big canvas too! She could easily have been swallowed by the wide expanse behind her but instead she stands right out and demands attention! Beautiful detail in her face and tiny limbs!
Thank you very much Cindy!
I like the feeling of “the olden days” given by the colors. The strokes with acrylic are well done.
With transparent colors you can often take off color with water. The paper is also important :with Fabriano or Canson Montval or Fontenay it’ very easy to find the white paper.
i was working with an older paper that someone gifted to me, so the color did not lift as I would have hoped. But thank you. I’ll look for those specific papers!
I see this as a surrealism painting of the time and space.
—- somewhat common with early Dali even Chirico.
Bitter sweet faraway memory of the past.
Unforgettable image !
Thanks so much Yoshi!
Very beautiful painting, Elena. Such lovely a subject.
Thank you very much.
There’s certainly a warmth in colors, it gives it a human feel as a photograph of someone you personally know and cherish ~ your talent is magnificent !
You are very kind. Thanks very much!
For me the choice of palette creates an air of nostalgia – that small girl resmbles so much my sister in the mid-1950’s!!
Thank you Louis. She’s a member of my family-can’t say who or I may be throttled:)
I love it! The colors, the face expression, the pose… Great one.
Thank you Nuno!
It’s a beautiful painting, Elena! But what is frisket?
Thank you Richard! I’m referring to the liquid sort-it’s a rubbery thick liquid painted on a watercolor to hold the white of the paper while working with watercolor. The watercolor can easily seep into areas that you want to remain white. The frisket prevents that from happening. It is later removed with a pick up much like one uses to remove rubber cement.
Ah, Elena, I love the feeling of this watercolor. Delicately beautiful.
🙂
Much appreciated Marina:)
Beautiful. It really draws you in!
Thanks very much Micah.
I like the contrast of the busy crowd in the background with the little girl all alone. Have you ever tried gouache? I really like working with it. I have run into trouble with frisket in the past, and I still don’t know why it comes off easily sometimes and not others.
Yes, I’m with you. Frisket can create it’s own problems, but for little bits it can work pretty well. And yes, I like working with gouache very much, but I’m trying to push my experience with transparency. Sometimes I don’t succeed in keep it transparent;)
:O that’s a breathtaking piece!
Thanks very much!
Very nice painting, dear Elena. I really like the color combination. Thank you for sharing and I did painting and mode.
Have a wonderful day. Big hugs, much love, Stefania! 🙂
Thank you Stefania!
Utterly captivating, Elena. Another beautiful image!
VEry much appreciated!
Oh, this is beautiful. The range of tones does make it feel like long ago. It’s very moving.
Thank you very much Karen.
Interesting to see your comment about the restrained color. This painting has more vibrant color than I’m used to seeing in watercolor! Excellent!
Thanks very much Jeff. I tend to use every color in the spectrum in watercolor:)
I love this, the colors/hues really give the painting a nostalgic feeling.
Thank you Sofia.
I really like the soft muted colors. Great vintage feel to this painting and of course, a cute subject.
Thanks much:)
Stunning! You are very talented. I am totalling in awe of people that can paint the human figure.
Thanks very much!
I find painting and drawing children quite difficult, since their proportions are different than in adults and I can never capture it right. But your little girl is perfect! I like the position she’s in and that she is looking directly at the viewer. Stunning! And I agree with the previous commentators- the whole painting has a nostalgic feel to it. Beautiful work!
Thanks very much Jess. I find the key to drawing children is the forehead. Even if all the body proportions are smack on, the face gives it away. Since we grow into our heads as we grow, in general, the eyes of a small child begin somewhere at the half-way point. The younger the kid, the bigger the forehead. Naturally everyone is different, but when I see my drawing looks younger or older than my subject, I go and check the forehead first:)
Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately when I draw children they all look like deformed monkeys. But I never thought to look at their foreheads. I’ll be sure to check it first next time I’ll try to paint/draw a child. Thanks! 🙂
Beautifully innocent and nostalgic with its sepia feel. Lovely stuff!
Thanks Steven!
Lovely 🙂 I can see this as an old fashioned postcard or stamp. I love the color.
Thanks very much Allyson:)
THANK YOU FOR NOT IDENTIFYING THE CHILD IN THIS WATERCOLOR. EVEN AS AN OLD LADY, SHE STILL HAS THOSE “CHUBBY” THIGHS.
She’s still cute:)
I agree with Mary about the nostalgic feel. Very “vintage” and she is a cutie pie!!!
Thanks very much Crystal:)
I just love your artwork sooooo much. You embody everything perfect about watercolor. Such skill, talent, and a very keen eye. 🙂
This is wonderful Elena, it has a whimsical / nostalgic feel to it. Interesting to hear how you applied acrylic after you finished wc – I’ll bet the frisket would work perfectly. The little girl is adorable.
Thanks very much Mary. Live and learn-next time frisket:)