Southern California Morning Watercolor Painting

 'San Clemente Sunrise"

My latest original watercolor painting; I love the early mornings in San Clemente.

Original Painting California Landscape and Sky by JC Strong

The winds blow from the inland valley to the ocean. These “Santa Ana” winds can transform a sky. The colors at sunset looked lush and delicate at the same time. (The area is actually around San Clemente, California.)

Painting this work was a matter of problem solving. If I realy think about it, most of my work is a matter of pushing and pulling until the story is completed.

I wanted the colors in the sky to tell the story but I needed to anchor the painting. It seems to me placing the tree at the lower right-hand corner, plus the darker values in the landscape did the job. I painted the edges as you can see in the image below. See additional detail in my Etsy Shop.