Chess In the Park

Sometimes a painting started with a background and no preconceived idea is a good way to jump start creativity. I started this little painting on a quarter sized sheet of 140 # watercolor paper just as a warm up activity using colors wet on wet with "stuff" laid on it to create texture. When it was damp I did a little stamping and stenciling with checkerboard shapes. When it was it dry and removed the stuff it seemed to say "chess" to me. So I researched some shapes for chess pieces; with those in place I needed something as a center of interest and then I thought of all the scenes of men playing chess in the parks around Europe. This one with the light of a late afternoon sun seemed perfect for the colors in my painting and the tree shape that was made by the stuff that I laid on the wet paint.