One my favorite watercolor paintings is by John Singer Sargent. For me it's such a nostalgic, sweet image - didn't the clothes always smell better?! I dearly loved hanging wet clothes out on the line. The strong verticals of the unbroken white laundry makes it look still wet I think. You can't really tell exactly what any particular piece of clothing is - but it doesn't matter.
The laundry is all white and yet look at all the color Sargent uses to make it look even whiter! Soft ochers and cobalt blues, wet onto wet except for the bright sunlight pieces at the back. Pure white of the paper back in the back where the sun is hitting the strongest.
The roughly painted branches, leaves, and grass, are perfect staccato notes to counter the soft texture of the laundry. A perfect accompaniment. I'm not quite sure what the official name of the painting is but I just call it Laundry in the Sun.
The laundry is all white and yet look at all the color Sargent uses to make it look even whiter! Soft ochers and cobalt blues, wet onto wet except for the bright sunlight pieces at the back. Pure white of the paper back in the back where the sun is hitting the strongest.
The roughly painted branches, leaves, and grass, are perfect staccato notes to counter the soft texture of the laundry. A perfect accompaniment. I'm not quite sure what the official name of the painting is but I just call it Laundry in the Sun.
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