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In the new Summer 2025 edition of Watercolor Artist, we take an artistic road trip across the North American Continent—with paintings inspired by the coastal waters of Florida and the Canadian Maritimes, the rocky river waters of Montana, and the spectacular scenery of California’s High Sierras and Yosemite National Park, among other places.
In addition to seeing how these captivating watercolors capture the spirit of these unique landscapes, you’ll also find great tips and advice from our featured artists on a variety of topics, like how to gather different types of source material, how to test potential color palettes, how to mitigate painting in a dry climate, how to take your watercolors on your travels, and much more.
This collection of landscapes brought to my mind the words of the famous Woody Guthrie anthem, “This land is your land,” which I hummed a lot while working on the issue. What is the scenery that fires up your muse? If you’re inspired to express that emotional connection in your art, this issue is your creative kickstart.
Diane Chencharick finds inspiration in a varied landscape, but you can see that the artist—who spends time in both Florida and New Hampshire, and who grew up enjoying summers on the Great Lakes—channels a love of water into her art. She used a watercolor-pouring technique to set the stage for the movement and multiple color combinations seen in Swirling Waters (watercolor on paper, 22×30).The rugged beauty of California’s High Sierras inspired Marilyn Wear’s High Sierra Sparkle (watercolor on paper, 12×20). “Choosing the right colors is crucial,” she says, “because reference photos tend to look dull and lifeless, but punching up the color and contrast can really bring a painting to life. A hiking trip in Montana provided Jane Fritz with enough scenic material of sparkling, dancing river waters to inspire a series of paintings, including Shimmering (watercolor on paper, 21×14). “My aim is to portray a special place, far removed from everyday life,” she says.A few years ago, Laurel Lake McGuire and her husband sold their home, bought an RV, and spent most of following year traveling around the U.S. and the Atlantic provinces of Canada. The artist used started her painting, Autumn Fields (watercolor on paper, 12×12), working en plein air with her grab-and-go supplies, but she finished it in her makeshift RV studio. “That day was so cold that the paint was crackling on the page,” she says. “When I brought the piece inside, I put down more details following the lines of the crackling; it gave me something to work from.”
The emotional connection these artists have with the landscape plays a significant role in the work they produce. Such attachments contribute to the creation of paintings that are much more than a pictorial translation of a scene; they are emotional responses that encourage viewers to feel as well as see. Discover great tips and insights from these artists, and much more, in the Summer 2025 issue of Watercolor Artist available on newsstands, and in our Artists Network shop.
About the Author
Anne Hevener is the Editor-in-Chief in the Fine Art Group at Golden Peak Media, working on content for Artists Magazine, Watercolor Artist, Pastel Journal and ArtistsNetwork.com.
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