The Blue Boat (as per Winslow Homer)

I started painting again once I was able to move around a bit in my sunroom/studio, (recovering from a broken hip and surgery), and continuing on with my art classes at the U of A extension department. I'm in my second watercolour class, and the assignment was to do a copy of a famous watercolour artist's painting. I chose Winslow Homer, a well known American artist at the turn of the century. This is my copy of  "The Blue Boat", which Winslow Homer painted in 1892. Here is a copy of his actual painting:

So I generally don't like to copy other painter's works, but it was an assignment for the class. I was fairly happy with the outcome, though, and feel that I did capture the essence of his painting. I like this style of painting, which is quite impressionistic, yet it does retain a feeling of realism.
I think that the watercolour is quite suited to this style of painting, and I am growing in appreciation of this medium.

San Juan River Overlook, Utah

I finally got back to posting an image from my trip to Arizona and Utah this fall. I've experienced a bit of a setback recently, having suffered from a broken hip due to a fall. But no matter, I will be back to getting out as soon as I can to do some more photography, as well as some painting.
This photo was taken the last day of my trip, on the San Juan River near Butte Utah. It was taken early in the morning at sunrise, with the sun at our backs. This shot I decided to process as a black and white image. The colour image was nice but it lacked something. I think I have a tendency to favour black and white images anyway, harkening back to my film shooting days with the Monochrome Guild guys.
The downside to this image was the cloudless sky, which is always a problem for me. The sky is just a blank area in the image which does nothing for the composition, so I cropped it quite a bit.
It is a nice composition with the S - shaped river in the centre of the shot, which is always a good compositional element. I also like the variation of tonality of the trees in the centre of the image.