Where Light, Memory, and Quiet Work Meet

A tribute to ordinary mornings, sunlit homes, and forgotten chores

About the Painting Process

This watercolor belongs to my ongoing series “Other Times”, inspired by old black-and-white photographs. After several recent works with darker palettes and more intricate scenes, I felt the need to paint something a little “fresher”—with brighter tones, more sky, and more green.

The reference photo immediately evoked memories of painters I deeply admire: Edward Hopper, Carl Larsson, and Winslow Homer. Their works often depict everyday family life—domestic tasks, children playing, and houses bathed in sunlight against lush green backdrops. Paintings such as Hopper’s High Noon still live in my subconscious, and this piece became a small homage to that tradition.

The subject itself is not overly complex, but the true challenge lay in capturing the calm, timeless atmosphere of a sunny morning where a humble family devotes itself to outdoor chores by their wooden home. My aim was to evoke a quiet sense of nostalgia for other times, other tasks, and other games.

On the technical side, the greatest difficulty came in rendering the textures of grass—suggesting them without falling into excess detail. I kept the palette deliberately reduced, seeking balance: cool tones in the sky, rooftops, and patches of grass, and warm tones in the sunlit façade, the oranges and ochres of the ground, and the subtle hues of skin.

Materials and Technical Details

📐 Size: 36 × 48 cm
🔲 Format: Landscape
📄 Paper: Hahnemühle, 600 g, fine grain
🎨 Watercolors: Michael Harding
🖌️ Brushes: Escoda Reserva / Escoda Perla
📅 Date: August 2025
🎨 Palette: Cerulean blue, cobalt blue, manganese violet, orange, raw sienna

1. Composition and Structure

The composition centers around a modest wooden house, its façade facing the morning sun. Figures are arranged naturally: a woman tending to chores, children moving about, creating a sense of subtle life without dramatization. The architecture anchors the scene, while the surrounding greenery softens its edges. Everything flows horizontally, evoking both stability and calm.

2. Light and Narrative

Light is the protagonist here—direct, sharp, and generous. It strikes the house frontally, illuminating it with clarity, while casting distinct shadows on the ground and in the background trees. Unlike the fading twilight of some earlier works, this is the clear light of mid-morning: productive, steady, almost timeless. It tells the story of work and routine rather than introspection.

3. Color and Atmosphere

The palette is restrained yet carefully balanced. Cool blues dominate the upper sections of sky and rooftops, while warm siennas and oranges provide grounding in the earth and walls. A touch of violet brings quiet depth. Together, these tones evoke both freshness and nostalgia—an atmosphere that feels at once lively and distant, as if viewed through memory.

4. Detail and Texture

This painting is built on suggestion rather than elaboration. The grass, in particular, demanded a delicate balance: enough variation to feel alive, but never overworked. Wet-on-wet transitions allowed softness in sky and greenery, while selective dry touches defined edges and shadows. The overall texture remains open and breathable, in harmony with the subject’s simplicity.

5. Narrative and Reflection

Beyond the visual scene lies a meditation on daily life—on the quiet dignity of simple tasks, on families working and playing in sunlight. What might appear ordinary at first glance becomes, in painting, a tribute to lives lived outside the spotlight. The nostalgia it carries is not sentimental excess but a reminder of the rhythms of work, play, and care that once filled mornings like these.

Final Thoughts

“Morning Hours” is my homage to a certain kind of light, a certain kind of home, and a certain kind of memory. It doesn’t seek grandeur or complexity—it seeks honesty, the fleeting beauty of chores, laughter, and quiet under the morning sun.

You can explore the rest of my watercolor collection by clicking the link below.
🔗 [View Portfolio]