The colors of America include more than red, white and blue. They include soot, smoke and dedication.
Firemen at my local fire department graciously allowed me to photograph one day. Nothing much was going on, but everything was ready. Their lockers had everything there for a quick grab and go, including the fire pants, on the floor, ready to jump into.
This is an original watercolor painting of one locker, decorated with a tattered flag and smelling of smoke from the last emergency.
For the soot, I used raw umber violet, raw sienna and thalo blue, painted loose and dribbled with water to push it into the fabric texture.
What do you think?
