Figures in watercolour

I was talking about watercolours yesterday to an old colleague. For me the most important thing about watercolours is to keep them simple. Reduce a picture to a number of shapes. I tend to only do simple sketches like this to which they are highly suited but even lovely finished works should have the freshness and spontaneity about them.

The painting below by Winslow Homer is a fine example. His work done in the Caribbean during 1884/85 was in my opinion the best.