About Simon Schmidt

Simon Schmidt / @alarie

Watercolor fine art

Painting and drawing is a source of happiness for me. It's less the result that produces this happiness, but the process of seeing, understanding, visualizing, planning and especially painting. In all these fields there is so much to discover and to learn and that's what drives me.

In the recent years I grew more and more fascinated by the fresh and coincidental look of modern watercolor painting. Working with watercolors in such a way surely has a large element of accident, letting things happen and giving up control to a certain degree. But all this has to be within clear limits. Thinking about, planning and working within these limits is what is - for me - the interesting and ever challenging part of watercolors. It's a constant negotiation between how much needs to and how much can be done before the painting will lose its freshness and will just look forced.

I enjoy painting en plein air both in the city and in the nature a lot. With painting from photos it's easy to get caught in every little detail. When painting outdoors it's easier to focus on just those elements that are really necessary. Back in the studio I will then work mostly from the paintings and sketches I did on location.

Most of my subjects are city scenes, landscapes and people (mostly sketched in cafes).

I've been painting for over 10 years and I'm passionate about sharing my work with others. I hope you enjoy my art as much as I enjoy creating it.

Simon Schmidt