The thought to capture this site in watercolours came my last morning in the area. My first trip established the frontal facade as east-facing thus ideal when lit by the first rays of the Sun. I made a 2 mile trek through the woods in the dark to obtain the imagery I wanted. One thing that stuck me in the first minutes that the walls became illuminated was how quickly the coloration changed, from pinkish to gamboge in under 10 minutes. I was amazed by the impact of dawn light on ancient stone.

But to begin with I did an exploation of the features of the site. Below are two of many quick sketchs at Berg Frankenstein:

The photos below show the rapid color change as the Sun rose. I wanted some of the pink of the ealier shots, but the ultimate horizontal layout I went with was captured a few minutes later. I worked from 2 photos, one for layout, the other for color. In the end i feel that I went too conservative with the pink and am considering another pass at this painting. I'd also like to dial back the perspective on the iron doorway.

As stated on the watercolour page, history depicts 17th century occupant of the castle and possible model for Victor Frankenstein Johann Conrad Dippel as the developer for the formulation of the pigment Prussian Blue. Lighting later in the day displays the stone as having a greyish blue hue. The far warmer dawn coloration opened the door for greater chromatic constrast between the illuminated and shadowed areas. To pay homage these shadowed areas where painted with exclusive use of Prussian Blue.