Monochromatic snow scene based on a photograph by Catherine Arcolio.
https://catherine-arcolio.pixels.com/
Cerulean blue, cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, Payne’s gray, with a little burnt sienna and white gouache.
Wednesday Watercolor – Winter Scene
Tag: winter wonderland
Update on my Watercolor Journey
It’s been over a month since I worked in watercolor paint. I’m disappointed in myself for dropping out of a self-imposed daily practice. Even though I am busy with two quilts, the desire to improve my painting skills is ever present. It’s time to pick up my brush again.
To that end, I signed up for a 10 week program of in-person art classes. The instructor is Ross Meyers, who is offering the classes at our local art association. After my first lesson (drawing), I got all ambitious again, remembering that I wanted to paint some snow scenes this winter.
You may recall that I am working on 4 by 6 inch pieces of Fabriano Studio cold press paper. In this little painting I am practicing with carbazole violet. I like the way that shadows on the snow pick up cool hues of blue and violet. The reference photo I am looking at is by Catherine Arcolio, who posts under the name Leaf and Twig. In her posts she combines beautiful photography with a brief poem.
The Two Of Us – leaf and twig (wordpress.com)
The second painting is another experiment with violet. I laid down a graduated wash and let it soak in briefly. Then with a rigger brush, I lifted the paint vertically.
The resulting image reminds me of snow blown onto tree trunks. I added some pencil marks to accentuate this impression.
For the next layer, I will come back with full strength violet and a rigger brush to make grasses in the foreground. I will use a dry brush technique and maybe some black paint to further refine the tree trunks.
After my next art lesson, I’ll write about what I am learning, and whether I think it is worthwhile.
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Oklahoma Snow Storm
Today the temperatures crept above 20 degrees for the first time in almost two weeks, so I ventured out of doors to document last night’s snowfall.
I did spend time today quilting on the Animal Friends quilt. I also prepared the quilt sandwich for the Round Robin piece, which is getting almost too big to fit under my sewing machine.
Tomorrow we may have more snow, but warmer temperatures will be here by Friday. And then, very soon, spring weather will arrive in Oklahoma.
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Quick Study: Winter Scene
I laid down this wash yesterday so it had plenty of time to dry. This is a weak blend of French ultramarine blue and sap green. It took mere minutes to paint.
This morning I had a firm idea of what I wanted to do. First I washed some water over the lower portion and blotted up the excess. This brightened the foreground. Using a one inch flat I brushed the sky with a stronger ultramarine wash and picked out the clouds with a tissue. The rest of the paint went on with the same brush using vertical strokes for the trees and horizontal slashes for the snow shadows.
At the end, I used the Sumi brush to work a little burnt sienna into the trees. It was this last step that caused the wonderful blooms. I love the texture that resulted.
Total time to make this impression: 15 minutes.
Pigments: Ultramarine blue, sap green, payne’s grey and burnt sienna.
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Winter Weather Strikes OK
I wanted to call this post Hunker Down Kind of Day” but alas, I had already used that title. Today was the first time this winter when the weather felt and looked like winter. I was really in the mood to celebrate the snow fall. So I decided to break out the Christmas gifts, which included a set of water color paints and a block of hot-press watercolor paper.
There ensued several moments of consternation after I opened the package of paper. It seriously looked like a solid block of wood. I could not for the life of me figure out how to remove the cover page and access the paper. But then, I remembered UTube. Ah. A quick search on line and I found a video that showed me what to do.
Next I loaded a Lindsay Weirich tutorial page in which she paints a fox in the snow. You can find it here.
https://thefrugalcrafter.wordpress.com/2019/11/28/sweet-sleepy-watercolor-fox/
Here is the reference photo that Lindsay used.
So cute!
I got out my new Arteza watercolors and began painting along with Lindsay. This image shows my work after I had applied the first set of washes.
While my paint was drying, I joined husband in the family room. He was sitting in front of the fireplace, basking in the warmth and reading. So cosy. I sat and knitted for a bit while he read. After thirty minutes, my paints were dry and I returned to the studio. It took less than an hour to finish this painting.
What fun. I’m glad that I have decided to learn how to watercolor.
Well, the snow has stopped. After lunch perhaps I will take a walk to enjoy the winter wonderland before tomorrow, when the snow and ice are likely to melt.
Daily Fiber 