Back to Painting

I spent an afternoon playing with my paints.

The inspiration is a photo taken about 25 years ago

the water cascades down a rock-strewn  river bed passing trees and rocky ground on its way

 washes were dropped wet in wet onto the sketch and allowed to move around on the paper

Although there is very little colour remaining in the old photograph, I remember the summer day we went on our hike and picnic

the trees were lush greens

while the green paint was still damp, I pressed into it with the stem of my aquarelle brush, creating marks where the paint could deepen, or at other times, pressing the colour away, leaving either the colours of the undercoat or the white of the paper remaining.

it's a fun technique

a bit of a close-up shows the markings as branches

a better look
branches indicated by wiggles and squiggles on the wet or damp  140 lb. watercolour paper

more trunks and branches added on the right

some golden browns and siennas indicate rocks, boulders, and the earth

defining some of the rocks


We had company arrive, so the painting was tucked away in the sunroom cupboard..........

finishing the earth on the hill and the rocky ground appeals to me
the big challenge will be to capture the frothy, rushing water in both the distance and the foreground

guess I'm going to have to drag the painting out of its hiding place


Hope you're enjoying the day.

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz