I finally got back to the studio today, We've been busy finishing up with the last of the big move up here to Truckee (yes still at it), and getting ready to put our house in Folsom on the Market. Brought up some more art supplies. I need a bigger studio!! Or perhaps I have too many supplies? No. Never.
Anyway, I had fun today with my painting. I felt free to do what I wanted for the first time in a while. It always takes some time to get going again after a trip, but today I was determined to just have fun and explore. I need to do this every time!
The workshop went very well last weekend in Sacramento. I can't wait to do it again. I thought it might be a good idea to demonstrate what I taught - the Color Wash Method - so here ya go..
I started with the varnish wash of pure color. You can see I let it run. No worries here because it just adds to the abstract glowy thing that I like. My goal is to allow some of the washy color to show through to create abstract shapes. The scene is snowy with shadow in the front and very little afternoon light coming through from the distance. The sky wash was a pink created with pure rose on my brush dipped into the "sauce" or varnish. I painted on top of the pink wash while it was still wet, which allows me to manipulate the edges and blend when I want to. If I don't want the blend, I use a loaded brush with a light touch. I like painting into and around the trees with the sky and mountain color in a negative way in order to describe the foreground trees in a more abstract way.
I blocked in the bushes in the foreground using Transparent Oxide Red mostly with a little mixed violet added to the brush at the same time. No mixing yet. Then I began to add the opaque paint on top of the wash. I also added some mid-tone Yellow Ochre colors for some of the lighter areas to describe the branches a little bit.
Here I began to paint the shadow and light areas of the snow. I was hoping to create a nice design of shadow to create interest and a nice pattern of light that will lead the viewer into the painting. I concentrated on letting some of the abstract shapes come to life on their own while painting around them with a loose and loaded brush stroke.
I finished the shadow area of the snow in the foreground and moved into the background again to manipulate the tree limb shapes while softening and/or describing them.
I really loaded up the brush for some final strokes....
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