
If you have been following me for a bit, you know that I have enrolled in a lot of painting classes. This is a study from my watercolor class, online with Andy Evansen. His work covers a lot of subjects, but I like his ones of the natural world the best. So, lazy me, I stick with his photos of the wilds, but will, at some point, take the dive and do something with buildings and people, and maybe even cars.
I used frisket to create the hard edges of the birch trees and the snowy areas of the logs in the foreground. The other white areas, the snow, is plain paper, no frisket. After the frisket dried, I did the sky, sunlit mountain, and dark background. Then, a bit of the foreground. Finally, the frisket was removed.
When the frisket was gone, I worked left to right, creating the shadows of the birch trees. Upon those shapes I added heavier paint to create the blacks characteristic of birch trunks. Various other details got worked in. White gouache came in handy to clean up some of the birch tree trunks as well as to create the fine branches of the trees toward the top of the painting.
The only thing I have some issues with is the very large birch tree on the right, the one which stretches top to bottom. It is not quite right, but that is something for correcting later on. Despite that, I am pleased with what I am learning, and creating, with all these classes. Painting and drawing and artwork is in the forefront of my mind these days, and it is beginning to show in more “successful” paintings from my viewpoint.
9×12 CP 140# Arches paper; primarily watercolor with a touch or two of gouache. (Maybe 3 or 4 or more….)
Excellent rendition of birch trees, can’t see what’s wrong with the one on the right, so all good!
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Thanks, Fraggy! I appreciate your comments!!
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Well done! I think the one on the right you mentioned looks fine! Don’t see an issue. I paint in oils, mostly landscapes.
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Thanks for the feedback. The lower left of the birch trunk in question is a bit too much of a white stripe . . . easily fixed! I will come to your blog to look for some paintings, or if you have a website for your paintings, let me know. 😉
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I actually haven’t placed any of my paintings on my blog as of yet. Working on doing that in near future though.
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Please let me know. I would like to see t hem!
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Just posted one of my paintings moments ago. Have a few more I am going to post as well. Working on a portrait of my Siberian Husky…….she passed away about 3 years ago. She was 17-1/2. So far I am surprising myself how it is turning out. I don’t usually do portraits, have only done one dog before…….than one was easy, the dog was totally white. LOL
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