Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Pike 1

I've started working through "John Pike Paints Watercolors" and this is the first exercise. There's lots wrong with this. . . but there are a few things right - ha. I really like how the tree trunks turned out, particularly the one in the foreground. I recently purchased an Arches block and this was the first painting I've done on it. I really like how the paint flows on this paper, particularly wet-in-wet -- the tree trunk I like was done with a very watery wash of gray made from French UM and Burnt Sienna, then while it was still wet, cad yellow was dropped in on the sunlit sides and an itty bitty bit of cad red was dropped in along the center, then a heavier concentration of the gray dropped onto the shaded side. After it was dry, an even heavier concentration of the gray was dry brushed and then a very small amount of dark green was dry brushed. I have a tendency to grab my #6 round and really need to start grabbing a larger brush! I'm looking forward to the next lesson in this book!

3 comments:

Lin said...

WAY TO GO, BREN!! YES, THOSE TREE TRUNKS ARE AWESOME! THE SUNLIGHT ON THEM IS GLORIOUS!!! GOOD GOOD JOB!

Teri said...

Yes, it sure is a wonderful painting. The trunks and the light shining through are great!

platitudinal said...

I must say that I fancy this one very much. There is a magical ambiance about the scene. The combination of the tall trees, the soft light coming out from inside the wood ... makes one wonder whether she's entering the elves' realm. You did this exercise beautifully.