This morning I sat down to practice skies. If I were to do the ones in my neighborhood, they would be blue. That’s all. Just blue. Clouds are not a common sight where I live!
Anyway, so I scooted around YouTube and found some videos that had some good ideas. One showed how to do lifting with tissue, advising not to scrub too hard on lightweight paper. Important to know – I scrubbed a bit of the paper off. Others used some rather wild color combinations, or certainly ones I haven’t thought about using. Add to that, I wasn’t trying to accomplish anything more than playing, so it was altogether a fun way to start the morning.
This first one is a combination of Sodalite Genuine, by Daniel Smith, Ultramarine Blue, and Quinacridone Gold. The Sodalite is a color I picked up on a whim, put in my palette, but had never used until this morning. It granulates wonderfully, and is a good charcoal grey. I think I will be using it again.
Then I started another one, wetting the paper once, letting it soak in a second time, and then wetting it again. I am using Canson XL watercolor paper, which has a nice texture, is about 90#, and is a student grade paper. I like it because it is working out really well for my needs.
After wetting the paper, I decided to start with a gradated wash, using the reverse side of another painting (to save paper, eh?). The brush I used was a flat with rather stiff bristles, and the result was lines throughout the wash. Oh, well. Then I simply lifted the color off. Then I began adding Carbazole Violet and Quinacridone Gold.
And then the phone rang! My brother and his wife in Wisconsin calling, to wish us well for the holidays . . . . the painting was forgotten for the next several minutes, and this is the result.
Regardless as to whether or not this last looks like clouds, the colors have a lot of potential for a dramatic sky some day. I really like the colors! I like both, actually.
White space. No mud. I must be doing something right!
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