trees – Page 34 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Under Mirkwood

Aspen Grove

I painted this using multiple layers of frisket on the paper. On the first round, I blocked off the right side of the aspens. Once I was fairly content with the overall image, I added frisket over various areas, such as the greens and browns of the foliage. I made lines to represent trees, and dots to suggest a glint of sunshine on a leaf. I did this three or four times on dried paint. In the end, I removed the frisket, left some areas white, and painted over other white areas with transparent glazes, hoping to pull together different areas of the painting. Finally, I made small dots of colored paint in the foliage, to suggest leaves.

This study was to utilize what I have been learning from the experience of following Rick Surowicz’s YouTube videos, as well as what I learned just painting. This is the first time I conscientiously laid out a plan or method on how to approach the painting. First, drawing. Then frisket. Next, washes of green, gold, brown, and oranges broad across the paper and blurred using a spray bottle and blotting. From there, details, contrast, and so on. Overall, I think my painting has taken a turn for the better.

In the Woods

Inktober is done and gone . . . this past week I’ve been sewing like a fiend, last night there was a mass shooting down the road from us with a thirteen people killed and eighteen wounded – more – there are fires to the east and west of us, and the wind is blowing like crazy. There is peace in ink.

Cold & Cloudy

Inktober continues apace, but I have been going 100 mph for the past week. No time to focus on a theme. This morning, though, I thought about cold mountains and winter – where I live, it’s in the mid-80s to low-90s, and I could use a bit of blustery weather.

Here is a mountain – inky for Inktober

And here is the same scene, in cold and wintry colors.

I used to do a lot of Chinese painting, and I tried to incorporate the clouds in a rather Chinese-painting fashion, in ink and watercolor. Hints, not direct; subtlety rather than blatant. I’m not sure if it worked for the clouds between the mountains, but I definitely like the chilliness and fogginess of the scene overall.

And the Show Goes On

July is nearly over, and it has been a rather lumpy month. I spent about a week in Reno with one of my favorite people in the world – Stef, an old room mate from college – and came home with a stomach bug that got better and then didn’t. She got the same thing and got better, but I’ve been malingering. It’s really damned dull to not have loads of zip and then hellishly hot weather to add into the mix. So wah, wah, wah.

Let’s move on to other things!

We had a tie-dye birthday party (and used the bbq sauce from the last entry on the meat, which was quite tasty, I will say) and made a bunch of old hippy type stuff. I’ll post about that at another time when I get some photos together. As a group, we’re pretty talented.

And I’ve been doing some watercolors, too; I haven’t done anything pretty much since returning from Reno 3 weeks ago. Today I just put it on my agenda and decided to do simple representations of trees. A few weeks earlier I did windows. And since I am not especially sure what else to say, here ya go, I then I am off for a walk with the esposo and the dogs.