Painting Snow Trees

I took this picture during a quiet snowfall about two years ago. I love the shot, but I didn't quite know how to tackle it. With the larger format, it made it a little easier to comprehend.

I started it this evening. I used liquid frisket to get all the trees in, then I liberally splattered the frisket across the width of the scene. Then mixed up two small plastic containers of Indigo. For the over all blue base, I watered down the indigo and quickly spread it across the water saturated, 300 lb. stock. As this layer was about 1/4 dry, I poured on a denser Indigo and a bit of Cadmium Red. It is on the floor drying at this moment.

When it is dry, after I put in some subtle shadows of the feature trees, carrying the image down below the horizon, I will platter some the indigo on to the scene, to loosen it up a bit.

Confidence with watercolour as a medium comes from careful planning. It also forces you to discipline yourself because, if after the frisket is removed, I am not satisfied with the results, I will have to start over and approach it again.

It is pretty rare that I take a picture of a scene and paint it right away. Some I've painted up to ten years later. For some reason each shot requires me to be "ready". I don't know where this comes from, but I'm used to it. What is it that gets you to pick up a brush and render a scene? When I'm finished with the painting, I will post it here and we can both see if my interpretation is good or not.

See you then.