Morning View

Remnants of an Early Morning Storm 9x12 pastel, copyright 2012

The weather has been a bit crazy all year, and this week was no exception.  Saturday we sat bundled up in cold, cold rain until the soccer game we were watching was cancelled due to lightening.  By Monday I was reading a book outside in short sleeves.  The storms have been coming a bit more frequently and the wild swings in temperature have been making life interesting.

One such storm came during the night, breaking apart by morning.  Our neighbors have a small wetland area that often gathers fog, and morning views can be quite dramatic.  This painting is what my daughter and I saw the other day as we waited on the bus.

Winter Fog

Winter Fog 6x6 oil, copyright 2011
SOLD!

This one gave me fits when I photographed it, making the snow looks a bit washed out.  It's probably my favorite so far though, I really like the mood of it.  The dry brush technique was used over most of it to give it a very soft look.  For the reflections in the water, paint was applied thinly and the dry brush dragged across it in a downward direction.  You can see a lot of the bright blue underneath.  Just yesterday I realized that the applied base coat has a specific terminology: ground.  So my ground is an acrylic wash with a pastel primer.  

I realized two other things during this painting.  Reflections work best with a minimal amount of paint and detail, at least on such a small scale.  The eye does a good job of filling in assumed detail as long as the reflection has a vague resemblance to the objects.  I also discovered that the quality of the paint really does make a big difference.  A better quality paint, such as Winsor and Newton, is thicker, smoother and more opaque than less expensive brands.  As the tubes go empty I am replacing them better ones.