The Watcher in the Woods ... Class Projects

A photo I took a few years ago. I thought the old tree looming over the open area really did look like it was watching over the spot.

This was a class demo on splattering. I masked the large tree and the bottom snowy area and covered the sky with irregularly-shaped pieces of watercolor paper and tape. Then I splattered with quin. gold, quin. burnt orange, alizarin crimson and cobalt blue. I lightly sprayed to encourage the colors to mingle a bit. When dry, I did a graded wash of cobalt blue all over the painting, then removed the masking.

Thin wash of burnt orange over the large tree, and some thin lines of grey to imply some scrub trees in the distance.

Played with some lines in alizarin, indanthrone and orange to get some bark texture.

Started to shadow the tree ...

... realized I didn't like the brown color, so glazed over it all with indanthrone.

Deepened the shadows in the bushes here ...

 ... and here

Added some softened line of blue-grey for shadows in the snow ...

... and I am here now. I think the tree needs a bit more work, but overall the painting is a nice example of what can be done with splattering.

I also had requests from some students to demonstrate how to paint eyes. Like all of us [me included], the students want immediate results! I have a feeling the idea of glazing at least four or five times to achieve the result put them off. But the effect one attains is worth it!

I wish you all a Happy Easter! Thank you for dropping by!!