This Painting Is a BLAST!

Starting from the sketch ...
I modified it a bit, exaggerating some areas of the trunk to create "faces".

First very wet wash - aureolin, quin. burnt orange and cobalt blue.

The background I painted again, w/w, with the same colors. I thought to do the background  in the "softer" colors. and save the staining colors for the trunk.

Here I'm starting to give the background some depth and  verisimilitude.

It is so much fun, in a watercolor-y way,  wetting a segment and then dropping in some colors , letting them do their thing.

I am still playing with the background. I have also placed the "faces" to get an idea of where and how to create the passages of interest. I've also started painting the moss, again w/w with aureolin, quin. gold, quin. burnt orange and the blue shade of phthalo green.
As always, please feel most welcome to leave your comments - LOVE THEM!

Paint FLYING Everywhere!

I think you've seen the sketch ...

It looks like I am getting the hang of effective w/w washes. The colors are suitably lurid together - aureolin, quin. violet and cobalt blue.

I used the purply mixture to start shadowing the hose.

Reference photo, from one of my walks in the nearby woods.

This morning, I was looking at a sketch I did last night. It looked irresistible, so I made some minor adjustments, and put it on watercolor paper. 

Again, I've done a very w/w wash to start, using cobalt blue, quin. burnt orange and aureolin.

As ever, I love to read your comments. Please feel free to leave a note!