Snowscape I
watercolour
© Teresa Kirkpatrick 2010
Now, I never like to follow a book slavishly, but, aware that I'd become stuck in a rut with my colours, I chose suitably snowscape-y ones similar to those which Jean recommends - violet, ultramarine, alizarin, indian yellow and turquoise and laid down a wet blended wash of several shades as instructed. Then I mapped in some hedges with violet and ultramarine - remembering to let them blend on the paper rather than mixing them on the palette - and added a line of grass. Deciding that something was needed in the foreground, I painted in some cautious twigs - far too carefully, but Jean came to the rescue with the idea of splattering some water on to soften them. Even so, the first painting turned out a bit on the stilted side, and the washes dried extremely pale - but hey, I'd done a couple of hours painting and really enjoyed it!!
Snowscape II
watercolour & gouache
© Teresa Kirkpatrick 2010
For my next attempt I tried to be a bit more dramatic with the washes, and used Jean's suggestion of tilting the paper to create a few runs which might suggest something for the composition. That's how the tree (which I never envisaged in the first place) ended up top left; the way the washes dried also suggested where the hills should be (we're a long way from Cambridgeshire now. Perhaps somewhere near Hereford?). Instead of twigs I added a foreground of grasses over some large wet areas I'd slapped in with the Chinese brush I bought last July and never used (thanks for the tip, Jean!). It's a long time since I've done any spattering but it soon came back to me (including - too late - the bit about never wearing a white T-shirt when trying this technique) and I added some white gouache snow to the grasses for good measure. The spattering does add life to this picture - perhaps a little too much!!
Snowscape III
watercolour & gouache
© Teresa Kirkpatrick 2010
For the third painting I was determined to strengthen those background washes still further. Ironically, the fact that our snow has melted means that the days appear much darker, and lack of time decreed that I laid down the background relatively late one afternoon. By the time I went to bed I had no idea how to proceed with the resulting effect - I couldn't see a picture there at all - but I woke this morning with the idea of a house spilling light onto the snow from its doors and windows. I'm not that keen on the hedgerows in the first two paintings so I left them out completely and defined the hilltop with an ultramarine wash over the sky. More grasses, a bit of spattering with colour and white gouache - it's no masterpiece but it's shown me the way forward LOL.
Happy New Year!!
