Monday, December 15, 2008

little winter scenes

(4.5x5)

(4x5)

No snow here yet, in fact today it's a balmy sixty degrees; happily I have many photos of a big snow from a few years back.

In the comments Casey asked how I make the snowflakes, and I thought I'd answer here, because it's kind of a trick I learned from my teacher Marie Natale.
If you use white watercolor paint, even if the painting is dry, it doesn't show up very well; it seems to mostly be absorbed into the paper. Instead, I use Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleed Proof White. It's a liquid, opaque watercolor that is meant to be used like Wite-out, to cover "mistakes"--though who wants to do that?
It's perfect for snow. I dilute it just a touch (because it is very thick, like heavy cream), then spatter away.
Your paper should be dry and the painting essentially finished, because once the Bleed Proof White is on, if you go back in, you're going to have a milky mess. Believe me.
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11 comments:

William Evertson said...

Wow - a big difference between boots and these older pieces. I like the weekly challenge you are involved in- you really come through in profound ways.

laura said...

Thanks, Bill--often it's a surprise to come through at all! Challenging myself more is a good idea I think.

MD said...

So SO Beautiful.
MD

caseytoussaint said...

Very nice - how did you do the snow?

A Brush with Color said...

wonderful! I can feel the cold in these lovely winter scenes.

Anonymous said...

Hello Laura, I am a faithful lurker and to show you my appreciation of your blog have given you an award on mine.
Enjoy!

Teresa said...

Love your lively snow scenes ... especially since it's in the mid 70's here in Carolina today :-(

Sure would love to see some of the white stuff!

Mineke Reinders said...

Wonderfully wintry... and thanks for the tip! I use W&N white gouache for snowflakes, but I will try dr. Martin's bleedproof inks, because your snowflakes look fabulous!

Peggy Montano & Paintings said...

Thanks for the information about making the snow. I have looked at these two paintings several times.
They are beautiful. We don't get a lot of snow here but when we do, I want to paint it.

Judybec said...

These ARE so wintery!!! thanks for the tip about snow.

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