Selkirks x3

 

Last weekend I prepped a sketch from a photo (above) I took in the Neptune Range of the Northern Selkirks in 2009. I thought it was a good sketch and probably the best I have done. I've tried painting Neptune probably a half dozen times now and I was excited to work from this sketch. I also decided I would take my time unlike how I normally paint which is fast and perhaps not as considered as it could be. The first couple of times I painted this scened I used masking to save some highlights and paint the sky, the results were ok and I decided I would go back to masking which I rarely use nowadays. I carefully masked out the mountain mass so that I could paint a nice wash for the sky. The masking turned out ok. Unfortunately Ihad sketched this on the first page of one of my new Saunders Waterford fat pads and I had never worked on this paper before. I used a heavy application of WN masking fluid and after putting down my sky and letting it dry I tried to remove the fluid. It turns out the 140pd paer is a bit fragile and the WN fluid is much tackier than the fludi I used in the past. SO... I ended up with no underdrawing and a ripped surface in one spot. I was quite sad as I loved this sketch. This was earlier this week and it's taken me several days to get over it and get on with the painting. I didn't even bother re-drawing it in the end, too worried it would not match the quality of the original...so a la prima I went...

The rsults are ok. If feels very much like a field sketch or a wrm up rather than the more finised painting I was hoping to achieve. I guess thats what these sketch pads are for and I should limit my use of masking fluid to heavier grade paper taht can handle it. Either way I've definitely notice that masking fluid will remove pencil lines regardless of the paper which is quite annoying. There is probably some logic in drawing details after masking and panting sky.

While this piece was drying today I got out some other sketch books and paper. In one I alid a very loose wash of Indigo and light red and practiced lifting with a new WN white taklon brush I go this week at a sale. I was happy with the results and decided to add some details from the Neptune image onto it. 

On another sheet of Canson colored pasted paper I have I dug up some white gouache to experiment with snow painting for the first time. Again using Neptune as a model. I ended with white gouache on both paintings and I have to say I'm fairly happy with the results both feel like my style of painting and very different at the same time. I'm excited to experiment with this some more so for now the gouache is staying out.