A winter Garden
[Image ID] A wintry, landscape scene painted in watercolour. A yellow sun is low in the sky, and a greyish blue sea reflects the colour of the sky. There is a rocky outcrop between the snowy garden and the sea. The snow in the garden goes up to the wall of a building, on which there is a small four-paned window with grey curtains. Most of the garden is covered in smooth unspoilt snow but near the building is a boat shaped flower bed containing snowdrops in bloom. Four cylindrical planters of different sizes stand at the back of the boat shaped bed. Towards the front of the bed, on the landside, are four more cylindrical planters. Snowy cobwebs hang between the planters and the boat shaped bed [description end]
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The inspiration for this piece came from frosted spider webs stretched between planters which I saw whilst out for a photography session. The rest of the scene is based on a setting from my fantasy novel project which I drew a couple of years ago. That artwork can be seen here.
Unlike many of my paintings, I didn’t begin with a direct sketch of any kind. I loosely planned the composition digitally but rather than transferring it to paper, I simply started with a wash of wet into wet watercolour paint. Throughout the painting process I was thinking about how to keep the ‘washed out’ and wintery atmosphere from the initial colour washes. My strategy to achieve this involved mixing most of the tones with a touch of grey or blue to make them appear more ‘cool’. In a piece like this it is just as important to consider where the paint isn’t being added as where it is. Snowy scenes rely on a lot of ‘white space’ so the blank paper can be a very useful tool in and of itself – especially in a ‘light’ medium such as watercolour.
Once the watercolour was dry I outlined certain areas with a black fineliner to add more definition. I also used white pens to brighten the snow in a few places.
Artwork ©Dragonsflyatsunset 2022, all rights reserved.
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Daler Rowney Aquafine Texture watercolour paper
Windsor & Newton ‘Cotman’ range watercolour paints: Cerulean, Prussian Blue, Payne’s Grey, Hooker’s Green light, Van Dyke Brown, Raw Sienna & Burnt Sienna
Posca Paint Pen (white)
White Gel Pen: Sakrua gelly Roll (size 10)
0.05 black fineliner: Unipin
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