Torngats 2015 - Where Nature and Culture Connect 25

Colours of Summer

Wildflowers of the Torngats...  

...masses of pure, bright colours.   

From June to August, the colours of wildflowers light up the northern Labrador landscape. The Iceland Poppy in yellows, oranges and creamy tones, the River Beauty in magenta and pink, and the Snowy Gentian in spectacular dots of shimmering blue, are only a few of the colourful plants of the Torngat Mountains.       

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 3

Early Crescent Moon Through Trees  

The Early Crescent Phase of the Moon

-  rises through bare tree branches       

A familiar crescent moon shines through a stand of trees. No leaves are sprouting yet, and the bare branches and tree trunks are silhouettes against the rich dark blue sky of dusk. 

Art Every Day Month - November 12

Two colors, two brushes

I loaded up my watercolor palette with ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, knowing that when these pigments mix, they give a rich range of browns and grays.

I used two paintbrushes, for the ultramarine a 1/2 inch flat synthetic sable which gives lovely full washes, and for the burnt sienna a #1 round which gives fine detailed strokes.

What did I learn?

First, the little spaces I have been allowing myself are barely big enough to swirl large brushstrokes of color around the way I wanted to.
Next, the paints straight from the tubes can be blindingly bright contrasted to their near-complementary color.
Finally, I could have used several more sheets of paper today to keep experimenting with the way these two colors worked together.

Art Every Day Month - November 4

Backflow

Backflow in watercolor is the result of an intrusion from one area of wet paint into another.

Backflow could create an attractive marbled effect or it could spoil a painting.

Usually backflow comes as an accident – unwanted. However, if I interfere it’s not an accident any more, it is an experiment, and in today’s painting I deliberately set up the conditions for backflow to occur.

The extent of backflow is a function of how quick I am to intervene to prevent "ruin", or how long I am prepared to wait to see what develops. Today I waited. I had to let the entire backflow effect happen on its own.

Whether I accept the random results depends on how spontaneous or how controlling I want to be, with the painting or with myself.