Winter Aspen

These winter aspen have shed their leaves and they now surround a clearing in the forest filled with snow. It's nearly twilight and the soft orange glow of the setting sun gives way to a distant icy blue mist.

INSIDER INSIGHTS:   This original watercolor is painted exclusively with Daniel Smith tube pigments. The major tree shapes were masked out so the color could flow around and between them unhindered. Several washes of Cerulean Blue with some Ultramarine brought soft coolness to the scene, and Moonglow provided the darkest darks. The long shadows are also Moonglow on damp paper and then blotted for a softer effect. While still wet, I scraped some tree trunk shapes into the background. Burnt Sienna does the job for dry grasses and fallen leaves. While the paper was still damp, I sprayed some clear water in the background for more texture and then sprayed diluted Burnt Sienna in the sky to create the warm glow contrasted against the distant icy blue. When dry, I removed the masking tape from the tree shapes and colored them with various mixes of Cerulean, Burnt Sienna, and of course more Moonglow with a little Sodalite Genuine.

The original mini is 7.5" by 5.5" matted down to 6.5x 4.5" Now available unframed for $100 with mat.