'Rainbow Strike'; process-finished

It's finished. A local scene for local people. I have been trying to say more with "pretty little watercolours" but suspect that all that will be noticed is that the drawing still shows in the rainbow.

'Rainbow Strike'; process-3

Good weather after the winter can cause all sorts of change of plans and this week has been no exception. So, instead of painting pictures, I have been painting linseed oil onto the garden furniture and 'encouraging' my son to do the garden for me. If he stays to plan there will be more to look at this year when painting out in my gazebo. I hope it will give him as much pleasure as it will give me.

So back to the painting ... it has surprised me by direction it has taken. I had envisioned brightly lit chimneys surrounded by the darkness of the receding rain storm. I am painting a more mysterious darkness with the rainbow being a more solid entity. Paintings do take on forms that were not intended so I will let this run and see where it goes.

Also the time to varnish Miss T's portrait has come. Yesterday I sprayed fixative on first as I had used oil pastels on the top layer and today, with some trepidation as it is such a large painting, I applied the varnish. It has been some time since I had seen the portrait and I am very happy with it still. I had a lot of fun painting it and I hope Miss T still enjoys it.

'Rainbow Strike'; process-2

Graham has commented upon my use of layout paper to refine my drawings. He ruefully confesses to ruining his watercolour paper with a drawing that fails to work. I discovered the joys of layout paper in my design days in the pre-computer era. Productivity required starting with thumbnail sketches to work the basis of the idea out and then moving to drawing on layout paper. It is semi-see through especially on a light box but opaque enough to draw on. The finished drawing in those days was ether a marker drawing on paper similar to layout (no bleed through) or tracing the drawing out on quality paper.

So now a days, when the drawing is to my satisfaction, I scan it to the computer and print it out using DuraBrite ink in my printer onto watercolour paper. This ink is both water and light proof and allows me to cut out the laborious re-drawing when the painting fails. I am using this technique today as I am unsure of how I am proceeding on the imaginative part of this painting. It is liberating experimenting without having to go back to the absolute beginning each time.

I define the media in the finished painting as 'watercolour' when I have only used the computer for scanning my drawing.

'Rainbow Strike'; process-1

The thumbnail for the idea of the new painting based on the scaffold structure and chimneys of 'The Gables'.
This is a darken scan of the first drawing where I tried to map out the structure. I will draw again over this drawing on 'layout' paper' improving as I go ... in theory at least. I will then trace the improved drawing on to watercolour paper ready for painting.

The Gables in snow

watercolour & body colour