Study of a Northern Lake

Here’s a simple Northern Ontario scene,  just the lake, trees and sky.  The kind I’ve done time and time again.

But I like painting these scenes.  I just love the scraggly black spruce trees of the boreal forest.   It reminds me that I’m “up there”, far away from the big cities and shopping malls.  And that the fish will soon be biting.

The painting was not so simple, though.   Decievingly difficult, actually.

The sky wasnt’ too bad.  But the reflection in the water were tricky.   The ripples in the foreground made hard edges, which is difficult to capture on watercolor without making the painting look harsh.

I tried to paint the ripples on, but it was on the verge of looking like crap.   Then my art teacher suggested a trick:

Instead of adding pigment to make the water ripples, take it away.    Lift the paint off with a brush, and leave a few white areas.   But not too many.

It worked.  I’m reasonably happy with how it turned out.

And it helped salvage the painting.

 

 

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Tags: Algoma District, fishing, northern ontario, original art, watercolor painting

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