Elliptical Horizon

Here is the original 'Elliptical Horizon' painting which came before 'Elliptical Horizon Reprise' posted December 2008. The actual Horizon was covered up in the painting, barely visible- it was scrubbed out and covered with the red wash near the bottom of the sky. The painting depicts a Kangaroo on a flying sled, blasting through a blizzard. She is heading 'somewhere' according to the signs on the twisty highway, and away from 'nowhere'. However, in the 'nowhere' direction lies a comfortable and warm looking house. Is the Kangaroo going in the correct direction? The title of the painting suggests that the directions are actually one in the same. The snow effect was a bit of a trick....once the colour wash is just about dry, you toss in some regular table salt and there you go, once it dries the snow effect is complete. The challenge was to keep the snow flakes looking similar in all the different colour washes. To do this, I make sure each colour wash had about the same level of moisture before tossing in the salt. To check the moisture level, I tilted the painting a little and looked for reflections. When a colour wash is wet it looks shiny, and when it dries it becomes more matte (dull). 

Elliptical Horizon, watercolour 10 x 11" cold press. Fall 2008 (No. 1398-2)