Mallorytown, Ontario

This view from the highway 401 was at a rest stop near Mallorytown during a brief stop there. I mean brief! I think this painting was completed in less the fifteen minutes. It helped that the conditions were ideal, sunny, dry air, and not wet or rainy for early May. The rock formations under the tree are classic Canadian shield rocks that can be seen along the highway all the way through Kingston. I tried to capture the cars too, just a few brush strokes on top of the rocks you have to look carefully to even see.

Painting objects on top of things in watercolour is very difficult because the medium is transparent. You can paint things that are darker on top, like the lamp post and the tree trunk and branches in this picture. But the lighter, white highlights have to be left blank from the beginning, like the clouds, the curb, the other sparkling details. For that reason it was impossible to really paint cars in front of the rocks. If I was using acrylic then no problem, let the first layer dry then put the next layer on top, any colour or tone. That is just one of the challenges with using watercolour.

5 x 7 " cold press, watercolour, May 2018