Trenholme Park, Squid-Tree

On the way back from the laboratory I stopped at Trenhome park on Sherbrooke to make this quick painting. The temperature was only -5℃ but there was a nasty wind and blowing snow which precluded me from finishing this painting on location. At home I detailed the tree and filled in some shadow areas. The new burnt umber (PBr7) I have gave the tree bark a streak of warmth, the rest of the bark was raw umber (PBr7) with indo blue (PB60). Pigment code PBr7 is used to describe about a dozen different paints so you have to go by the paint name to know what you are getting. Even that doesn't help sometimes, the current raw umber I have from M. Graham is a dark chocolate colour, while the old one I had from Holbein was a toasted marshmallow, as seen in the painting called raw umber field. These new paints I have - both the dark brown variant of umber, and the reddish version called burnt umber, are so useful for landscapes I wish I could go back and time and use it forever. Perylene green and quinacridone purple are like that too- glad I discovered them. 

By the way, the branches of this tree inadvertently look like a squid!

Trenholme Park, Squid-Tree 5 x 7.5" cold press, watercolour, February 2021 (No. 2569)