Friday, March 4, 2022

Mount Royal, Snow Day

 


Viewed from Jeanne Mance Park, that is Mount Royal in the background. Dad and I skied to the top once, just about where you see the mountain cross the tree branch in the painting. Speaking of crosses, there is a prominent one on the mountain but I stood in such a location that the cross was obscured by the tree trunk. Generally I avoid religious symbols in my landscape paintings. To create the blue shadow of the mountain I used almost pure phthalo blue with just a touch of carbon black. When I applied the blue paint for the mountain it appeared to be dark vivid blue but I knew it would dry a bit lighter and loose its chroma. That is a more advanced concept, that the paint looks different when you apply it as compared to after it dries. The earth colours are easier to predict, for example the tree was made with umber (PBr7), raw umber (PBr7) and some carbon black (PBk6) and it looks just like it did when I painted it. On Handprint.com the author MacEvoy went to great lengths to document the exact percentages by which a paint changes its chroma and value. I read over it many times and gained a general knowledge boost. Knowledge helps a lot but one has to still practice it for the best effects.

Mount Royal Snow Day, watercolour 5 x 7" hot press, March 2022 (No. 3073)

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