The campus has a large statue depicting two indigenous people, one holding out some sort of cloth. I've painted it before on several occasions, although not in the winter. Since my bike was parked here, I just made a few paintings to take advantage of the blue sky and snow piles. Using a smaller brush (No. 6 size) and diluting the salt water about 30% helped get more detail and control the moisture of the paint. It was a long and difficult process to paint this one, which is especially felt in the cold weather.
Campus statue snow piles, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2025
To test out the diluted salt water, I tried this scene which is difficult to do in the winter. It involves making the under-painting, that is, the sky, building and snow shadows, then over-painting the trees. It held up pretty good, with just minor blurring here and there. The colours dried somewhat pale which is a function of the salt in the water. When drying is delayed, the paint soaks further into the rag-based paper which dulls the colours. I figure the water had about 200 grams of salt per liter, and there was just slight slushing on the palette. Speaking of the palette I accidentally dropped it and the second hinge broke off, leaving both hinges broken, and part of the corner broke off. These plastic palettes were not meant for a lot of winter painting.
Campus snow shadows, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, January 2025
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