Thursday, January 27, 2011

No way!

No way am I going to be up at dawn, standing and shivering in the snow at an easel. I just now completed this watercolor painting from a reference photograph whilst in my cozy studio. Approximately 15"X30" on 140lb. cold press watercolor paper. I painted the lake first, laying in the warm and cool dawn colors wet-on-wet and holding the paper almost vertically for a run and mix. Then I painted the sky wet-on-wet with a sideways motion of a #20 round watercolor brush (sable). After that, I painted in the tree line with a #8 round watercolor brush, a quarter inch wide flat watercolor brush, and a rigger for those fine branches. Then the coolish/warmish blues were quickly painted into the snow areas with my #20. The painting was finalized with the reflections in the lake. The little bits of ice and snow floating on the water were first masked out with frisket at the very beginning of the painting and before I laid down any paint. Those few tree trunks on the right side foreground were painted in with a mixture of gouache and watercolor paint. Painting time: about two hours. Burrr!

26 comments:

artistic designz by Melissa said...

I agree, it is to cold out, January is my favorite time to be in the studio. No distractions from the garden.

Myrna Wacknov said...

GORGEOUS!!!!

Jess said...

I'm dying to learn watercolor, but too fearful to try a new technique. HELP!!

Shirupa Gupta said...

Beautiful !!!

Gary L. Everest said...

Hi David,
Bravo! I salute your exceptional common sense.
Oh! And it's a beautiful painting, too!
Stay Warm,
Gary.

Autumn Leaves said...

Truly stunning, David. I love winter paintings and this is one of the best.

Unknown said...

Thanks for talking us through the process of how you painted this.

You should check out Bill Guffey's blog - he paints outside in the snow... I think your idea of being in a warm studio is better.

RH Carpenter said...

Absolutely jaw dropping painting here and glad you stayed in and just created the illusion of cold winter :) Thanks for sharing all the steps, too.

Carol Blackburn said...

So beautiful....and, thanks so much for letting us in on your process. Saw your listing on the blogs to follow.

David Lobenberg said...

Melissa, I am definitely NOT a gardener. I can easily stay inside even when the weather is good.

David Lobenberg said...

Myrna, my friend, THANKS!

David Lobenberg said...

Jess, Howya doing? yep, you need to sign up for a Lobenberg h2o workshop or my class at City nxt. Fall semester.

David Lobenberg said...

Shirupa, thank you.

David Lobenberg said...

Gary, I do hope you fixed that type size problem when you read my blog. You stay warm too and keep doing those killer paintings.

David Lobenberg said...

Autumn, Yahoo!...a fellow winter loving painting person!

David Lobenberg said...

Sue, thanks!...I'll check out Guffey's blog.

David Lobenberg said...

You are welcomed, Rhonda. Glad you like this one.

David Lobenberg said...

Thanks, Carol. Where was that list? I'm curious.

victoria eugenia said...

¡Que bonito!!! Mis felicitaciones. Saludos. Victoria.

David Lobenberg said...

Thanks (Gracias!), Victoria.

Jane said...

Incredibly beautiful painting.

David Lobenberg said...

Thanl you, Jane.

Liana Yarckin said...

great colors!

David Lobenberg said...

Thanks, Liana. I dig your butterfly piece.

Satish Sharma said...

Wao....

David Lobenberg said...

Thank you so much, Satish!