Turning the page on my new mini watercolor nature journal (begun here), David and I took a hike in the state park lake on a bitterly cold afternoon. The fresh air was exhilarating, and time in nature is always uplifting to me, no matter what the weather.
We dropped down off the ridge into the shadows along the water, where I made an ink sketch of this lovely, shadowy scene. Bundling up and hiking had kept us warm.
But, my watercolors froze right on the page. The little dark clumps are where the watercolor iced up into flat crystals in the 27 degree weather.
Back in the studio, I finished the painting from a reference photo.
I used a white Crayola crayon before painting to create the white-limbed sycamore trees in the background. The wax acts as a resist, so you can paint right over the area with a light wash and keep the white of the paper. After the paint dried, I added finer limbs with a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen.
I hope you get a chance to go out into nature and revel in the fresh air and the peace of the wild things.
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