Watch a painting happen...
Painting Two, Step Four

Frisket sets the color battle...

To the right, you see the drawing with liquid frisket applied. The frisket is expensive so notice most of the area that I want free of color I have covered with 2" wide masking tape. I have also used 1" tape to define the roof line of the barn. I usually use tape to mask any hard edged linear form.

Next I experiment on my color experimentation board trying to pick the two basic colors for this background, the sky and foliage. I want them to battle each other. One way to accomplish that is to select complimentary colors (colors directly across from each other on the color wheel, for instance red and green).

Below, I have washed in the basic sky with much emphasis on the dark around the tree to start my anticipated color battle. Step 5 will finish the sky.
I chose a deep blue green and a vibrant yellow orange shown at the left. The blue green is Prussian Blue with a touch of Permanent Green Light. The foliage color is Gamboge with a touch of Cadmium Red.
My frisket is dry so I can now use the blue and begin to wash in the sky, but in what way? In the late Fall like it now is, Cumulous clouds (I think those are the fluffy ones) begin to be sheared at their tops by what I presume is the colder jet stream. Don't really know for sure. But, in my mind, as the fluffy clouds streak skyward, cold weather is soon to come. And that is what this painting is about, the quickly approaching winter.
Click to go back to Watch a Painting Happen , Home Page or on to Step 5 .