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Saturday, December 3, 2011

Ready to Hunt: Great Horned Owl #2

Just for fun I thought I'd include the sketch that lead to this painting. Dale and I were driving at dusk and I spotted the great horned owl sitting in the vast openess of Lava Bed National Monument's high desert ... only the owl was sitting on a sign post. I knew immediatly I wanted to paint the scene. I quickly scribbled color notes along with the quick sketch.
Except for a few clouds beneath the moon, the sky was ever so clear. I wanted to capture that clarity ... but I either picked the wrong paper or it could be the paint ... I like the sky, but it is a little grainy. I picked good paper, but is is quite rough: Strathmore's Geminii 140# rough.

Any ideas what paper would give me a clearer sky?

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm excited to see you've joined up again! I look forward to watching you experiment. This is a lovely scene: solitude and open space. I also appreciate seeing the sketch notes you worked from.

I wonder if the inconsistency with washes is more of a pigment problem than a paper thing, since some pigments separate as washes, like ultramarine always does that to me especially on rough paper. Just an idea. Or maybe you could try a thicker paper, for example I find Arches 300 lb really absorbs washes of the right pigments evenly (and it's my favorite).

Elva Paulson said...

Kristen ... thank you for the warm welcome.

I think you are right on when you say pigment is a factor. I did two washes on the same paper yesterday. One was grainy ... different colors on the other and it laid nice a smooth.

Oh dear! this isn't simple, is it!

liz Cutler said...

Love seeing the process. Welcome back!
Have you experimented with yupo paper?
Beautiful sense of stillness.

Laure Ferlita said...

Elva, to cut down on the pigments granulation, try using distilled water. To get a smoother sky, I would try a cold press—Arches, Fabriano or such.

This is quite nice even with the graininess. It gives the evening air texture.

Elva Paulson said...

MEliz: when I finally get 'to the big city' I'm hoping to find some Yupo. It sounds like interesting paper.

Laure: Thank you for your suggestions! I'll give it a try.