Tuesday, February 15, 2011

River stones



I've had an idea for a painting in my head for quite some time and have been playing around with different mediums to see what will work best for it.

The reflections of light on stones in shallow, flowing water is what I want to reproduce.  The distortions of the shapes caused by the moving water and the lines of reflected sunlight across the stones is challenging and takes time to produce.  I don't anticipate this to be a quick piece.

I tried a study in acrylics and that just didn't work for me and today I reverted to watercolours which seems to give the effect that I'm looking for in the stones.  Subtle colours and granulating pigments work well to create the texture of the river stones.  I'll be using a lot of masking fluid to create the lines of light I think.  Masking seems preferable to using gouache for these lines, as the final result should be transparent and natural.

I'm still not sure of the final size for this.  Not a huge piece I don't think as the detail might just become too tedious.  Then again, size matters, so going large and going crazy may be in my future.

4 comments:

Lydie said...

So, you're always in the water. It's an interesting project, good luck for the future.

Jeanette Jobson said...

Yes, the water seems to call me always Lydie. I like the challenge most of the time.

Linda Roberson said...

These stones are really cool! It certainly says something about an artist who can bring a rock to life! You've certainly touched on something here!
Linda Roberson

Yelena Shabrova said...

Of all rock renderings, I like watercolor and colored pencil ones the best. Good luck with this piece, Jeanette!