Resurrection

Watercolor Painting by Dennis Pendleton. This is a demonstration painting from my Steamboat Springs Watercolor Workshop. As I got close to finishing it started raining and we all gathered our supplies and ran for the shelter of a barn. Unfortunately my water container spilled directly onto my painting which was resting on another painting from the day before and by the time I got to the barn the two paintings were stuck together, As I separated them the paper ripped and pieces were pulled off both paintings. The one from the day before was completely ruined and I decided to see if I could resurrect this one. The torn paper had a different finish and the watercolor paint settled in an unusual way. See if you can spot the areas I repainted.

In this aspen forest there was one tree that was darker and had more dark markings than the other aspen trees. I painted it with different grays mixed with cerulean blue plus brilliant orange and burnt sienna plus ultramarine blue. Moving onto the other aspens I painted them with cobalt violet and yellow ochre plus cerulean blue. At first glance aspen trees appear white but if you take the time to study them you will find subtle pastel colors. With this in mind I add colors while leaving parts of the trunks unpainted white paper. The black markings and branches are a mixture of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue.

A few blue wild flowers helped to settle the trees onto the ground and a weak version of perylene green was used for the background. The lighter aspen trees settle onto the ground a little higher than the dark one and this along with their smaller size makes them appear behind the darker tree. Leaves were dabbed onto the tops of those trees with olive green and a lighter version of the same color completed the background. The soft edges in the background contrasting with the hard edges of the trees adds even more to the feeling of depth.

I confess that the painting looks a bit overworked but I am still happy with it because it reminds me of a special day painting with friends in an aspen forest in the mountains. Happy Painting! Dennis Pendleton