This was begun during my residency at Brush Creek Ranch in May of 2012. It used to be bigger. During our rainy orientation tour of the ranch, I saw a huge stand of bare cottonwoods that I wanted to paint. Once I could, I pulled out a giant sheet of Yupo and began with watercolors. With a vista, I usually give the sky some intense attention early, knowing it will set the emotional tone of the painting. That went well but those trees resisted all my efforts. With just two weeks to paint in Wyoming, I set it aside and did a lot of smaller pieces. So a year and a half later now, I cut the painting down saving my 'good' sky, sealed it with varnish, then made a new landscape beneath the clouds in oil paints. This does capture the no-nonsense austerity of the late winter environment I experienced there.
watercolor and oils on Yupo [plastic paper] 12x34
work in my studio
5 comments:
Ahhhh...SO dramatic! Beautiful. Can't imagine that it would have been improved with the cottonwoods.
Can you talk about the logistics of working with Yupo in the field and storing and framing it?
Thanks!
Amazing piece. Do you use a spray varnish to seal it? any particular brand?
Carol, I just stick it to a drawing board using drafting tape loops. They are stored in a flat file and framed like conventional watercolors. Yupo is tricky anywhere you use it.
Anonymous, I use Matte Finish by Krylon to seal up a watercolor and then later, after other media are used, Golden Archival Matte Varnish.
That is beautiful.
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