Winters Light Shines Through

I have to admit this was one ambitious painting

I think I may have a thing about straight lines and me not really know what to do with them.  I always thought I have a steady hand and a good eye… but am not thinking my astigmatism may not know how to deal with them.  Seeing this finished painting sure brings a smile to my face.

We have a wonderful hanging stained glass window that was given to us

Over the years we (really me) watch with fascination of how the right changes with each season.  Winter is particularly beautiful with the deep colour of the sky and the reflections of the snow.  You can see the effect of winter’s light through the glass!

The thing is I often have more ambition than brains

Just as I finished signing this one I ran upstairs with my camera and took a series of photos of the same window with the green of the grape vines showing through.  I have to admit it looks kind of sharp.  And it looks cool in the spring with the pink apple blossoms too. Wonder how it will look with the fall foliage? I am unsure that I need to paint it in all the seasons.

The other thing is, I wanted it to be somewhat painterly.  I drew it out as I went – except for the outside graphic shapes – which sort of line up with the actual window (a little bit of artistic licence here).  I know you know that I am very much a precise painter so just based on that I may feel the need for a do over in another season.

Lesson Learned:

• I test drove some of my new Daniel Smith Prima Tec pigments on this Mostly I love them.  I always recommend to people to test what you are about to do on a sample piece of paper.  It is important that it be the same type of paper as the paint will behave differently on different weights and textures.
• A lot of these pigments are staining.  You cannot lift them.   When you add certain colours after, such as anything remotely yellow you get a grey mess that you cannot redefine the shapes without a lot of effort and a few choice words!
• You have to be really cautious when you mix the Prima Tek  colours with regular waterolours.  They can get muddy fast
• I highly recommend you paint an under wash first rather than mixing the colours together.  Now when I mixed two Prima Tek colours together, they worked fine.  But the wash had to be under not over these paints

At the end of the day these pigments were the right approach.  The little bit of granulation helped to simulate the texture of the glass.

Inspiration

Inspired by a glass panel by Ingo and Julie Doetsch, Raven Glass Studio from Fredericton NB