Oil and Watercolor

In response to yesterday’s posting I’m posting the entire series I have done/am doing with this picture.

First the original picture:

This was taken on our truck travels. We were stopped in the desert due to an accident ahead on the highway. While we were parked on the side road until the accident cleared, I decided to take my dog at that time, Nikka, for a walk with the camera and as we came around behind the truck I looked up and saw this cliff that seemed to go up forever. I still remember clearly being in awe of how small I was compared to that cliff.

The first time I used this image was for a quilt for Arnie & Janie. Janie loves things Southwestern and this was to be a surprise for her. I took some liberty with the image, and added some extra’s.

This was the quilt hanging at a local show last fall before Janie received it.

I then decided to work on the same image for my Journal Quilt, but in watercolors crayons on plain unbleached muslin fabric.

Finally the last two, first the oil as it stands this morning. I still haven’t settled on the mix for the gray/green in the brush, so I decided to work on the sky a bit last evening.

And the last image, of the watercolor after last evening.

I think I’m managing to capture the height of the cliff in the oil, but in the watercolor, I have inadvertently flattened the cliff out.  It’s in the line of the horizon and the lines of the cliff walls that have blurred.

Lessons learned so far:

1.  I really don’t have a clue what I’m doing with the watercolor, a good book or a class are in order.  And you need to work watercolors on a flat surface, on a slanted easel they RUN!  LOL

2.  Although they take longer to dry, I like the definition I can achieve with the oils much better.  Now I need to play with the different brushes and strokes and maybe even put the paint on a bit thicker with a drying agent so it doesn’t take weeks to dry.  I am slightly impatient with the drying process between stages.

3.  I really want to paint more.