Sqeal heard from the woodland edge

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

This picture is inspired from the warm, late fall we had here in Brattleboro, Vermont. On walks through the woods and fields in December, there was a moist, soft earth and often the clustering of birds flitting about. The mild weather made it feel surreal as these were some of the shortest days of the year.

In this watercolor I tried a different approach towards painting the sky. Instead of painting wet brush on wet paper, I painted wet brush on dry paper so as to achieve a greater contrast from the pigment to the white of the paper. Also, there are areas where the edge of the brush leaves interesting, dry marks, suggesting an irregular cloud perimeter.

This watercolor was completed in less than three hours. There were areas in this picture such as the background, where I knew exactly how I wanted to approach the painting. On the other hand, in the foreground, I was not settled on a specific approach and thus spent more time reworking some details and shadowing to give the boy more of a presence. 

I do like how the boy's posture leads the viewer right to the action.