This weekend the state of Vermont offered free access to their state parks. So I took advantage of this offer with a trip to the closest state park to me - in Brattleboro, Ft. Dummer.
It is a bit of a sleepy park but nevertheless a lovely one. Ft. Dummer doesn't offer any jaw dropping views or attractive beaches but it has some nice jogging or hiking trails in addition to it's camping options. It has a still pond in a stone quarry and a lovely field as it's assets.
This watercolor was painted in the late afternoon in the field from a picnic table. Other than the mosquitoes it was a lovely situation to be operating from.
As my mother has commented I have been painting a lot of greens lately. Tis the season as everything seems to be lush green - which beats the parched yellows and browns of a drought.
I have been experimenting with this Kilimanjaro watercolor block I have been painting on lately. This paper is bright white and good for lifting pigment especially when the paper is still wet. In fact, you can notice some lifting of pigment on the right side where the green foliage is with a palette knife.
Whenever I lift paint I think of John Singer Sargent and Winslow Homer who were prolific at this technique. My understanding is that they lifted significant amount of paint when necessary in some of their watercolors. They scraped away paint when depicting tree trunks, white caps on the water or to suggest a stucco wall, etc.
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