From the Woods

From the Woods

walking home on the ponds woods road in Shapleigh, Maine 

on April 24, 2014, sketched on April 29, 2014
7" x 5", Winsor & Newton watercolors, #3 graphite, and clear wax resist, 

on 300 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press extra white watercolor paper
painted entirely with a large round brush, a #24 Princeton 4050R,
unframed, sold framed, $100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Note: I get asked about wax resist, a technique that I learned while at the John Singer Sargent watercolor exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He was great with it. It's simply clear wax on the paper to repel a watercolor wash, great for highlights, great for birch trees, great for any whites and highlights. I've used white Crayola crayons, which works fine on white watercolor paper. But the last time I ordered art supplies I got some of these: Susan Scheewe Watercolor Resist Sticks, clear wax crayons. Clear wax is preferred because it can also be used over a wash already laid down to preserve that color. As of this posting, April 2014, Dick Blick had them, a pack of four, for $4.09 and Jerry's Artarama had them for $3.37. The edge of a block of paraffin works fine, too, and even a clear candle.