Tree

This painting started out as an exercise I read about in The Complete Watercolorist's Essential Notebook, by Gordon MacKenzie. The exercise uses masking fluid, and salt. There are lots of layers and drying time. I started it Sunday morning. All the trees were masked out in multiply layers, so the tree shapes are all made from masking fluid. Then the salt was applied to the foreground when the paint was wet. Here is a close up of the effect. I've used salt before but it generally goes agains my "purest" grain. It looks kinda cool though. It adds a unique texture making the ground look like fallen leaves.

When I pulled the masking fluid off and looked at the stark white trees, I had to let the painting sit for a few days. Today I finished it and I'm pretty please with the way it turned out.