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This post is more about process than anything else. Every Tuesday I walk down to the river and work on a plein air piece in watercolor. No, I'm not a watercolorist. Far from it. The purpose of learning [the most difficult medium on the planet] watercolor is to serve as an underlayment for my colored pencil drawings. It used to drive me crazy how the white of the paper used to peek through my colored pencil drawings, especially visible when scanned. I tried all kinds of blending techniques, each with varying levels of success but none were very good until I found a simple answer. Watercolor goes under everything and in the process, the quality of my drawings exponentially increased overnight because I can focus on what I love the most - the drawing. This is one of those pieces. I went down to the river, took a picture so I could reference back to it later and then painted the scene before me. I took the painting home and began to work on it in colored pencil. Water is my nemesis. It doesn't matter what medium I'm working in. Water is difficult. It's going to take a lot more practice to figure out the secret to create that illusion well.
5" x 14"
140# Arches Hot Press cotton rag paper
Prisma Premier colored pencils - 95%
Senelier's watercolor (underneath) - 5%
Reference: The Columbia River
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