Birch Trees

Finished my Birch Trees watercolour last weekend. As you may remember, I had used masking fluid and a pouring technique to get started with this painting, but I was worried that I would ruin it all in the next stage.

Well, after finding this wonderful instructional video on masking fluid, I decided to throw myself into it. After about 3 or 4 layers of masking and painting, here is the result:

And here are a few detailed shots:

PS - this is not a very big painting - about 20 cm tall. Painted on watercolour board. I'm rather pleased with it.

Oh, I nearly forgot, here is the original photo that inspired this little project. Three beautiful birch trees in Marlay Park. For me, it's important to paint from something real. I can't just paint notional trees. I would just feel they would lack heart and soul. That said, I did take a few liberties with my subject.