Postcard No 21: Life by the River
There wasn’t a lot of choice of subjects today. It was a foggy start to the day and then drizzled or rained most of the rest of the time so it was pretty grey, but that doesn’t mean it was boring. I guess what I meant by not much choice was really not much colourful choice !
I like a bit of fog because it adds a sense of atmosphere and mystery to familiar scenes as hills, trees, boats and water drift in and out of focus.
There’s a lovely soft light and some good strong contrasts from the backlit boats and jetty here.
I also like the way the warm mid tone paper is peeking through here and there lifting the coolness of the monochrome scene. I’m using a kraft paper sketchbook for this series and it holds up well to the gouache.
To get the fog effect I painted the hills in lightly and then smooshed some very pale mauves and blues into the wet paint.
Dont’ let the gouache dry before adding the fog layer…that means you have to be super quick because gouache is dry almost before it leaves the brush! Does anyone else out there use acrylic gouache and have any tips on keeping it wet longer?
Lindy Whitton Studio 
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