Stopping by the Woods...

A beautiful snowy day inspired today's Monday class process. I had recently seen online the work of artist Martine Cyr, who shows her work at the wonderful Gordon Harrison Gallery in Ottawa. You can view more of her work here.

If I am not working on a series, I like to be in the moment, and today's snowfall and mild temperatures provided lots of inspiration. The process we used was lovely - using charcoal, mostly on its side, to energetically draw woodsy lines on canvas. Then I sprayed (outside) the canvases with workable fixative. Using titanium white, we pushed at the image, blurring and adding a sense of snow. This process was repeated until each had a forest they could truly call their own. We lightly tinted our canvas - mostly with gel plus Hooker's green, finishing off with some snow 'spray'. I added a few red berries to my piece, too.

I would definitely like to explore this process further. I love the freedom of drawing with charcoal and conte. This will be my suggested project this week.

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