Ashdown Forest in the Snow

I have just been enjoying working on this loose watercolour of the Ashdown Forest. 

We ventured up there this weekend and when I wasn't face down in the snow, I managed a very brief sketch and a couple of camera shots. I love the heavy mauve sky that you often get with snowfall and noticed the most intense ochre grasses peeking through the drifts, which provided the perfect contrast. 

I have kept a simple palette of ultramarine violet, yellow ochre (mixed to obtain a heavy sky) and then together with these pigments, introduced some alizarin crimson, French ultramarine, sepia and some dots of light red. I have also used granulation medium here, delivered via a small pump spray... just to vaguely disturb the surface. I find these little sprays such a useful tool for watercolour. They are available at chemists and are really intended for decanting your favourite bathroom products ready for holiday, but no, for me granulation medium or just plain water is the  way to go!

I bit of controlled splattering, as ever, to evoke a blizzard, but also it carries the colour over the surface of the painting, encouraging a sense of movement and immediacy. 

Ashdown Forest in the Snow II