Quinky birch trees with watercolour & soft pastel
A very therapeutic way to spend your day is messing about with mixed media, in this case, watercolour, pastel and Quink.
Today I have my rather nuclear White Night watercolour paint set which I can highly recommend if you are a fan of bright! They are creamier than the more transparent Winsor & Newton, therefore totally justifying that extra purchase.
Plus some Unison pastels which are rather pricey but worth it for their buttery crumbliness and come in an infinite range of delicious colours. Then I used black Quink with my cocktail stick and brushed the edges with water. Quink will often ( unfortunately, not always) separate and give a marvellous and sometimes spooky blue and yellowy glow. It also goes on smoothly with the cocktail stick. Unfortunately Indian ink and other coloured inks just soak into the stick and are much more difficult to use. You can also try spaghetti ( uncooked!) or the end of a thin handled brush.

So draw some tree outlines with your 2B pencil on some coarse 300gm watercolour paper, then wet the paper, with your paintbrush, in between the trees. Wait for the water to soak into the paper a little until there is a sheen and add splodges of green, yellow, orange or whatever you are in the mood for, purple, pink... Whilst it is still wet, grate some pastel onto the paper. Once dry
(I recently discovered that you can use a heat gun to dry your pictures rather than a hairdryer, which can make your lovely effects whizz about) draw some edges to the right of the tree trunks in Quink with your cocktail stick, then brush a shadow into the trunks with a wet brush. The Quink will activate once, then dry so don't worry about expressive guests passing your now framed art work and splashing their gin ... ( although still not encouraged). Then add some birch tree marks and and some broken branches ( stay loose) and finally flick some yellow paint onto it, then add some more pastel and dry.
Now admire your artwork and pour yourself a glass of something tasty. X
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