Sometimes you just need to see things with fresh frozen eyes...
Yesterday, my uncle sent me a link to an article in The Washington Post about how spectacular Niagara Falls looks right now.
I have lived a short car ride away from the falls my entire life, and like many things that are in our own backyard, I have come to take the magnificence of this natural wonder for granted. Reading a national news article about it was just the wake-up call I needed. So, late yesterday afternoon the boys and I bundled up and headed north...
Now, I think I need to express how intensely I dislike cold weather... So much so, that when I asked Bob if we could go check out the frozen falls he said, "Who are you?!?" But, there is something about the start of a new year that makes me want to shake things up and get out of my comfort zone.
And, I'm so glad I did... The view was breathtaking!
(Literally. Record low temperatures combined with mist that freezes in the air and turns to mini-ice-daggers-that-stab-at-your-face will actually take your breath away! Hahaha!)
It turns out that once I got past the extreme cold,
I was left with some pretty remarkable inspiration...
Today I played with textures based on yesterday's view.
Things I experimented with:
- Scratching into the paper before applying a watercolor wash
- Using a glue stick, and white crayon as a resist (to keep white areas) before applying a watercolor wash
- Torn paper as relief
- Using torn paper edges as a "stencil" for pastel application
- Applying paint with plastic wrap
- Layering all of the different techniques
Yesterday, my uncle sent me a link to an article in The Washington Post about how spectacular Niagara Falls looks right now.
I have lived a short car ride away from the falls my entire life, and like many things that are in our own backyard, I have come to take the magnificence of this natural wonder for granted. Reading a national news article about it was just the wake-up call I needed. So, late yesterday afternoon the boys and I bundled up and headed north...
Now, I think I need to express how intensely I dislike cold weather... So much so, that when I asked Bob if we could go check out the frozen falls he said, "Who are you?!?" But, there is something about the start of a new year that makes me want to shake things up and get out of my comfort zone.
And, I'm so glad I did... The view was breathtaking!
(Literally. Record low temperatures combined with mist that freezes in the air and turns to mini-ice-daggers-that-stab-at-your-face will actually take your breath away! Hahaha!)
It turns out that once I got past the extreme cold,
I was left with some pretty remarkable inspiration...
Today I played with textures based on yesterday's view.
Things I experimented with:
- Scratching into the paper before applying a watercolor wash
- Using a glue stick, and white crayon as a resist (to keep white areas) before applying a watercolor wash
- Torn paper as relief
- Using torn paper edges as a "stencil" for pastel application
- Applying paint with plastic wrap
- Layering all of the different techniques
Lovely inspired work Kristin! How your little boy has grown!
ReplyDeleteI love Niagara Falls :D had our honeymoon there and as cheesy as the tourist stuff is, I still love it and the scenery on both sides cant be beat
ReplyDelete