Aspen Glow

A drive to Nederland, CO for lunch inspired an aspen painting.  Nederland is home of the frozen-dead-guy (Google it) , a fabulous carousel, and offers aspen views along the highway. The aspen are turning yellow and gold in the sunlight this time of year.

I had thought to use gold leaf (pun intended) but the dang stuff is so fragile!  And it stuck to my fingers with static electricity.  I tried putting it between two sheets of tissue paper and cutting out leaf shapes. Now I know why they sell  foil "flakes".  Plan B is to use metallic paint.  

I started with an 8"x16" canvas, covering half with Cobalt Titanic Green and the other half with iridescent gold.  I sketched a single aspen.

The gold I covered with thinned cobalt blue and removed some with a sea sponge. The trunk/branches were painted with shades of permanent violet dark.  Lunch time! To be continued another painting day.