Author Archives: Betty

About Betty

Elizabeth Anderst Kirschenman lives and paints in southeastern Alberta near the South Saskatchewan River. Her watercolour landscapes reflect the riverhills, coulees and grasslands of the Canadian prairies.

The process of painting

The process of painting.  The timeline is not complete as I never remember to take photos at the beginning (the drawing, etc.), but this shows some of the sequence of Whitetail Season.  After the drawing, I always start with putting some colour into the sky.  It gives me a value reference for the work.The figure and sagebrush are masked so they won’t get lost. I didn’t want too much detail in the grass area, so decided to soften the shadow areas.

Some washes are added across the river.

I felt the left side was too strong, so blotted out some of the colour.  The masking is removed and the figure and sagebrush are painted.As the day was rather overcast with not many contrasting shadows, I decided the sky needed a bit more drama.