Building Blue Sky

Blue paint going over the previous work, to be wiped away later.

Using the pouncing ball to smooth the paint.

Once the rag is saturated it stops lifting paint and simply softens textures.

I’ve been busy painting a first layer of the sky, first using a brush to paint a layer of the colour over the entire sky, then using an old but clean t-shirt as a pouncing rag, all bunched up into a ball, but without creases in the surface so that as I pounce the paint it leaves a smoothed surface that doesn’t show a texture.

Although I’ve applied the paint over the edges of the work I’ve already done, I know that most of it will be easily wiped away with a separate rag once the pouncing is complete. It’s seriously bright now, so I’ll wait for it to dry thoroughly and add a layer of white over it to soften it. I like it when the background colour overlaps the figures a little bit because it enhances the curve of edges away from the viewer. Hard edges come forward in a painting, soft edges recede.

Although it felt early to be getting colour onto the canvas I didn’t feel comfortable about getting to work on the trees until I had the basic layer of the sky done so that the branches and leaves can be silhouetted against something of substance rather than the grey that’s under this layer of blue.