Art Gallery: Sunrise Over Snowy Mountains

This was a birthday card that I painted for my best friend and is one of the best paintings I’ve done so far. I first sketched the outline of the mountains before painting the sun with masking fluid to prevent having use the lifting technique. I then painted over that using the wet-on-wet technique to allow the colors to blend into each other and spread out a bit. Once that dried, I started painting the mountains moving from light to dark on the dry paper, which also allowed me to incorporate some dry brushing to give the mountains a bit more texture and shadows. I then added some finishing touches and peeled off all of the masking tape before painting the borders, so it gave the painting the look of being in some sort of frame.

If I could change anything about this painting, I would not have put masking fluid on the mountains. While I thought it would help give the mountains some snowy areas, it just ended up looking kind of clumpy and while I tried to soften the edges and blend it all out, you can still see where the fluid was, especially in the tree on the edge. But other than that, I still think I did a pretty good job with it and am super happy with how it came out.

Until next time,

M.J.