I tried using terra verte again today (see Proto Nebula). It covered so lightly that I had to use the much heavier chromium green for any pigment to appear.

I started today’s painting with three main patches of color: an upper and lower patch of red iron oxide, a reddish earth tone that covers the paper’s surface very evenly; and a barely visible middle patch of terra verte green. I added a bit of cobalt blue on the left-middle edge of the paper.

I then began to work on the edges of the middle patch with diagonal strokes of chromium green. I enhanced the top and bottom with the rich terra rosa and finished the bottom edge of the middle patch with shadow green directly opposing a thin, broken line of cadmium red.

Finally, I add bismuth yellow to lighten the middle patch and give the impression of a rounded surface.  I then noticed that composition resembled the form a tree; I reinforced a small open patch, a couple of inches from the left-middle edge with the yellow and added a square of terra rosa on the right lower edge of the green field. These finishing touches added the star and base to this year’s Christmas tree portrait.

Earthy Tree
12″x9″ 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Block