Thursday, January 11, 2018

The Frozen Hudson

The Hudson River was a sea of jagged ice yesterday.



(Link to video on Facebook) The temperature climbed briefly above freezing, allowing me to paint in gouache. I used a sketchbook page with a light blue-gray priming color in casein that I did the day before.

The underpainting color came close to the color of the snow layer on the ice. Where the chunks had an icy, specular surface, it picked up more of the golden light of the sky.



We're 100 miles north of New York City, and the river is tidal here. The vertical movement of the surface shatters the 12-inch-thick layer of ice along the shoreline, making it a jumble of angular shapes.

Check out my gouache board on Pinterest

5 comments:

Krystal said...

you are very brave to paint by such a weather. I have tried to paint on a snow field but I can tell you I didn't stay very long and I couldn't finish on the spot !
Well, it is worth it. The light and mood is very beautiful and well rendered.

Warren JB said...

Mesmerising. Reminds me I live in a very boring place.

Roberto Quintana said...

Bbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! -from California (RQ)

Amazing Dad said...

I've noticed before that you say gouache is better for more detail versus casein. I've started painting in casein (thanks to you) and I've been thinking of also picking up some gouache paints. What about gouache makes it better for detail?

James Gurney said...

asdfghjkl: I don't know if it's the binder or the pigment, but it just seems like gouache lets you go finer and more delicate, but casein is great for gusto and generous application of paint.