Landscape in casein

Here in the upper Midwest the winter has been fairly mild and dry. No white Christmas and not much

ice or sleet either. But one of the giant old trees behind the studio has fallen, broken just above the ground. It lies there forming an arch over the dry and sparse remains of the summer's undergrowth. By spring it may be even more decrepit; perhaps I'll paint it again. This was done in morning light in about an hour on 140 pound cold-press watercolor paper in a 9x12 block. Using lighter weight paper is only possible for me if it's in a block so there is little or no cockling when using wetter mixes. Also, I find that if I paint on watercolor paper the texture contributes mightily to the image, as it does here with the foreground foliage, indicated by dry strokes over previously painted passages. The very fine lines in this painting were added at the end using a technique I stole from James Gurney--water soluble pencil.