06

Close up on the background tree. The paint is applied in a fairly loose manner, though I'm keeping the brushstrokes following the shape and form of the tree. Doing that gives the tree an instant sense of form and dimensionality. I've also kept the color fairly bright at this point; much brighter actually than I'm planning it to end up. You'll see, also, the benefit of using the masking fluid. I can paint as loosely and spontaneously as I want, keeping the directions of my strokes uninterrupted behind the foreground elements. Incidently, the background was toned first with a wash of the Ultramarine Blue and white mixture before the tree was painted in. You can still see some of the blue peaking through the tree.