Background: 
Liz did A level art then Carlisle College of Art doing a foundation then Graphic Design, but found that she preferred illustration. Liz says she is always learning, following favourite artists and doing online courses. She says she doesn’t have her own style because of the graphic design background and working to a brief. 
Being a commercial artist, Liz does a lot of ‘cheesy’ Christmas work for the American market, scenes from Ullswater and other local scenes that are sold in the Lake District. Liz feels privileged to have recently had work accepted by the Tarpey Gallery.  
The painting:
Liz was using a limited pallet of:
Ultramarine
Alizarin Crimson
Naples Yellow 
Burnt Sienna 
Liz had pre stretched the paper which was Bockingford hot pressed, 300gsm. Frog tape does not rip the picture, best used with a hairdryer to loosen the glue. Liz said she is trying not to fiddle with her paintings to retain their spontaneity. 
A round synthetic size 12 brush was used. It was old but still had a good point. Liz uses SAA and Jackson’s for most of her supplies. Liz switched to an old favourite chisel shaped brush and then a line-writer for the fine branches.  
Liz had pre-soaked areas of the paper and mentioned that she likes to have plenty of water so she always has some clean, to avoid mixing colours and for lifting off paint.  Lifting off paint requires a good quality paper and the right paint: for example, ultramarine will lift off and some other blues won’t.  
Liz started with pure ultramarine for the sky, adding a little crimson when doing the river. She added some burnt sienna, which she said is ‘a bully’ and pushes the other paint away. For the shadow at the edge of river, Liz used a mixture of ultramarine and burnt sienna. These two colours split and will make some nice shapes if left alone.  
For foliage, Liz used a dryer brush with the bristles spread out and gently tapped over the top branches, trying to be random.  
Liz used a purple tone to create shadows in the snow and white gouache to create highlights. In watercolour painting water is white.  
Quote of the day: 
Low maintenance women have very expensive hobbies! 
 
Liz mentioned looking up the sketching course on You Tube from Adebanji Alade.  It costs £10 and is very worthwhile. 

Click here to see pictures of the demonstration
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