Three Birches palette knife painting

12x8.5 watercolor using only a small palette knife of birches on Strathmore 140 lb cold press paper, done this evening.  I used the knife usually reserved for my oils and scraped and dragged paint up and down until tree shapes were visible; lots of lost edges to blend in with white snow background and foreground.  I was not sure I could do shadows with the knife but those were easy once I wet the horizontal areas with water, then the paint.  Colors used:  Quinacridone burnt orange and gold, carbazole violet, UB, Midnight Blue, raw sienna, transparent pyrrol orange, new gamboge, Peachy Keen, Brown Derby, Coffee with Cream.

Birches in Snow

15x11 watercolor done today on Strathmore 140 lb cold press paper using American Journey and Daniel Smith paints and a palette knife for the large tree colorings and marks as well as twigs and branches. Of course I always add my own intuitive or impulsive colors as these here do not exist in nature.