Masking

Usually masking is more of a pain then it’s worth but sometimes it makes good sense. When you start a painting you plan what to do first, second and so on. Usually a rule of thumb would be “light to dark” and “background to foreground”. These are just guides, not hard rules. When I painted “Wheeler Gorge” I started by masking the large trees and rocks. I masked the trees because I wanted to throw the background, spatter etc. and the rocks because I wanted to paint the water and reflections. Could have painted around them but wouldn’t have looked as good because I wanted to paint through. Watercolor is somewhat paradoxical in that you have to plan before you can be wild. Paint the same image twice using both methods and see what happens.