Icarus Board Demo by Virginia Carroll

COLORS:      White
                        Cream
                        Putty Beige
                        Burnt Ochre
                        Golden Yellow (Caran d’Ache Pablo)
                        Violet Blue
                        Indigo Blue
                        Limepeel
                        Cadmium Red Light (Soho Brand)
                        Sepia
                        Marine Green
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Turn the Icarus Board on high and work on the heated side of the board. It’s a good idea to have a thick cloth to rest your hand on so that you don’t get a mild burn. Work on sanded artist paper, such as UArt 600 or Fisher 400. Draw a simple line drawing directly on the sanded paper and lift any of the lines that are too dark with mounting putty. You may spray your line drawing with workable fixative so that it doesn’t smear.
 
1. SKY: Apply a heavy layer of Putty Beige, a light layer of Indigo Blue, a heavy layer of Cream and another heavy layer of Putty Beige. Brush over this with a medium wet brush with solvent.

2.SMALL DARK CLOUDS: Apply a medium layer of Cad. Red Light and go around the edges with Golden Yellow. Cover the center with Violet Blue and a light layer of Putty Beige over that. Blend all the colors gently, not mixing colors too thoroughly. With your brush, pull color, particularly the blended red and yellow out into the sky.
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3. MASS OF LIGHT CLOUDS: Cover the whole area of light clouds with a heavy layer of Cream. Smooth and blend with a fairly wet brush and solvent. Go into the Cream with random areas of light applications of other colors-Golden Yellow, Putty Beige, Burnt Ochre and Cadmium Red Light. Then blend these area out into the Cream with a damp (not wet) brush with solvent and a gentle touch until you achieve the desired cloud effect.
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 4. LAYER OF DARKER CLOUDS: Lay down a heavy applications of Cream, then a medium application of Burnt Ochre and a lighter application of Cadmium Red Light. Blend these colors thoroughly with a medium wet brush.
Using a light touch and Blue Violet and Burnt Ochre, lay in the darker areas of the clouds, then with a damp/med wet brush, blend these in and spread the color out. With Cream, Cadmium Red Light and Golden Yellow, add bits of color to the lighter Cream areas and blend with a damp brush.
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5. CLOUDS JUST ABOVE THE HORIZON:  Lay down a heavy application of White, then Violet Blue over that. Put a light layer of Cadmium Red Light over these applications. With a wet brush, blend the layers together thoroughly. Blend this violet up into the previous layer of clouds.
Lightly add some touches of Cadmium Red Light and Golden Yellow here and there and blend them into the Violet clouds. If you feel the violet clouds are too dark, add some white, particularly next to the horizon and blend this with a damp brush.
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6. TREES AND SAGUARO: Lay down a heavy layer of Marine Green, then go over that with a medium wet brush and solvent. Push the brush up into the sky along the top to create a ragged line to indicate trees and bushes. Add Saguaro as desired for a pleasing composition. With Limepeel, add light on the right side of the Saguaro and add light areas in the Marine Green to indicate trees and shrubs. Add Sepia under the suggestion of the trees and bushes and along the left side of the Saguaro. With a brush barely wet with solvent, brush lightly over the indications of the trees and bushes.
 
If not satisfied with color or shade, feel free to go back in and make adjustments. You may work over a wet surface, if desired.
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