Autumn Stream
A watercolour on paper, painted wet-in-wet with salt, depicting a stream moving through oak woodland in late October. The 24 × 14 inches format suits the subject well: the vertical orientation channels the eye downward along the water's course, echoing the way a narrow stream draws the gaze through a dense wood.
The wet-in-wet technique, combined with the use of salt to lift pigment while the wash is still damp, produces the soft, diffused edges and unpredictable blooms of tone that characterise the method. In autumn woodland, where light filters unevenly through thinning canopy and the ground is a patchwork of fallen leaves and shadow, these qualities feel particularly apt. Salt granules absorb moisture from the wet surface and leave behind pale, crystalline marks that can suggest the broken glitter of moving water or the irregular texture of leaf litter, depending on how the surrounding washes settle.
Painted in 2024.