Thunder Spirits

"Thunder Spirits",  13"x10" watercolor, ink, absorbent ground, colored pencils

Beginning of July,  there was a week that we had the most incredible thunderstorm, lasting about 24 hours. The lightning was all around and thunder accompanied to show. The community power substation was hit by a lightning and so we had no power as well for six hours. When I started this painting, I had no idea that this is how it would come out. It was only in the finishing of it that the impressions of the thunderstorm came back to me and how dramatic it really was.
I used watercolor wash initially, followed by using black ink to paint and dribble shapes in. I did not like it and so I used Golden absorbent ground with a palette knife to layer it on. Before it was set, I painted more watercolor in. It sort of blended with the ground. When that dried, I used watercolors again and finished with color pencils. The pencils were able to overlay some of the dark remaining spaces. I even pulled out a stamp of a leaf and trees were put in.