This morning I set aside one hour to make my “painting of day.” I decided to experiment with sepia conté crayons- the lovely warm tones of which I’ve always loved. Playing around on a 300 lb Arches water color paper, I used my waterbrushes to make washes and layered on brown, sepia, and white crayon. To solidify my whites, I added some white gouache was well. I had such fun with my first morning painting that I made four more larger (8″ x 10″) pieces. I’ve been planning some new greeting cards and prints and I think these may make a nice series. Working with the warm tones is a nice break from the blues of ice and I like the classic feel of sepia- it reminds me of old paintings and resonates with how the polar and glaciated regions as we know them today are quickly (shockingly so!) becoming historical record.