26 Watercolor artist | APRIL 2019
mountains in the background. The second version still included mountains
but also a grouping of aspen trees. “I realized I was missing the whole
point,” observes Whyte. “In my mind, with his white hair and his narrow,
thin frame, he was the aspen tree. So, I thought, ‘Let me take out the
group of aspens and darken the background so he becomes likened to a
single aspen tree. I’ll include just one branch and one leaf to strengthen
the concept [seeAspen Leafthumbnail, at left].’ I leaned the figure into
the composition to create a sense of movement and cast the lower half of
the subject’s body in shadow, thrusting emphasis upward to his face.”
This kind of insight and compositional prowess doesn’t always come
easily or quickly. Whyte is prepared to go through multiple versions of a
painting before settling on the right one. She admits that the two previ-
ous versions ofAspen Leafjust didn’t have the power and emotion she
was after. “They were more like pastoral scenes and not about this older
gentleman, so I discarded them in order to start fresh in each instance,”
she says. “On average, I probably tear up one out of every four paintings
I do, never hesitating to have a go at the same subject again. Just
because one didn’t work out doesn’t mean I failed. It means that I know
not to do again whatever it was that weakened the painting.”
Whyte’s breathtaking composition,Flurries(opposite), depicts a
rancher from New Mexico out feeding his herds. “I was intrigued withAspen Leaf (watercolor on paper, 19x28¼)began the painting in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming. Th e subject is the caretaker of
a vast tract of land, and the fi rst paint-
ing Whyte did included snow-coveredAspen Leaf (thumbnail)“I never hesitate to change the color, shape or size of anything.
When I’m painting, things are never set in stone.”