The Aquarelle painting process of Budeie

This is the painting process of a painting I made in 2022 called Budeie. This is one of my first ever paintings in aquarelle. Down we see the detailed scetch I made.

Down bellow, we see my first wash, which refers to the first layer of paint.

After the first wash , comes all the other layes. I was just experimenting at this point.

Down we have the result. I've definitly painted more difficult and impressive aquarelle paintings since, but I believe this was one of my first attempts at portrait in aquarelle.

This painting is of a friend and I gifted this to her as a Christmas present. I infused a lot of her personality into this. In 2024 the two of us tried to be Budeies/farmgirls together during summerbreak; but that's a story for another time.

For those who doesn't know what "Budeie" is, Budeie is a Norwegian term for a woman who has the responsibility over the animals on a farm or "Seter". Lots of animals were transfered to seters in the summer in order to utilize the grazing areas up in the mountains. It's often associated with Norwegian Folk tradition. Few women work as a Budeie anymore yet this lifestyle is often romantazised.