Hotspot Priming

An preliminary abstract design that offers lots of possibilities

Hotspot priming helps for a naturalistic gouache painting like this mountain stream, which has a light effect area that I want to emphasize.

Here’s what the page looked like before I started painting. Even though the priming gets almost entirely covered over by the end, it serves as a reminder throughout the painting process to downplay the surrounding areas and keep the attention on the focal point.

This overview of Durango, Colorado also used hotspot priming to suggest a spot of sunlight in the center of town.

Now let’s see how the hotspot priming worked out in my latest painting.