New Watercolor Technique

Im trying to learn how to use masking techniques for painting snow or as it were not painting snow. In watercolor painting white is normally the absence of paint. Frisket or masking fluid can be a wonderful tool in achieving striking contrasts and in the use of light or white in a painting. Its far from easy especially when your teaching yourself how to use it from trial and error and instructions from books. I've taken 4 or 5 semesters of watercolor at a JC years ago which is like nothing in vast capacity of what what watercolor paint will do.

I belong to an ATC swap group for trading in "Fine Art" styles. Pretty much anything hand drawn, hand painted is swapped mostly one to one in the ATC format of 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. However quarterly as a group we do 4 inch by 4 inch pieces. The current group swap is "Winter Wonderland." I want to do flowers in the snow. Pansies peaking out of new snow, snow ladden rose hips etc... I decided it was time to finally learn how to use liquid mask. I had a bottle left over from College well yeah it was very old. It tore the paper and smelled bad. I tossed the torn painting and tossed the bottle. I bought 2 new bottles of good brand name bottles. Each has a slightly different consistency. The first one was hard to put on the paper just where I wanted it and it tore my paper when removed. The second I think I can learn to use. All of these are over worked and clumsy but each is better than the last.