Gouache Resist Tiger

The above is a gouache resist. I have painted quite a few of these and left several in their black and white form. I like the suggestion of “block print” that they seem to carry with them. The full process for doing one of these can be found here.

This is the largest one I’ve painted and I was nervous about how it would take during the rinsing process. I didn’t need to worry. However, with another small one, I learned I must wait patiently for the ink to dry thoroughly and not rush it with a hair dryer. The hairdryer causes some ink to work through the gouache. A more clear image will appear if you allow the ink phase to air dry.

 

New Student Art: Watercolor Plus Summer Session

Nancy Longmate

watercolor, ink and Citra-solv collage

Sue Mendenhall2

watercolor on masa paper

Dorette Hess2

watercolor and ink; barn siding drawn with ink and razor blade

The above paintings are just a sneak peak of what I have posted on the “Student Art 2″ page found by clicking here. My students just finished a class I title Watercolor Plus. In this class, I introduce several ways that watercolor can be used with other media. This time they painted on a gesso juice surface, learned to prepare and paint on masa paper, created a gouache resist, used ink with watercolor in several different ways, and created a watercolor and Citra-solv collage.

Thank you to all my fellow artists who agree to share their work on this blog. I know they inspire others to try what they have tried by doing so.

Playing with an Old Painting

The above is a painting I posted almost three years ago, here. My class is going to try and re-work an old painting of their choice this week. I suggested to them that the techniques and skills they have gathered over the course of the last few years could aid them in this venture of taking something old that they are not too attached to and making it something new.

I have decided I do not like how I rendered the pond. The scene is overly peaceful to me.  I did not create a center of interest for the viewer’s eye. I also did not like the fact that the building in the background is lost with that cream color.

We have been working with ink, lately. I recalled a recent post with a backlit tree. I lightly drew a tree trunk over the left side of this and painted it in with blues and greens and added ink with an eye dropper while the color was still wet. Then I immediately blotted the surface of the trunk with paper toweling. This created a bark-like texture. I then used a rigger and very small round to create the branches and leaves. I balanced this with some leafy ink forms on the right side of the painting. Across the bottom, I used a razor blade and rigger to fill in the grasses with india ink. I worked a section at a time and spritzed these grasses with water. That is what created the fuzzy-like forms within the grasses. After this dried, I changed the building in the background to a red barn. Now, I can see it. I remembered my class on “little people” with Don Andrews and painted small cattle in the sweet spot for a center of interest.  I think I will never stop learning.

I have posted one other re-do here.

Citrasolv Collage and Watercolor: Midwest Barns

I love working with papers made with Citrasolv.  Thank you to Carol King’s post of three years ago, found here, I was introduced to what Citrasolv, a natural cleaner and degreaser concentrate, can do to transform National Geographic photos into beautiful collage papers. My two previous posts on this are found here and here.

To prepare for any Citrasolv collaging, I prepare the papers in advance so that I have a lot of colors and patterns to choose from.  I use a glass jar and pour enough Citrasolv into it to do several National Geographics. I work in the garage ( for ventilation; the smell is so strong when working with the concentrate) to do this. I lay out two rows of newspapers on the garage floor to lay my drying papers on and get busy. I set up a TV table and cover it with newspaper. Then, working from front to back of a National Geographic magazine, I either brush, spritz or eyedropper the Citrasolv on the pages with photos. Between some of the pages, I crinkle up some saran wrap for a stained glass sort of look to some of the papers (pages under saran wrap take a little more time to work). Some of the adds don’t work so I usually skip those. Spread the solution on both pages. I have had some problems with the dry page sticking to the wet page and have lost some of those prints. Then I take a coffee break or have a sandwich or something. There is a small waiting period for the solution to do its work. I find it takes longer in the cold of winter (yes! I have toned papers in the winter!     ).  Once I see the solution has done its “thing”, I begin carefully tearing out the pages and laying them on the newspaper to dry. Drying is fast; 15-20 minutes! The pages are usually pretty easy to tear out because they are softened by the fluid. Here are some examples:

To start this project, I painted, first. I have rushed to use the papers too soon, in the past. It is almost as though the artist needs to see the values in the paint before he can decide which values and patterns in the papers to choose. I suppose, if I worked in another media, I could work on the surface of these papers and I could go back and forth with my choices.  So I painted

and painted

and painted

The whole time I worked on the above painting, I concentrated on value. I wanted to use my papers as some of the darkest darks in the piece.

I then paused and waited for the above to dry while I mixed my glue. I like using acrylic matte medium with some water mixed in. Just a little water;  I don’t want my mixture drippy wet, but also not thick. I have several old brushes I devote to the glueing process. They get pretty gummed up and I usually have to soak them in warm water before I use them, as they dry like cement.

I began by cutting little pieces of darks to color in the background under foliage behind the barn on the right. I started working in the trunks and limbs of the background trees. I always brush a thin layer of the glue on top of each paper. The papers are not acid free and I read in one of my art books that the glue on front and back will help preserve the color and protect the surface of the watercolor paper. At first, it is confusing, but, as I added more papers, the scene began to appear.

In this step, I finished the trees in the background and went back in with greens and yellows to fill in more leafy forms to help it read a little better. I added the foreground electrical pole, background foliage behind the second barn and a few branches on the foreground shrub.

The next step was one of the most difficult with this particular painting. I painted the shadow shapes on the second barn. I was careful to go back into the shadow shape and delineate each board on the side of the barn after the initial shadow wash dried. I also painted some shadows behind the shrub in front of the first barn and on the left side of the telephone pole.

  finished painting

To finish the painting, I extended the electrical pole down to the side of the foreground road and added the wires. I know. I know. Why the pole and wires?  I think it was because it was part of the allure for me when I chose this reference photo (thankyou to Wet Canvas) for my painting.  I thought the pole and wires added to the depth and it is so much a part of a midwest scene such as this one.

I love working in collage and especially with these papers. I think it is a wonderful exercise in values and patience. They do take time.

The Citrasolv art page can be found here. It was great to learn that some of the art supply companies are now carrying Citrasolv as one of their art mediums!

Tiger in the Grass: Working with Ink and Watercolor

I have been working with different ink and watercolor techniques. I began the above painting with a line drawing of the tiger. The next thing I did was ink in about four of his stripes with a small watercolor brush and india ink (waterproof). Before each stripe dried, I spritzed it with water. The ink fans out in a fuzzy pattern to either side of the stripe. At first it looks like I am ruining my image, but as the ink dries, the color becomes lighter. I would dry that area with a hair dryer and move on to the next group of stripes and repeat the spritzing and the hair drying until I had the stripes done. I waited for this first step to dry and then repainted all the stripes so that the center of each one was as black as I could get it.  I worked black india ink into the shadows around the tiger, wet-in-wet, just like I use wet-in-wet with my watercolors.  After this stage dried, I painted with watercolor. If you click on the above image and click on it a second time, it will enlarge enough so you can move around it and actually see the textures the spritzed ink created on the surface of the watercolor paper.

I have done this type of ink and watercolor before.  You can view one I did with a nib here. I also have worked with an eye dropper here and here. This technique is defintiely not for the artist that wishes to control every element of  his/her painting. I find myself having to let go a little of my control and work with what we watercolorists call “Happy Accidents”. The reference image is just that, a reference image, because I usually have to stray from it in order to finish these.

Razor Blade Drawing and Watercolor

Wow! One of my students gifted me with one of his old watercolor books and I have been pouring through all sorts of ideas on techniques he (Valfred Thelin) suggests.  I settled down to try one of them this week and had a great time!  Lots of chuckling. He spoke of drawing ink sketches with a razor blade and waterproof black ink and then painting them. You put ink in a saucer or ashtray with a low rim; he suggests an ashtray as good for this. I used an old saucer. Something deeper makes a mess as you reach in to dip the blade of the razor in the ink.  Then, all you do is dip the blade and begin drawing with it. I had to dip and draw a lot. Sometimes the blade would drop more ink, sometimes only a hairline.

The above drawing was my first attempt. He suggests that it is a quick way to get a subject down on paper and that the marks of the razor blade enhance any movement and adds to the interest of the subject. He uses ink to sketch people and sporting events a lot. I was not real happy with the above horse but did like the interesting marks it made. The darker marks were made by sliding the entire blade across the surface with several strokes. The thinner lines were drawn by tilting the blade and using one corner to draw with.

I  drew a herd of horses and decided this was the one I would use for a painting. Thank you to wet canvas for the photo references for this. I used two different ones and combined them into one composition.

I began by laying large washes behind the horses.

 finished painting

I finished by painting each horse and splattering the foreground.

I will use this technique again. I like the loose and sketchy line the razor blade leaves on the paper. I do think it enhances the movement of a piece.

The book I used is titled “Watercolor: Let the Medium Do It” by Valfred Thelin with Patricia Burlin.

Another Gesso and Watercolor painting

I wanted to try something other than a landscape on the gesso juice surface. I love experimenting on this surface.

Thank you to wet canvas library for the image of the horse.

 

 

 

Gesso Juice: Cloud Study

A little over a year ago, I tried a new surface that I read about in the February 2012 issue of “Watercolor Artist” magazine. The artist was about Kathleen Conover. She uses a mixture she calls gesso juice for some of her paintings. The juice is made from 1/2  white acrylic gesso with 1/4 water and 1/4 acrylic matte medium.  You pour this on your watercolor paper and spread it over the surface with a credit card.  While it is still wet, slash marks in it and squiggle through it with the credit card to create texture and all sorts of calligraphic marks. Allow this phase to dry completely. I have found that you can adjust the ratio of the mixture. There is also a thick acrylic gesso and a more fluid one. Check the label. The more fluid one requires less water and matte medium. The thicker the gesso, the more slippery the surface.  This slippery surface is much like painting on yupo but not quite as slippery as some of the pigment does stain and adhere to the portions of  the surface where the gesso is not as thick. I like it much better than yupo and appreciate the lifting that can be done.

The above is my first washes of this painting. This is really a phase where I lay in the shapes and initial colors of my piece.

Next, I added richer color and began to shape and lift and shade the forms of clouds and waves. You can lift with a damp cloth, brush or Q-tip. Kathleen Conover has also used stencils she has made to apply color or wash color out by scrubbing. The design possibilities are endless as you can just keep re-modifying your painting until you are satisfied.

  finished painting

In the last step I shaped the waves and used acrylic white on the white caps.

I spray these with a matte fixative when I am finished.

Practicing Clouds

 

 

 

I’ve been practicing some cloud studies. These were painted on Arches 140lb rough watercolor paper.

My Granddaughter studied the first and second painting, above. She asked about all the dots for the trees. I told her that was pointillism and it was how I usually painted trees and foliage. I explained it was a way to add texture or a rougher look to certain things in a painting.  Of course she had to try it.     I love watching her work.  She selected a photo reference of a garden path. Below is her painting:

 

Hide and Seek: One More Adventure with Rice paper Collage and Watercolor

I created the above paintings from photo references that my sister took of my Granddaughters while they played hide and seek after my daughter’s wedding.  Thank you to my sister for allowing me to paint from them.

I love the technique I used to create them so will share how I created the top one with you.

In the first step, I toned a piece of 140lb Arches coldpress with abstract color. I had to get this layer dark enough so it would show through the rice paper I was going to glue on top of it.

I then covered the entire surface with torn pieces of textured and transparent rice papers, overlapping them as I went. I mixed my glue with 1 part water to 3 parts acrylic matte medium. This created numerous textures over the surface of my abstract. I applied the glue on the underside of the papers and thinly over the top side of them with my brush, making sure I pushed any air bubbles from under the papers. I allowed this stage to dry overnight.

I then drew my subject on the format in graphite. Yes. You can erase, easily, on this surface.

I painted.

…and painted

…and painted.

I really enjoyed this surface. It was much like when I paint on toned Masa Paper pieces. I found I could lift and blend color if it dried too flat looking.  Some of the pigment would trail along a torn piece of the rice paper and add more texture.  Sometimes when I rubbed my brush over a dried painted area, interesting textures would show through like in the lower right hand quadrant of the second little girl, above. The glow of the original underpainting showed through in some areas, adding to the piece.

 finished painting

To finish the painting I added white gouache to the larger girl’s dress and veil. In the second painting I added the white gouache to leaf forms and tiny flowers.  I chose to fade the bottom of both pieces to show the textures of the papers and make the paintings appear significant of a memory.

I liked this technique enough to want to do more of them.