Ensorcelled: Watercolor and Rice Paper Collage

I learned a new word, ensorcelled, which means to bewitch or enchant. I found it in a poem written by Pen titled “Effigies”.  Thankyou, Pen!

I think I was so intrigued with the new word, it was part of what went into the above abstract. Also, there was a lot of talk about the “blood” moon this past month and I must have picked up on some of that while creating the above painting.

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It all began with this image, created in watercolor.

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Then came a layer of rice papers that I tore in abstract shapes and glued to the surface. My glue was made with one part water added to two parts acrylic matte medium. I devote two old brushes( one large, one small ) in order to attach the papers to the surface. Even though I clean the brushes following each use, they still get stiff and gummed up. I am very careful to not apply the mixture thickly or allow it to run onto the non-rice paper portion of the surface (this will affect and distort later applications of watercolor).

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I then go back and paint again, paying attention to what I see appearing on the paper. This is the most fun part of the painting. I am still learning how to let go and create from what I see appearing in the colors and the shapes. There is always an element of the unknown with these because I use different rice papers with textures running through them and they all accept the paint differently.  My partner becomes the materials I am using and the imagery that presents itself on the surface.  In otherwords, I never know what I am going to get when I start one of these.

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In the above step, I tried to pull the painting together by adding darks in and through the forms. I defined the orbs more. I gave it a promise of spring by adding some spring greens.

  final painting

To finish, I darkened the upper orange and yellow strip at the top, allowing for the suggestion of two more orbs or moons. I went back through the branches and, with little pieces of fiber strings I pulled from one of my ricepapers, I textured those gnarly branch-like forms. I also added fibers to the leafy greens, mid left.

For other posts with rice papers click here.

 

 

 

Times Square Signs

The above painting is a project I have been working on for about a month. Phew!  It is finally finished or as much as I can think to put into it.  I ventured into this via an assignment I gave to my composition class the last week of class. That was to do a painting of signs. They could approach it from a reference of street signs or design something abstract. My painting came from a photo my sister took quite a few years ago from her trip to Times Square in New York. She aimed her camera upward and snapped a photo that included the “Wicked” sign. I had just finished reading the book. I had to use a lot of liquid frisket to save the whites of lettering and light bulbs, etc. I had to approach each sign as if they were separate paintings and then push and pull my darks and lights to help it to read effectively. All the whites are saved whites, not paint.

Thankyou to my sister for continually challenging me and believing in my ability.  🙂

Masa Madness and Daughter’s References

The above paintings were both from reference photos that my daughter brought to me years ago. They are both from a zoo outing in Florida.

I was totally drawn to the shapes and the value contrasts in both of them. The top one,  rocks and water, had a fascinating abstract quality to it. The second one was interesting because of the shapes of the birds; one leading into the next.

Masa paper continues to be one of my favorite surfaces.

 

Little Bear

The above painting is a portrait of my sister’s cat, Little Bear. I have always wanted to paint her just to see if I could capture the look of her tabby marked coat. I used frisket for the spindly white in the grasses, whiskers, and highlights in the eyes.

A post about frisket is found here.

My sister’s other cat can be found here.