Today I'm sharing my first piece of art for Week 2 of Traci Bautista's online workshop, Doodles Unleashed. This week we're working BIG. The idea is to explore making marks with different water media and stamps. The finished piece will be cut apart later in the workshop, and used for other art. I worked it on Strathmore 400 series 140lb cold pressed watercolor paper. I photographed my process in order to give you a closer look at how my work evolves.
I'll begin with the scene of the crime:
For this project, I'll be using two brushes: a one-inch flat, and a size 8 round. I worked at my easel so the paint could roll freely down the paper. Watercolor paper has two sides to it-a smooth side, and a more textured side. To enhance and speed the dripping, I used the smooth side. I kept a spray bottle filled with water handy in case the drips didn't roll far enough down the page.
Using my flat brush, I loosely painted lines and squiggles. I mostly use DaVinci Tube Watercolors. They are a professional grade product, which means that they have a very high concentration of pigment and very little filler.
Next, I added thinner lines with the round brush and some affirmation words. I used a limited color palette. It's important not to mix colors with their complements (Complementary colors are those that are positioned opposite one another on the color wheel). If you do, you'll get mud!
This project gave me the chance to use my own hand-carved rubber stamps.
A few were derived from Dover images, but most are my own hand-drawn designs. I chose two of my own designs to use for my painting.
At this point, I switched to using Caran D'Ache Neocolor II water-soluble crayons. I experimented with getting a good coating of color onto the stamp. I found that the strongest images were produced when I swiped the stamp with a damp flat brush, and then rubbed the crayon over the stamp until there was a generous coating of color on it.
After stamping, I used Derwent watercolor pencils to enhance the images. I kept a small cup of water close, and dipped the pencils directly into the water as I worked.
It's time to step back and assess my progress!
Now, it's time to pull it all together. I used Portfolio Water-Soluble Oil Pastels and Caran D'ache Neocolor II crayons to add in blocks of color and accents.
After I shot this photo, I noticed the curious effect of the light filtering through the blinds. I think that it would be interesting when printed out and incorporated into a collage.
My Neocolor IIs are my favorite art supplies!
I decided to use my alphabet stencils at the end so I could choose small parts of them and place them where they would be visible. I sprayed watered down watercolor paint over them. I love the look of splattered paint. I had a Neocolor II crayon in my hand, so I tried dipping it in the water and flinging it over the paper. It worked great! A word of caution if you have bad aim: cover the wall behind your easel. Fortunately, I painted my walls with scrubbable paint. Dark blue splatters were not what I had in mind when I decorated the room!
I hope you've enjoyed this time in my studio. Let me know what you think of the post. If the response is positive, I'll plan more posts like it in the future. Happy painting!
Until next time,
