Day: June 12, 2018

Day 12, 30×30 direct watercolor painting challenge: hydrangeas-using plastic wrap for texture

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For this technique, you want your paper pretty wet.

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I dab in the color where I want it, then crumple the plastic wrap and lay it on top of the wet area, and push it down… you can slide it around a bit to adjust the texture… don’t smear it all around, but you can move it or reposition it. Press down a bit and leave it to dry.

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This time I used mostly Daniel Smith Green Apatite Genuine (amazing granulation), Undersea Green, Quinacridone Rose, and Schmincke Potter’s Pink. I wish I had used something deeper than the Rose. I have some Schmincke colors I think I would have liked better.

After it has dried (I left this about an hour) remove the plastic.

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Add more layers if you want to… Here I tried to add a bit more definition to the pink flowers without adding much actual detail. I like the pink and green blossoms, but I will try a larger paper next time, so I can add some of the large leaves, too.

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Day 11, 30×30 direct watercolor challenge: clown fish

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I didn’t get this one finished until this morning, but it was just a matter of peeling off the plastic wrap I’d applied.

(Supplies: Strathmore 500 series 140 lb cold press paper, EEM burnt Sienna and Mais, Daniel Smith indigo, QoR phthalo blue, sap green, nickel ago yellow, and transparent pyrrole orange, and Grumbacher Miskit. [This masking fluid says it washes out of brushes and pens with soap and water, but I haven’t tried to do that.] Also, plastic wrap)

The direct watercolor challenge is to do 30 paintings in 30 days, without drawing it out in pencil first. For this one I applied masking fluid first. I dipped a very cheap brush first into dish soap, then removed the excess and dipped it into the masking fluid. The soap helps protect the bristles:

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I made the white bands too wide, turns out… but it’s all good.

Then I painted it, in several layers, (and forgot to take step by step photos), and applied some bits of plastic wrap while it dried, to add a little texture:

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He looks much more realistic peeking out from the plastic wrap than he does on the page once it is removed. I should leave that as part of the “art”. 🙂

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