Rainbow Bisque

Let's get this out of the way - applying masking fluid to a painting can be frustrating and difficult. I have a surplus of old brushes I can use (that I'm not afraid of ruining), but they never seem to be the correct size. In order to create the fine lines in the bottom-most orange slice, I was using a nail; the very fine, narrow sort of nail you would hang a picture with. This meant repeating the same action of dipping the nail into the masking fluid, dabbing it onto the paper to create a small line, pulling the dried excess fluid off of the nail, and going back for more. The ability to preserve the white of the page really makes the effort worthwhile!

This started out as an exercise in creating ocean water from watercolor. I started with a blank sheet of cheap watercolor paper, then I drew a little rectangle with 'legs' in the center. I really wanted to practice creating an even, streak-free wash while avoiding applying paint to designated areas. That little rectangle became a small, yellow diving man bobbing along the ocean surface. Nothing here was expertly executed, but some fun experiments and noodling have yielded some surprising results. I darkened up my cadmium yellow with purple lake (which is quickly becoming one of my favorite paints) rather than Payne's grey. I used clean water to diffuse the edges of my shadows. I used a lot more wet-into-wet techniques than usual. Most importantly, I had a lot of fun.

I sat down to paint with nothing in mind. I really wanted to try out some basic shapes and forms - putting in some practice with flat washes and diffused edges. I didn't end up with a finished painting, but I do feel a little more comfortable with the paint. As the title and picture would suggest, Cerulean is odd. Cotman brand Cerulean pigment has really weak tinting strength. Even in its most concentrated form, Cerulean is extremely light in color. Oddly enough, it is also the only hue in my palette that stains and separates on the page. I really like the effect it created on this sphere, but it's not appropriate for most things. I appreciate that Cerulean is more subdued than Pthalo Blue; it just happens to go a little too far in the opposite direction. I may have to look into French Ultramarine for something in between the two.

My short hiatus from painting was very unproductive. I took a vacation from work, and decided to do nothing. I had a pretty good time doing next to nothing - at least for a day. I get restless when I'm not making things. Today's painting is not one of my favorites. I found these interesting leaves in a parking lot somewhere last month (the moth wings were found a day later). I've been wanting to paint the leaves for a while, but I kept putting it off. The painting is a bit sloppy for my taste - I used the wrong brush for the washes, too much water in some places, too little in others, inadvertently lifted color out of some edges, everything looks kind of flat...but it feels so good to be back! I had no idea what I was doing, and I tried all kinds of random things to get the effects I was after. This piece isn't going in a gallery. It is a stepping stone. It is a learning experience.