Watercolor 11" x 15" Mats to 16" x 20"
Spring really is just around the corner, but until Spring arrives we can dream about it or we can paint it! One of my favorite flowers is a daffodil. Not only are they yellow (my favorite color), but they are the early messengers of Spring!
I had a great time painting this one-- it has a surprise technique! This technique can be used for various subjects, but I especially like it for flowers. Here is the surprise!
1) Do not tape down your paper before your sketch. Sketch in the flowers and leaves with little detail. Make the pencil lines dark enough on the flowers to be seen after the crumpling and wetting technique, but do not press hard enough to indent or scratch the paper.
2) Here’s the hard part………crumple the paper up in a ball as though you were going to throw it away. Concentrate on making wrinkles in all areas of the paper without tearing it….crumple easily.
3) Submerge the paper ball into water making certain it is evenly wet. Remove from the water and unfold carefully. Smooth onto your sketch board and tape along the edges. The tape will not stick well to the wet surface; however, it will hold enough to keep the paper in place.
4) While the paper is still very wet, float in the background of green and blue working around the flowers. I used sap green and Windsor blue; however, other shades of blue and green can be used with a pleasing effect. Use a large flat brush or mop to place in the background except for working around the flowers. Use a #6 round or similar size brush to work in the background around the flowers.
5) Let this dry COMPLETELY!
6) Now you can paint in your flowers!
Have fun! This technique must have been discovered by a frustrated watercolor artist who wadded up, threw away the painting AND then had second thoughts, pulled it out of the trash, smoothed it down and went to work!
Give it a try - if nothing else, you can release some frustration while you dig out of the snow and wait for Spring!
1 comment:
Great Idea! I going to try it.
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