Monday, October 28, 2013

Drifting

When I began this painting, this was NOT what I had in mind.  I soaked a piece of Winsor Newton cold press watercolor paper and began painting a wave in a horizontal format.  I could tell as soon as I wet the paper that the sizing in the paper was no longer there.  I've probably had this paper at least 10 years.  I've had problems with sizing before with other brands of paper and found out a few months ago that sizing is a plant based substance and it does degrade over time.  I can't remember if I've told you that before or not so if I have, I apologize for repeating myself.  The loss of sizing does not harm the paper and has no effect on the longevity of the artwork, but it does alter how paint reacts on the paper.

Anyway, I've got a lot of older watercolor paper (I had a little too much fun buying art supplies for awhile) so when I start a painting and the sizing is no longer there, I coat the paper with matte medium which seals the paper.  It creates a different surface than sizing does because when the paper is sealed, the paint sits on the surface, which can be good and bad.  Lifting paint becomes very easy but care must be used when glazing so that previous layers aren't lifted.  Also, it's harder to build deep darks.

In this case,  I didn't seal this paper.  I had really saturated the paper with water and when the wave didn't seem to be working the way I had intended, I decided to paint an abstract.  I really do love abstract paintings but don't paint them too often because I find them hard to do because I'm such a literal and realistic painter.

This is painted with transparent watercolor and I also used some watercolor crayons and Derwent 'Inktense' watercolor pencils.  Such fun!

I think I like the painting with this orientation the best but I also like it in a horizontal format with the darker part on the bottom.  Which way do you like best?

Drifting
Image Size 22" x 15"
Watercolor

16 comments:

  1. Bonjour,

    Juste laisser aller son ressenti... son imagination partir au gré de la couleur, de la fluidité et du mouvement...
    Gros bisous

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  2. Love the colors Nancy. I like it best horizontal with the dark blues at the bottom. I think it reminds me of a shoreline.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Sherry. So far, you're the third person that likes the horizontal orientation the best. I painted it vertically but I'm thinking I may change it to horizontal. I'll wait for the rest of the jury to respond. : )

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  3. Liked your experiment! learnt something new about the sizing of paper - although not quite.. does it mean that the paper shrinks after applying water on an old paper?
    I love the painting as it is but few small abstract gold fishes in white areas would be a great addition also.

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    1. Thank you Prerana. The sizing controls how the watercolor reacts with the paper. When the sizing goes away, the paper acts like a blotter and the paints just sink into the paper. It can still be used that way but you have to expect a different outcome. It's sort of fun to experiment with it but if you are expecting a nice, predictable piece of watercolor paper, it's a bit of a surprise.

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  4. I really like this one a lot! I like just as it is, in the vertical format.

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  5. This is awesome, Nancy..!!! I think horizontal would be amazing! Wonderful work as always...

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  6. Oh boy, job well,done, you created a happy accident and a stunning picture. Let's us all imagine what we want to see.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Nelvia. One of the reasons I like abstracts is hearing what each person sees in the painting.

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  7. Gorgeous, Nancy! I enjoyed reading about the different watermedia you used, too

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  8. A lyrically feminine Viennese Waltz, full orchestra included.

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  9. I love your comment Bernard. You should be a writer as well as an artist.

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